Preschool
We adapt our curriculum to the individual child’s needs in the five core.
Early Development Services preschool program is a time to learn, gain social skills, and explore the world around them. Our preschool curriculum revolves around the children, their interests, and their abilities. Using careful observations, teachers identify what sparks the children’s interests, then set the environment and activities to expand the children’s interest and knowledge. Through the staff’s careful observations, they decide on learning goals, and subtly guide the children towards them using their interests as a utensil for education.
Early Development Services strives to build and maintain strong relationships with the families we serve and feel this is the best way for families to feel safe and supported. While trusting our teachers to provide everyone in our care with a warm, nurturing environment where all children feel safe and secure to grow at their own pace. EDS encourages families to share their culture with the classroom by reading books in their home language, cooking projects, and sharing traditions to bridge the gap between home school. This allows the children to feel a part of the community, and have pride in who they are with freedom of expression while always respecting one another.
An important aspect of our program is bringing real-life experiences to the children by taking the children out into our community as well as inviting the community to visit us. Throughout the year community members will visit the centers for children to gain a greater understanding of the world around them. Community visitors such as firefighters, police officers, SPCA, and college students are all great resources for our schools. We also venture away from the center to experience the community based on the children’s interest. In the past, we’ve visited the zoo, post office, pumpkin patch, and more. It’s important to us that children not only learn about the community but also experience it hands-on.
A key part of our curriculum is following a daily routine that provides the children with structure, the children are the real teachers of the classroom, and the schedule may change to meet the children’s needs. Throughout the day, children are given opportunities to participate in group activities, independent exploration, as well as participate in classroom care tasks, such as cleaning tables or folding laundry. The children may help feed class pets, water plants, or set the table for meals as they develop their understanding of responsibilities in daily routines. By taking care of their classroom the children build a sense of pride and create their own community.
