As a parent, it can be difficult to decide which daycare program is the best for you and your child. It’s a delicate decision since daycare is not just about keeping children safe and out of trouble. It is also about providing children with the opportunity to develop their skills, interests, and abilities in a stimulating environment. To make the best decision, it’s important to understand the curriculum approach.
What Is Curriculum?
A curriculum is a list of learning goals and objectives that describe what children will be expected to know at various ages. Children will follow different curriculums during their time at daycare or preschool and beyond.
Why Is Curriculum Important
Curriculum is essential to early education because it enables educators to plan activities that are relevant to the needs of the children in their care. It also helps educators to evaluate their programs. This allows them to make changes if necessary. Ideal curriculum methods incorporate age, abilities, development stage, learning styles, and interests.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has identified the categories of early childhood development that need to be addressed in every curriculum. Based on these guidelines, a curriculum can be broken down into five main components: social, cognitive, physical, language, and creative arts.
These are the main areas that children need to focus on in order to succeed in their future education and careers:
Social Development
Early childhood programs focus on teaching children how to get along with others. They’ll learn how to share toys and play with other children. The social skills that are taught at this age help children understand how to work together on projects or activities as well as interact with adults and other children.
Cognitive Development
The cognitive development of a child is based on her ability to think critically about things in her environment, such as shapes, colors, or letters. A daycare center will provide plenty of opportunities for your child to learn about these concepts through hands-on experiences, such as arts and crafts projects or reading books about shapes or colors.
Language Development
Language skills are extremely important for cognitive development. Children must learn concepts such as reading, writing, and math in order to succeed in school later on.
Physical Development
Physical development refers to the way your child moves around in his environment through walking, running, and jumping.
Creative Development
Creative activities include crafts, drama, music, and/or dance. This type of development in the curriculum at daycare centers also includes imaginative play.
The curriculum isn’t just about the classroom or the daycare, though. It’s also implemented in extracurricular activities, summer camps, and even playgroups, too.
Hands-On Curriculum In South Florida
Why choose us? Parkland Children’s Academy uses a creative curriculum with a hands-on approach. Curriculum themes change weekly to provide variety and keep children’s interests in mind. This creative approach caters to all learning styles, so it’s a fun, interactive experience for everyone.
All of this is, of course, balanced with providing a school-ready foundation. Our child-centered daycare curriculum focuses on play as the main learning tool for young children. It uses games, activities, songs, and stories to encourage age-appropriate development, all in a safe environment.
In addition to daycare and VPK, we have a toxin-free playground, summer camp classes, bus transportation, a partnership with the YMCA, and more. To learn more about daycare at Parkland Children’s Academy, contact us at 954-688-5877.