Our AHpproach to Curriculum
The C&M AHpproach Curriculum
The very talented teachers at C&M have worked tirelessly to provide their students with a curriculum that highlights the important areas of development through environmental exploration and play. Here at C&M, we have created our own curriculum to ensure that students are getting the most well-rounded experience while they are with us. Our curriculum focuses on social and emotional learning through teacher-led and peer discussions by providing talking points for all activities. We have divided our curriculum into four different , overlapping age groups to put developmental needs of the individual child at the forefront of our mission.
Infants
The infant curriculum is for infants ages zero to 15 months old. The primary development for young infants are motivated by their search for a sense of security while mobile infants development primarily revolves around discovery.
Feelings of comfort and security are the critical components of maternal-infant bonding, which leads to healthy psychosocial development.
Babies and infants are also being introduced to social skills. Just talk to them like you would anybody else. Even though they may not understand what you are saying, they are learning to be social by interacting with your words.
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Each week we teach our students a new word in sign language. This program has helped us communicate with all children, not just those who are able to speak. One of our main goals is to remain inclusive and we see a lot of children who are non-verbal, English language learners, and littles who are still learning to speak. Sign language has become a tool to bridge the gap between those who can communicate with words and those who cannot. We have become so thankful for this tool as it has opened doors for children who were struggling so badly before. Below you will find the list of the words we teach our students each year, including the most important words for basic communication.
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Language is crucial through infancy. Although babies don’t respond with words, they are retaining everything. Speaking to an infant teaches the basics of conversation skills and proper usage of language. This promotes relationships and is the main window into social and emotional development at this age. Speaking to and infant is one of the most important things that a caregiver can do to promote all areas of early development. This can be done through daily narrations, reading stories, playing music, and maintaining eye contact while talking to a child. This category is just as simple and easy as it sounds but must be done correctly to be the most effective!
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Physical development through infancy has tons of small milestones. This is a time to focus on big and small muscle development with activities that target specific muscle groups. Very young children should be practicing things like tummy time and reaching for objects very early on. Some of their goals before transitioning out of this stage include rolling, sitting, feeding themselves, picking up and manipulating toys, head and trunk control, pulling up on things, exploring their environment, and so much more. Children may fall behind in certain areas and will need exercises that highlight specific parts of physical development; you can find all you need for that and more throughout our curriculum activities.
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Sensory play for infants is a great way to get small muscles moving while keeping learning and exploration fun. Babies can gain observation skills and content knowledge just from playing with different sensory materials. While these type of activities are a newer, less formal way of learning, they are still a valuable part of a play based curriculum. Primarily, babies can practice their fine motor skills while playing in a sensory bin, but there can be so much more! When they are facilitated correctly, they can be used to introduce content knowledge basics, build language skills, form social bonds, and practice good relationship skills. Sensory activities are a relaxing way to involved more aspects of development in learning and play!
Toddlers
Our toddler curriculum is for toddlers ages 12-30 months old. The primary development this age group is autonomy. Autonomy is the sense of being in control of one’s own actions and the ability to determine one’s one behavior. An example of autonomy in toddlers is simply just letting them be more independent. Maybe they want to pick out their outfit one day. Maybe they want to pick out their snack at snack time. Let them!
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Each week we teach our students a new word in sign language. This program has helped us communicate with all children, not just those who are able to speak. One of our main goals is to remain inclusive and we see a lot of children who are non-verbal, English language learners, and littles who are still learning to speak. Sign language has become a tool to bridge the gap between those who can communicate with words and those who cannot. We have become so thankful for this tool as it has opened doors for children who were struggling so badly before. Below you will find the list of the words we teach our students each year, including the most important words for basic communication.
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Language development in toddlers is still very similar to that of infants. They are gathering words as they go and beginning to string phrases together. We’re still a little ways off from full sentences but well on our way to purposeful language use. It is imperative to continue to use caregiver relationships to continue to build upon the language base the child has already created. Books and daily conversations are the easiest and most effective way to do this! Music, object labeling, and sign language can also help build language skills.
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Physical development in toddlerhood is starting to take off! These kiddos are mastering walking, starting to run and jump, tiptoeing, skipping, the list goes on and that’s just their legs! Their fingers are able to do more purposeful and tedious tasks with small manipulative toys, writing utensils are being discovered, play-doh and slime are a regular sight in the classroom, and their arms are getting stronger everyday. The activities children this age are doing should highlight and build upon their new skills.
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Sensory development for toddlers is all about their senses! This is the time where they want to get messy, and let them! They will not only have so much fun, but they will be learning to explore their senses as well.
Take this time to let them explore and discover how their actions affect what's around them. Sensory play supports brain development, enhances their memory, and helps them with complex tasks and problem solving.
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Small group activities are so beneficial for this age, too! Teachers can get to know their students on a more individualized basis by sitting in small groups (or one on one!) for activities. This style of teaching can be used to cover any content area or teach any concept— our curriculum offers great ideas inside on how to do so! Children have the opportunity to form more meaningful social bonds with their peers and teachers through small group exercises as compared to different learning formats. Simply pulling a group of three kids to the side to work on a project while the rest are doing guided free play can be so meaningful developmentally.
Our preschool curriculum is for preschoolers ages two to four years old. The development for this age group changes a ton by each year. Preschoolers are primarily motivated by identity. Understanding how self-identity develops in children has helped psychologists recognize how children build relationships, how they develop behavioral traits, and how certain events may impact a child’s self-esteem.
With this age group, three year olds are still continuing to gain independence and want as much control in their lives as they can get. Let them. Let them pick out their outfit one morning before school. It may be frustrating when they can’t decide what they want to wear, and they are taking way longer than expected, but let them. Wake up a few minutes earlier to let them decide what they want to eat for breakfast. Letting your child be more independent when they’re ready is so good for them.
Preschool
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Each week we teach our students a new word in sign language. This program has helped us communicate with all children, not just those who are able to speak. One of our main goals is to remain inclusive and we see a lot of children who are non-verbal, English language learners, and littles who are still learning to speak. Sign language has become a tool to bridge the gap between those who can communicate with words and those who cannot. We have become so thankful for this tool as it has opened doors for children who were struggling so badly before. Below you will find the list of the words we teach our students each year, including the most important words for basic communication.
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Preschool age children have finally strung words together into sentences and are using language to get what they need. This age group needs language activities to continue to build on this foundation and promote its use further. Children have the ability to suck information up like a sponge; use this skill to build dense vocabularies and rich language skills. Same rules apply as before: books, conversations with eye contact, music, and open ended questions will harbor best results here.
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Preschool physical development is easy because what needs to be highlighted can be done through all activities. Most children of this age should have gross motor skills mastered: running, climbing, throwing, kicking, jumping, and more. Fine motor skills may need refined but can be done through simple play based activities. These children are working on writing and eating utensil usage, hand eye coordination, and combining movements to accomplish a task. Different STEAM activities are great for highlighting these skills.
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Children of this age love sensory activities. You can float just about anything in water and hand them a strainer and they are all about it. These activities can be used to teach content areas, promote social and emotional development, and emphasize fine motor skills. Dyed rice, different colored water, anything that can be scooped and dumped, all make great sensory bin fillers.
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Small group times in preschool are a great way to promote discussion and collaboration. Children can practice language skills and teamwork while completing tasks. This time can be used to teach a variety of topics and have theme related discussion and can be a great way to have more thorough conversations with your students. Small group time can build leadership skills and help children understand the importance of role delegation to accomplish a goal. Children can benefit from hearing what their peers think about a topic and building off of that idea with guidance from an adult. Examples of how to positively impact children during small group time can be found throughout our curriculum!
Pre-K
Our Pre-K Curriculum is for children ages 3.5 years to 5 years old. Like preschool age, the development for this age group varies and is primarily motivated by identity.
At the age of four, children begin to realize their words have power and may use them to get their way. They can become competitive and may blur reality with fantasy. With this age group comes intense emotions and your children may hit, spit or kick. It’s best to speak with them after their large emotions have settled down.
Once they are a bit older and hit the grand age of five, they start to show empathy towards others and are figuring out that others may view things differently than them. They find it difficult to share, but you will see them being able to more and more.
Sharing can be a very hard concept to grasp. If two children are fighting over the same toy, we like to have both children hold the toy at the same time while talking to them. This is called co-holding and has them focus more on the solution instead of being upset that the adult took the toy.
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Each week we teach our students a new word in sign language. This program has helped us communicate with all children, not just those who are able to speak. One of our main goals is to remain inclusive and we see a lot of children who are non-verbal, English language learners, and littles who are still learning to speak. Sign language has become a tool to bridge the gap between those who can communicate with words and those who cannot. We have become so thankful for this tool as it has opened doors for children who were struggling so badly before. Below you will find the list of the words we teach our students each year, including the most important words for basic communication.
-
Language development in toddlers is still very similar to that of infants. They are gathering words as they go and beginning to string phrases together. We’re still a little ways off from full sentences but well on our way to purposeful language use. It is imperative to continue to use caregiver relationships to continue to build upon the language base the child has already created. Books and daily conversations are the easiest and most effective way to do this! Music, object labeling, and sign language can also help build language skills.
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Physical development in toddlerhood is starting to take off! These kiddos are mastering walking, starting to run and jump, tiptoeing, skipping, the list goes on and that’s just their legs! Their fingers are able to do more purposeful and tedious tasks with small manipulative toys, writing utensils are being discovered, play-doh and slime are a regular sight in the classroom, and their arms are getting stronger everyday. The activities children this age are doing should highlight and build upon their new skills.
-
Sensory development for toddlers is all about their senses! This is the time where they want to get messy, and let them! They will not only have so much fun, but they will be learning to explore their senses as well.
Take this time to let them explore and discover how their actions affect what's around them. Sensory play supports brain development, enhances their memory, and helps them with complex tasks and problem solving.
-
Small group activities are so beneficial for this age, too! Teachers can get to know their students on a more individualized basis by sitting in small groups (or one on one!) for activities. This style of teaching can be used to cover any content area or teach any concept— our curriculum offers great ideas inside on how to do so! Children have the opportunity to form more meaningful social bonds with their peers and teachers through small group exercises as compared to different learning formats. Simply pulling a group of three kids to the side to work on a project while the rest are doing guided free play can be so meaningful developmentally.
Themed Curriculum
Our themed curriculum goes hand in hand with our weekly themes! These activities/lessons are for every age group, and can be altered in any way if need be. Our teachers have worked hard to create the best possible lessons for our students that highlights all the same areas as our regular curriculum. Each lesson has talking points to really emphasize social emotional learning, and is divided into four categories of developmental needs for all students.