Children playing while sitting in chairs

Programs

This stage is marked most radically with the infant’s needs to develop as unique individuals with behaviors and growth changes ever present.

The infant program provides for the following goals:

To care for infants in a warm, affectionate way that lets each child know that he/she is a special person, including the physical affection and cuddling that is so important at this state of development
To meet each child’s physical needs completely
To provide opportunities for exploring, learning and social interaction through a good variety of daily activities
To prepare activities to stimulate the senses recognizing that infants learn through the use of their eyes, ears, fingers, sense of taste and smell
To establish a safe environment for exploration
To provide a consistency between Day Care and Home Care practices that will be most beneficial to the infant and will offer the parents an opportunity to influence the kind of care that their child receives

The toddler stage can be seen as one of the most challenging times and rewarding ones.

Program goals for Toddler Group include:

To provide a nurturing, flexible, and calm atmosphere where physical affection is freely given, self-concept is enhanced, independence is encouraged and expectations are made clear
To meet each child’s physical needs while setting the stage for future independence in self-care, i.e., toilet training, putting on coats, putting on shoes, etc.
To promote emotional growth:
- To build self-confidence and a sense of self-worth by allowing choices within limits and to build on successful experiences
- To encourage curiosity and a sense of wonder with an environment that is designed to limit the use of “no”
To promote social growth
- To promote and instill a sense of caring for and sensitivity towards others; foundation for respect is established
To promote intellectual growth
- To provide an atmosphere where children discover and explore – to provide experiences with open-ended questions
- To provide a wide variety of activities within an outline where cooperative play is encouraged
To promote physical/motor development
- For children to use their bodies in a variety of active ways by participating in fine and large motor activities both indoors and outdoors
- To engage in simple games and songs
To provide for the language development that is so important at this stage of development
To develop self-help skills in order to create a feeling of independence and confidence in the child

For this age group, the most important aspect of the program is to promote preschooler’s self-esteem. In every area of his/her development – physical, cognitive, psycho social – the child strives and looks for adult support.

Program goals:

To build self-confidence and a sense of self worth by allowing choices within limits and to build on successful experiences
To promote and instill a sense of caring for, and sensitivity towards others
To provide a nurturing, relaxed, caring environment where self concepts are enhanced, independence encourages, free choice decisions offered, social skills acquired, and individuality respected.
To provide for each child’s physical well being while in our care
To provide opportunities to develop large motor skills and coordination through physically active play
To develop in each child an appreciation for beauty and nature
To provide a wide variety of activities within a routing where cooperative play is encouraged. Curriculum areas include art, math, science, music and dance, dramatic play, language arts and fine motor skills. Through these activities, children learn to trust their own feelings about they learn, hear, see and do, and begin sharing these experiences with others.