Curriculum
Early Connections’ curriculum offers a warm and welcoming environment where children can learn, grow and thrive in the early years of life, the vital period for children to develop the learning foundations necessary for lifelong success.
Our classrooms are designed to encourage children to actively engage, explore, experiment and develop the critical thinking skills necessary for problem-solving and independence. Our developmentally-appropriate, “whole child” approach to early education supports learning and development in all major domains—language, social-emotional, cognitive, physical, literacy, mathematics, science and technology, social studies and the arts.
Our curriculum is a strategic blending of Creative Curriculum (research-based) and The Storybook Journey (evidence-based). Utilizing both curricula in our classrooms, we integrate learning and literacy into all facets of the classroom through immersion in excellent children’s books. Children are introduced to timeless classic children’s literature as well as wonderful new stories and characters with a large selection of multicultural books. Using the concepts in the books, teachers tailor lessons and activities to meet the individual needs of the children based on each child’s development and progress. The Storybook Journey and Creative Curriculum encourage children to develop a love of reading and life-long learning.
My Teaching Strategies ®
Our dedication to providing the highest quality early education for children means we must assess the development of our children and provide individualized instruction to assure all children succeed. Early Connections utilizes My Teaching Strategies® to document each child’s development and learning over time, improve instruction and report to parents on their child’s progress.
My Teaching Strategies® is an authentic, observation-based assessment system for children from birth through kindergarten. It is grounded in 36 research-based objectives grouped in nine broad areas of development and learning: social-emotional, physical, language, cognitive, literacy, mathematics, science and technology, social studies and the arts. The objectives are aligned with The Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework and the Colorado Common Core State Standards for kindergarten. Through My Teaching Strategies® observations, children are determined to be meeting or exceeding widely-held expectations for their age group. This information is used to build individualized plans for each child, ensuring all children are entering kindergarten prepared to succeed.
My Teaching Strategies® is appropriate for children from birth through kindergarten, and parents can seamlessly track their child’s growth and development during the time that their child is enrolled at Early Connections.