Coventry Curriculum

Coventry Learning Centers

Learning centers offer variety and great opportunity for growth in all areas of development. Children learn to interact with each other and materials in ways that encourage questioning and discovery. There is a planned learning center, in which children actively play, for each subject explored in our curriculum. Activities and materials are changed often within the centers. Themes are explored, discovered, and played out in these centers. Teachers have a role in guiding and assisting in discovery. Child-chosen play within each center involves using hands-on, active, sensory exploration and is basically "learning by doing".

Play is natural and instinctive to children. Valuable learning takes place during this time. Play is a way in which children can develop abilities to mentally represent and make sense of their world. While playing, they express themselves and work through fears, anxieties, and desires. Children can bridge form one level of thinking to a higher level through play. Play in our prepared learning centers becomes an exploration and discovery vehicle in which children develop knowledge and skills simultaneously. Play helps children develop physically and emotionally. Socio-dramatic play contributes to children's cognitive and social skills. Make-believe play strengthens a wide variety of mental abilities including memory, language, logical reasoning, imagination, and creativity. Because children enjoy playing, it keeps them motivated so they continue learning and exploring.

Science, Mathematics, and Technology

Through investigating, exploring, computing, manipulating, and constructing, children will develop process and problem solving skills, construct their own meanings, and aquire positive attitudes toward science, mathematics, and technology. Mathematics is embedded in our themes as children will sort, count, classify, compare, estimate, problem-solve, communicate, and construct projects. We will work on recognition and understanding in the following areas:

Amounts
Numbers
Geometric shapes
Counting
Addition
Subtraction

Many of our science activities will stimulate children's senses. Our activities are aimed at encouraging observation, comparison, exploration, testing, inquiry, and problem-solving. We will also concentrate on cause and effect. Baking will be a vital art of learning math and science. Through his we will look at proportions, quantities, and measurements. Baking also focuses on teamwork and fine motor skills.

You will find our classrooms filled with technology in the form of extending the senses with manipulatives for hands-on, minds-on explorations.

Language

Alphabet, phonics, and word and vocabulary skills will be strengthened and expanded. The ability to listen and to cognitively digest and communicate concepts will be exercised. These skills will develop from interacting in the classroom setting and during free playtime. Stories, games, rhymes, plays, reading, writing, and dictating are just some of the methods used to promote learning. Some word recognition will be stressed since it is one of the stepping stones to reading.

Fine Arts

All of the arts are valuable teaching tools that help reinforce lessons. Our projects encourage children to be creative and allow them to explore and express themselves. Through studio art, music, drama, and poetry, our children develop appreciation, participation, and responsiveness. These are fun ways that children learn and develop their motor control, cognitive abilities, physical skills, and social/emotional competence. Our program encourages children to develop their ability to perceive aesthetic qualities as well as develop skills in creativity.

Physical Education

Exercise is crucial to proper brain development and contributes to positive physical and mental health by strengthening muscles and freeing the body from tension. Challenging physical movement helps to increase attention span and concentration. Self concepts are enhanced as children acquire motor skills along with feelings of success and enjoyment. Through creative movement, children will use their sensory motor abilities and gain skills in body control by building on rhythm, tempo, timing, following directions, and group cooperation.

Morals

Moral development is a facet reflected into all growth areas, especially social and emotional areas. Children need the reassurance that our world is a fair, secure, and loving place filled with hope. Learning about morals and helping children develop the skills to use them gives children a sense of control over their feelings and emotions. Through our program, children learn the importance of empathy, sharing, caring, values, responsibilities to self and to others, self worth, positive attitude, respect, kindness, love, fairness, manners, honesty, compassion, and organization. These concepts are invaluable to children because they will guild and comfort them throughout their lives.

Nutrition, Health, and Safety

The early years are formative years in which many health and safety attitudes and habits are established that will be carried over into adulthood. Our major goals are to help children become more aware of things that influence their health and safety, help them assume greater responsibility for making positive decisions, and to become more involved in their own health and safety.

The "Open Window" Program

At Coventry School of Early Learning, we believe that the first years of life are the most critical and shape children for the rest of their lives. There are windows of opportunity that are powerful periods of brain growth that control and interconnect developmental skills. During these times of growth of the mental circuits and their communication pathways in the brain, it is critical and optimal to stimulate them. Stimulation causes growth and also prevents expiration of these circuits. We have developed a unique Open Window creative arts program that is designed to stimulate and expand creative windows of opportunity. We believe that every child has natural creative abilities. It is their environment and experience that determine whether children attain their creative and intellectual potential. Through our Open Window program, we offer additional classes to stimulate these crucial windows of opportunity that are waiting to be opened. The richer the environment the child inhabits, the richer his/her brain networks will be and the closer they become to reaching their full potential. Classes offered in this creative program include dance, music appreciation, second language, tumbling, and computers.

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