Program Overview:

Our learning focused environment creates daily opportunities for our students to develop and explore friendships and to extend their ever-growing social skills.  Each day, we teach Language Arts, Math, Social Studies/Science with hands-on activities, which turns learning into play! Music is closely integrated with our curriculum and used to seamlessly enhance learning experiences.  Art, a favorite part of the day, is packed with fun-filled activities that involve a great variety of materials. Open-ended activities, which is a core part of our Art program, allow for creative expression and growth on an individual basis. Spanish, Computer and Physical Education are also a key part of our weekly lessons. View a sample daily schedule and check out the classroom's photo gallery for images from a typical day at school. Visit the staff page to meet our teachers.

 

We offer a varied attendance schedule in this classroom with choices ranging from two half-days (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.) to five full days (7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) We are proud to have achieved and maintained Maryland State Department of Education Early Childhood Accreditation since 2005!

 

Program Overview:

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Our accredited Threes program is designed to enable students to develop the skills they need to be ready for Kindergarten and beyond. We strive to build a foundation of positive learning behaviors that are essential to successful learning. Our goal is to facilitate social, emotional and academic growth, through the use of the MSDE approved curriculum developed by the University of Maryland, Children Explore Their World.

 

The children are very active in the classroom – moving about in small learning groups to experience instruction and exposure in the following areas: Language & Literacy, Mathematics, Small Group Investigation (Science/Social Studies) and Fine Art. The degreed teachers, senior staff and classroom assistants are committed to providing positive, high-quality instruction. Computers and tablets, Spanish instruction and physical education are also a part of the weekly instruction.  View a sample daily schedule and check out each classroom's photo gallery for images from a typical day at school. Visit the staff page to meet our teachers.

 

Our Threes program is offered Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 3:00, with an extended care option from 7:30 a.m.to 5:00p.m.

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 We are proud to have achieved and maintained Maryland State Department of Education Early Childhood Accreditation since 2005!

 

Children must be three years old by September 1st of the enrollment year to be eligible for this class.

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Family Engagement

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​Family engagement is a fundamental component of children’s learning and development. Fostering children’s learning and development requires a shared, reciprocal responsibility between families and schools. Families and schools must work together to create a developmentally appropriate, safe, and healthy environment that will nurture the whole child.  We are grounded in the belief that every family should have access to appropriate resources, education and support.  We value the role families play in their children’s learning and the connection to children’s, home school and community. 

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Our Curriculum

A Child's Garden has been selected by MSDE (Maryland State Department of Education ) to  pilot the Children Explore Their World  (CEW) Curriculum created by the Center for Early Childhood Education and Intervention at the University of Maryland.  For more information click on the link below.

Children Explore Their World

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Children Explore Their World (CEW) is based upon the principles of “project-based learning”, a teaching approach whereby teachers encourage children to investigate a topic and follow their emerging interest.  The overall goal of CEW is to actively involve children in their own learning-emotionally, physically and cognitively. The curriculum includes eight interdisciplinary, content rich projects that build upon children’s knowledge and increase in complexity from week to week.  Each project supports children’s common understanding of a topic and nurtures the developmental characteristics that make children naturally curious about their world.

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Learning Domains

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The domains of learning focus on the sequential development of Skills, Knowledge, and Behaviors (SKB’s) to prepare children for success in Kindergarten.

 

Social Foundations

Much like the foundations of our homes, social foundations support our children as they interact with and learn about the world around them. They involve social-emotional skills, approaches to learning, and other foundations that researchers call executive functioning. Together, these skills form the foundations children need to thrive in school and life in the 21st century.

 

Language and Literacy

It’s easy to think of language and literacy as learning to read and write. That’s part of it, but the reality is that children start building language and literacy skills from the womb — even before birth. They hear sounds, start sensing feelings, and once they enter the world, communicate by cooing and crying. All of this forms the foundation of the language and literacy skills children need to succeed in and out of school.

 

Mathematics

Without knowing it, young children practice and sharpen math skills all the time. They sort toys, count how long it takes to run across the park, and note how tall they are in comparison with family and friends. Studies show all of these things, simple as they seem, pave the way to later success not only in math but also reading and science.

 

Science

Young children are natural scientists, exploring the world around them, asking questions, taking risks, and seeking to make sense of what they see and experience. When our children have a chance to observe and experiment with the world around them, their ability to do what real scientists do — predict, reason, problem-solve, and innovate — increases and stays with them as they move through school and life.

 

Social Studies

In early childhood, social studies explores what it means to live not only in a family but also in a neighborhood, community, and larger world. Through social studies children learn some of life’s most important lessons, including the role of rules in promoting things like fairness, safety, and order. They also learn how to follow rules, how to appreciate and celebrate individual differences, how to think critically and creatively, and the difference between past, present, and future.

 

Physical Well-being and Motor Development

In early childhood, the foundation for healthy living starts to form, and educators can do a lot to instill confidence and pave a path for positive, safe choices that can last a lifetime. Healthy foods and regular activity are like fuel for our children’s developing minds and bodies, and early opportunities to develop muscle groups and fine motor skills can make a real difference.

 

Fine Arts

Through the arts, our children experiment, think creatively, solve problems, work collaboratively, and develop other skills that are critical to school, work, and life in the 21st century. Research shows, in fact, that participation in the arts helps kids understand nuance, gain confidence, and show more enthusiasm for learning and school. Our art philosophy is "It's the process not the product"! This allows students the chance to explore the world around them, ask questions, and see how things work. Process art fits in with how children learn because it allows them room to be themselves, make their own decisions, and just create. Fine Art includes visual art,  music, dance and drama, integrated into all subject areas. 

 

Technology Education

Students in the Threes program explore technology through the use of IPADs.  Technology is used as a learning tool to supplement the curriculum and research and gather information. 

Spanish
The program's goal is to expose children  to the Spanish language through age appropriate songs, themes and concepts.