CURRICULUM:

Each child is special in their own way.  We provide individual curriculums to suit each child's needs that allow them to work and excel at their own pace.

I use thematic units to encourage curiosity, self-direction, and confidence. My program helps children make connections across all developmental domains, learn new concepts and practice other early learning skills!  I use a hands-on approach to learning math and science skills. Daily language experiences are introduced to support literacy and language development. I get the children involved in group play to develop listening, sharing, and cooperation skills.

Because of the wide variation of developmental stages and ages in our program (1 mo. - 5 years) I incorporate several different learning approaches because all children learn in different ways.  Different lessons or activities are handled with a variety of approaches to learning, Traditional and Montessori. 

Our traditional program has a weekly thematic unit for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.  These units are posted for parents each week on the parent communication boards.

Part of our program has a Montessori approach which incorporates respect for each child's individuality.  Children primarily receive new lessons on a one-on-one basis or in small groups, allowing each child to progress at his own rate. By grouping younger children with older children the younger students are involved in many levels of activities that allows them to watch their older classmates working on more complex lessons - a strong motivational tool!  The older students evolve into leaders and teachers in the classroom, building confidence as they help their younger classmates.   The students return each year to the same classroom, primarily the same group of friends, and the same teacher, making the classroom a familiar, stable environment in which the child can simply concentrate on building the person that he will become. Please visit my Approach to Learning link to learn more about our Montessori approach to learning.  

My program promotes thinking, talking, exploration, discovery, and learning with a touch of Montessori activities along with preschool themes made for infants and toddlers.

We also offer a kindergarten readiness program for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Each day we offer the children circle time, art projects, songs and stories, learning games and many other fun daily activities. My program, which was developed by a highly educated and trained childcare provider, includes a fun monthly curriculum, which focuses on the children having fun while learning. My monthly themes are broken down into weekly themes; such as frog week, butterfly week or pumpkin week, plus many other weekly themes. Our weekly themes have activities, songs and games to help the children learn in a fun and positive way. Our curriculum is designed to promote school readiness skills; to develop good manners, strength of character and social skills; and to foster creative play.  Music helps to develop young brains and will play a strong role in day-to-day activities. We may have special music activities and may also play music during other activities, for example, during arts and crafts or meal times.

My professional in-home child care provider created program will also teach the children to identify and comprehend numbers 1 through 10 or 20 and the alphabet.  Your child will learn to count to ten in Spanish. He or she will learn pre-math skills including recognizing basic shapes, counting, sorting, sequencing, and more by using my child-centered preschool program. Through circle time, music, stories, games and daily activities children will build language skills that will help them when they begin reading.

In addition to the daily crafts, which are unique to my program that we have planned for your child, my program will incorporate the curriculum of the Language Enrichment Activities Program (LEAP).  Here at La La's we are very much into education of your child. LEAP is an early literacy program with a scientific research base and a proven record of giving children a strong foundation for learning.  Today, LEAP is used in urban and rural preschool settings across the nation.  LEAP is a multisensory, enriched language program, which provides daily lesson plans to be used throughout the year.  The teacher guides that I use are key components of LEAP.  The guides, which contain daily lesson plans, emphasize the areas of receptive and expressive language, phonological awareness, knowledge of the letters of the alphabet, colors, shapes, basic concepts, pre-writing skills, fine motor skills, and math and science concepts, thereby increasing your child’s chances for success in kindergarten. The focus of the program is on ways to improve preschool education.  The core of this program is to read aloud from books and include language in a variety of activities every day. Longitudinal data indicates that children who participate in LEAP not only begin kindergarten prepared in the area of pre-reading and math skills, but also sustain an academic advantage through the third grade and beyond. 

The goal of LEAP is to prepare children to enter kindergarten functioning closest to an age-appropriate level of development.  By entering kindergarten prepared to learn, most of these children are completing the year performing above the national norm, thereby greatly increasing their chances of succeeding in school.

For additional information, visit:  http://www.leapsandbounds.org

Be sure and look at the TEA (Texas Education Agency) Prekindergarten Curriculum Guidelines  http://www.leapsandbounds.org/teaguidelines.htm. They can also be found on the menu on the left side of the LEAP site under TEA Guidelines.  This will give you a complete overview of the Language Enrichment Activities Program LEAP that I implement in my home preschool.

We talk to and read to the children as often as possible during the day, modeling correct grammar and a rich vocabulary. We also incorporate counting and word games, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and creative play in learning centers throughout the day. Engaging infants and toddlers in activities with music, pictures, environmental print, literature, writing, and language experience charts that encourage print awareness.

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