D303 Early Childhood Curriculum

The environment at Haines Center and each classroom space children learn in is uniquely suited to the way preschoolers learn and promotes quality learning interactions and experiences. It includes:

• Intentional, meaningful learning experiences
• Building on prior knowledge and interests of each student
• Facilitating active engagement in self-directed learning experiences

We use the Creative Curriculum for Preschool, a research-based curriculum, as our foundational framework. The five components of the framework include:

• How Children Learn & Develop
• The Learning Environment
• What Children Learn
• Caring & Teaching
• Partnering With Families

The curriculum teaches the whole child in four developmental domains: Social/emotional, Physical, Cognitive, and Language. In addition, six content areas are addressed throughout the curriculum: Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Technology, Social Studies, & The Arts.

The Creative Curriculum for Preschool is aligned to the Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards (IELDS). The IELDS are designed to help teachers and caregivers plan educational experiences for young children that will help them be ready for kindergarten. The standards provide reasonable expectations for children’s development in the preschool years. A benchmark is a step on the way to meeting a goal appropriate for a particular age group. The benchmarks are essentially a list of things most young children should be able to learn, know, and do before they start kindergarten.

Our multilingual learners are learning more than one language. Did you know we have over 20 languages spoken in homes of our students? It is something worth celebrating, as being multilingual has numerous benefits. It is important to note that the understanding and use of a child's first, or home, language is the first step in acquiring English proficiency and English literacy skills. If you have a multilingual learner in your home, keep reading, speaking, and writing in your their first, or home, language. When found eligible for English Language Learner services in preschool, our classroom teachers provide the appropriate English Language Learner services for students that are found to be eligible. Along with this comes.... more standards! There are 6 additional benchmarks in the IELDS which align to 2 objectives in Creative Curriculum for Preschool.

On Wednesday, November 19, your child's teacher will share this school year's first "Family Conference Report" with you. This includes information about your child's current knowledge, skills, and abilities which are collected through observation as your child participates in the daily classroom activities at school. Your child's teacher will also share some next steps for development and learning. You don't need to sign and return the form, but please do reach out to your child's teacher if you have any questions.

Our students that receive Special Education- that have an Individualized Education Program (IEP)- will also receive goal updates at this time.