Our Program & Curriculum
At Saint Peter Early Childhood Center, we believe children are most successful at learning when curriculum experiences account for their interests, strengths, needs, and lived realities. We look to each child to help us guide their learning. We value and respect children and believe that their theories and ideas are an important source of curriculum. This is why we have adopted the “Creative Curriculum” approach to learning.
In Creative Curriculum, both adults and children take initiative and make decisions. This power to impact curriculum decisions and directions means that sometimes curriculum is also negotiated between what interests’ children and what adults know is necessary for children’s growth and development. Ideas for curriculum emerge from responding to the interests, questions, and ideas generated within their environment, the group of children, and that particular time. Thus, Creative Curriculum is never built on children’s interests alone; parents and teachers also have interests worth bringing into the curriculum. The values and concerns of all the adults involved help the classroom culture evolve.
Teaching Strategies is a framework that describes how young children learn and develop which provides a guide for the curriculum in Ohio’s early childhood settings. We began to use the Teaching Strategies framework to guide our curriculum and goals for child development. We believe every child has the right to the best possible childhood. A copy of the Teaching Strategies document is posted on the Parent Information Board beside the front door in the Atrium. The teachers in the room use weekly observations of the children’s interests, developing skills and abilities and activities to plan activities for the following week referencing the Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards in conjunction with Teaching Strategies, allowing flexibility for spontaneous learning.
Please note: if a child requires additional support, the Center and with the parents’ participation will access specialized services to help meet the needs of each individual child. The Center staff will work in co-ordination with outside agencies to support the child, which may include individualized program plans, assessments, and team meetings.
Creative Curriculum, Teaching Strategies and Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards describes effective practices and emphasizes positive relationships as critical for quality early years programs. At Saint Peter Early Childhood Center we understand the importance of qualified Early Childhood Educators, working in partnerships with families of the children in our care and an early year’s environment that capitalizes on the interaction of these relationships to create an optimal learning foundation for children. This optimal environment is built on the four foundation of Teaching Strategies; belonging, well-being, engagement and expression. Our Center strives to create an environment where every family has a sense of belonging to our parish and center family, children’s emotional and physical health are a priority, the curriculum engages the children in learning and developing new skills, and lastly, everyone feels heard and their feedback valued.