Our Curriculum
Emergent Math
Here’s a peek into how we include the exploration of numbers in our day:
Playing with Numbers: We blend counting and sorting into all aspects of our day. During playtime, storytelling, or structured lesson time, we use engaging methods to help children recognize and enjoy working with numbers.
Hands-On Learning: Our approach involves using a variety of tangible items, such as building blocks, shiny gems, and Legos. These materials make learning tangible and fun, helping kids grasp concepts like matching, recognizing patterns, and understanding basic addition.
Shapes and Measurement: Children are introduced to shapes in an interactive way, learning to identify and create them. They also engage in practical measurement activities, such as building towers and then measuring their height, or using calendars to comprehend the concept of days and months.
Growing with Math: Our program is tailored to each age group. Tadpoles begin with foundational skills like number recognition and basic counting. As they progress to the Frogs group, they explore more advanced concepts such as diverse counting techniques and an introduction to simple fractions.
STEM
Explorations to ignite curiosity.
Nature Walks and Scavenger Hunts: Our large and nature-rich playground area allows students to explore the outdoors and engage in scavenger hunts, learning about various natural elements like leaves, rocks, and trees.
Gardening Projects: Our little gardeners plant seeds and watch them grow to understand the life cycle of plants and the importance of nature's resources.
Insect and Animal Discovery: Using magnifying glasses, children get up close with insects and learn about different animals, their habitats, and roles in the ecosystem.
Water Play and Simple Experiments: Through playful experiments our kids learn about the properties of water, and basic concepts like floating and sinking.
Sensory Bins: Sensory bins filled with natural materials offer hands-on exploration of textures and elements like sand, rocks, and leaves.
Exploring Shadows and Light: We use sunlight to explore shadows, teaching children about light, how it travels, and how shadows are formed.
Easy Science Experiments: Safe, simple experiments bring fun and excitement to learning about reactions and textures, fostering a love for scientific discovery.
Social Studies
Our Social Studies program is all about understanding people and our world. We focus on fun ways to build social skills, learn about different cultures, and connect with our community.
Second Step Program: Our program targets early learning success, school readiness and life skills. We focus on valuable skills like empathy, problem-solving, and managing emotions to help our Pixies understand and care about others.
Developing Social Skills: Every day we weave social skills into our activities with storytelling, dramatic play, and during special learning moments. Children get plenty of playtime to practice being good friends and learn how to get along with others.
Celebrating World Cultures: We explore music and stories to celebrate the beautiful diversity of our world. Families are invited to share their unique cultures and traditions to make our learning experience rich and diverse.
Learning About Jobs and Careers: Local heroes and community helpers like police officers, firefighters and doctors visit us to show the important jobs people do in our community. We love when families come in to share about their jobs or hobbies to make learning about careers exciting and real.
Art
Here we celebrate the boundless creativity of our young learners by immersing them in a colorful world of artistic expression.
Visual Arts Magic: Each day is a new adventure in creativity. We explore theme-based art projects, turning ideas into visual expressions. Our young artists experiment with a variety of materials – paint, chalk, tissue paper, and more, creating masterpieces that are treasured by families.
Musical Explorations: Music fills the air at Pixie Hill with songs, rhymes, and the rhythm of instruments, helping students learn through song. Dance sessions with scarves bring movement, laughter, and energy to our music.
Dramatic Play Adventures: Our playtimes are rich with storytelling and imagination. Children dive into roles with dress-up costumes, puppets, dolls and play kitchens. Each month brings a new theme to our dramatic play areas, from a bustling apple orchard to a veterinarian's office to a farmers market to a post office, sparking endless imaginative play.
Outdoor Imagination: The fun continues outside where children create their own fairy gardens, embark on sandbox treasure hunts, and engage in playful rescue games.
Beyond the Classroom Adventures
We’re proud to offer a range of unique and engaging activities to enhance our curriculum and bring extra joy to our students' learning journey.
Here's what makes our program so special:
Creative and Interactive Learning: We partner with KidsQuest Children’s Museum for interactive learning adventures. Our Pixies get creative with color mixing and have a blast with 'glorious gak' experiments, blending science and fun.
Musical Merriment: Every month, we're joined by local artist Nancy Stewart for music classes. These sessions are not just about learning notes and songs; they're about expressing joy and learning through music, enhancing our students' musical rhythm and appreciation.
Nature and Wildlife Encounters: We have visits from the animals and experts of Cougar Mountain Zoo. These encounters provide our children with a unique opportunity to learn about animals, their habitats, and the importance of nature conservation.
Centers-Based Learning
Imaginary Play and Creative Learning
Our Centers-based Learning is a colorful mosaic of playful exploration and joyful discovery with weekly and monthly changing themes.
Here’s what makes each center a fun expedition:
Discovery and Sensory Center: One week, children might dive into the wonders of the human body and the next week, they could be budding entomologists, exploring the fascinating world of insects. Our sensory bins offer a new tactile experience weekly. Children dig their hands into kinetic sand, creating mini construction sites, or splash in water play, fishing out alphabet letters to create ‘alphabet soup’.
Building Center: Calling all young architects and engineers! Imagine and create with blocks, Legos, and magnetic tiles. Build towering structures, design incredible machines, and collaborate on epic construction projects. It's where blueprints of imagination come to life!
Dramatic Play Center: Children can wear costumes and dive into make-believe, whether they're running a mini-market, caring for patients in a pretend hospital, or sharing tales with puppets and dolls. The center transforms regularly, becoming a pumpkin patch, a bustling farmers market, a friendly vet office, a dentist’s clinic, a cozy family kitchen, or even a busy post office.
Art Center: Unleash your inner artist! In the art center, children can paint, draw, and collage their way to masterpieces. With art supplies that change out weekly, it's an opportunity to have free reign over their artistic expression.
Puzzle and Writing Center: Embark on a quest of puzzles and letters! Solve puzzles, and scribble and sketch in our pre-writing activities. Here children get to choose to play with letters and puzzles that challenge and excite.