Curricular Components

12 Principles of Child Development and Learning

As set forth by The National Association of the Education of Young Children

All areas of development and learning are important.
Learning and development follow sequences.
Development and learning proceed at varying rates.
Development and learning result from an interaction of maturation and experience.
Early experiences have profound effects on development and learning.
Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-regulation, and symbolic or representational capacities.
Children develop best when they have secure relationships.
Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and cultural contexts.
Children learn in a variety of ways.
Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation and promoting language, cognition, and social competence.
Development and learning advance when children are challenged.
Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learning.

Here at Little Folks School we utilize a variety of methods to fulfill students individual developmental needs, click each to read more:

Play

Our program is “play-based” with significant portions of the day devoted to self-directed, imaginary play. Our goal is to support and encourage activities initiated by the young child. Time spent in this way has great purpose and significance for the child; these activities are not random and have a pattern and organization. Allowing children the time and freedom to complete these activities to their personal satisfaction nourishes each child’s powers of concentration and attention. At Little Folks, we respect and value the self-initiated play of young children.

Pro-Social

At Little Folks School, we believe that early childhood is an important time to build strong pro-social skills. We support children in their social emotional development in a variety of ways:

We help children label their feelings and the feelings of others.
We guide them through steps of social problem solving and then provide them time to solve problems on their own.
When designing activities, the emphasis is on cooperation rather than competition.
We consider the layout and arrangement of classrooms, thinking through optimal experiences for social skill building.
Children’s literature is utilized.
We initiate discussions about sharing and provide concrete experiences.
Each class develops a strong sense of community and children feel a sense of belonging, both within their class and within the larger school.

Visual and Performing Arts

Art

Visual arts are an important part of our days at Little Folks. Art activities, important in their own right as a means for children to express themselves creatively, also help to develop the pre-academic skills necessary for future learning. Each class incorporates an open-ended art activity into their daily plans, providing children with experience using a variety of media.

Music

Music is an integral part of our group meetings at LFS and utilized throughout the curriculum. Our main objectives at the early childhood level are for children to develop their singing voices, to develop a repertoire of songs and to progress toward a recognition of the steady beat. In addition, children will develop the concept of fast and slow, loud and quiet, and high and low. The music program taps into a child’s natural curiosity and love of music.

Movement and Drama

Children’s literature provides a vehicle for our exploration of movement and drama. Children become actively involved in activities based on story time books. This allows for “whole child” participation through movement and the dramatization of stories that have been presented.

Pre-Academic Skill Development

Literacy

The Little Folks School creates an environment that celebrates reading and writing. Each classroom has a Library and children’s books as well as writing materials can be found in many other areas of the classroom. Teachers model writing throughout the day and we find organic opportunities for children to practice letter formations. Pre-academic skills, necessary for reading and writing, such as visual discrimination, auditory discrimination, phonological awareness and alphabet activities are incorporated through the school day in playful ways.

Numeracy

We enhance children’s natural interest in mathematics and help them to explore mathematical concepts through play and daily activities. Mathematical ideas and processes such as sorting, comparing quantities, identifying shapes and patterns, identifying numerals, counting and developing one-to-one correspondence are woven into daily activities and classroom materials.

Science

Focusing on science is a natural and critical part of children’s early learning. Because of children’s curiosity about the natural world, science is a powerful catalyst for their work and play. With the teacher’s help, this natural curiosity and need to make sense of the world becomes the foundation for beginning to use skills of observation and inquiry to explore basic phenomena and materials of the world. This early science exploration can be a rich context in which children can use and develop other important skills, including working with one another, basic large and small motor control, language, and early mathematical understanding.

Motor Skills Development

Gross Motor Development

Teachers incorporate time for locomotor activities (jumping, dancing, walking, running, galloping) through group games and movement activities, walks around the neighborhood, trips to Volta Park, and playing in the "Zoom Room," our indoor gross motor space.

Fine Motor Development

Opportunities for fine motor development are plentiful! From art materials to using small manipulatives to play to serving snack, the school day is filled with moments to build hand strength, dexterity, and control.

Mixed Age Education

At Little Folks, we have four classrooms that are mixed age, meaning children ages 2.5 to 5 years old all learn in the same classroom. Mixed age classrooms stem from a Montessori philosophy but we are not a Montessori school although we do have teachers that have Montessori training. Mixed Age classrooms provide an enriching experience for older students, younger students, and everyone in between!

Here are some of the benefits that happen in a mixed age environment:

Younger students look up to their older classmates. Because children stay in the same classroom from year to year, there is usually someone from the previous year who knows the rules and routine of the classroom already.
Older students become confident leaders. Older students model prosocial behaviors and participate in discussions on a deeper level. Older students leave Little Folks confident and proud of their abilities.
The class feels like a family. Each class of children and teachers often spend more than one year together. Little Folks. School becomes a place where they are truly comfortable. They are seen and loved at school.

Emergent Curriculum

At Little Folks School, our emergent curriculum means that teachers plan lessons and activities based on the interests, strengths, and needs of their students. We trust our teachers to plan activities that are loaded with learning but also fun! They choose themes that are relevant and interesting to their group of children. Planning is done on a week by week basis and often incorporates ideas or questions from the children, resources from the school community, or other topical events.