Learning

Learning

Learning in the Classroom

HSYC’s educational program is designed to meet each child’s individual needs and prepare them for school and life. Every child receives a variety of learning experiences to foster intellectual, social, and emotional growth as they learn about their feelings and appropriate ways to express them. Children participate in indoor and outdoor play in safe, high-quality learning environments that promote the development of literacy, language, number concepts, inquiry, and critical thinking skills. Every effort is made to provide a classroom environment that is culturally comfortable to all families.

Curriculum & Assessment

Creative Curriculum: HSYC identifies Creative Curriculum as our primary curriculum for ages 0-5. Throughout the school year, HSYC uses Creative Curriculum’s environmental guidelines to help support the Teachers in designing their classroom’s layout. These intentional classroom set-ups are designed to reinforce play based learning and support teaching practices.

Second Step: HSYC also incorporates Second Step in our classroom environments. Second Step is a holistic approach to building supportive communities for every child through social-emotional learning.

Conscious Discipline: Head Start uses Conscious Discipline to promote positive relationships. In our classrooms, everyone can learn to use healthy social skills and have safe behaviors. Conscious Discipline supports all children to learn the social, emotional, and behavior skills they need to be successful. There are 7 skills that can be used at home as well as school and at all ages or developmental levels. As parents of young children in this program, you will learn more about Conscious Discipline and strategies for using it at home.

Growing Early Mindsets: GEM empowers young learners. It is a literacy-based program that blends growth mindset, social and emotional learning, and mindfulness.

Desired Results Developmental Profile: HSYC uses the assessment tool Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) which helps us to evaluate children’s developmental progress throughout the year and children’s time while participating in HSYC services. Home based and classroom activities provide opportunity for staff and parents to make observations focused on all areas of children’s development, including language, literacy, mathematics, social and emotional development, approaches to learning, science, physical skills, and creative arts.

Ages and Stages Questionnaire: The ASQ is a series of questionnaires completed with parents that provide a quick check of early development in the ages of 1 month through 5 years. Results help to determine if a child’s development is on schedule or if further evaluation with a professional may be needed.

Learning at Home

Parents of children in our program are provided strategies that can be used to support children’s behavior at all ages or developmental levels. Positive Behavior Intervention Supports is based on three main ideas:

  1. Children need to know what is expected of them.
  2. Children need to be directly taught the correct way to behave.
  3. Appropriate behavior needs to be encouraged and acknowledged.

At HSYC, we believe that Positive Behavior Intervention Supports is a great way to help all children learn the skills they need to succeed socially, emotionally, and behaviorally.

RIDE Skills

R – Reflect on their speech

I – Imitate their play

D – Describe what your child is doing

E – Enjoy your time together

When adults utilize these social emotional teaching strategies they:

  • Interact with children to develop their self-esteem.
  • Demonstrate active listening with children.
  • Show empathy and an understanding of children’s feelings.
  • Show sensitivity to individual children’s needs.
  • Encourage confidence in autonomy.
  • Capitalize on the presence of peers.
  • Use modeling, prompting and reinforcement of interactions effectively.
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