Early Childhood Education
ECE NEWS
Summer Camp
Camp K’tonton is up and running for children ages 2-5. There are still a very limited amount of spaces for this exciting summer experience. For more information, call the ECE office at 615-5437.
2008 Fall Registration
Registration continues for the 2008-2009 school year. While there are spaces left in our Nationally Accredited Early Childhood program, some age groups and days are nearly full. Stop by for a tour and information about our school. The fall program begins on September 1.
Fall Enrichment Classes
Keep your eyes open for our exciting enrichment classes beginning in September: ballet with Ms. Kirby, clay with Gerry, Spanish with Little Amigos, computers, and several classes taught by Kristin Vizzini. Read the August Center View for more details on dates and times.
About ECE
Here at the JCC’s Early Childhood Education (ECE) Department your child embarks on a journey into the world of discovery and learning, wonder and excitement, spiritual growth and social development within a nurturing Jewish environment. We provide an enriching, multi-faceted early childhood education program for children from six weeks of age through pre-kindergarten.
Highly skilled teachers guide each child throughout the day to provide a developmentally appropriate program that emphasizes socialization skills, basic values and cognitive development.
For the youngest children, beginning programs concentrate on developing a sense of trust and curiosity while encouraging exploration within a safe environment. Time on the floor, stroller rides and quiet time within the arms of our caring staff ensure an environment that is both nurturing and stimulating.
Our toddler programs help children to develop an awareness of others and group activities are introduced. A play-based curriculum encourages language and social development through the use of songs, finger plays and stories. Baby sign language is integrated into the daily activities in order to encourage communication.
The two-year-olds are naturally interested in developing autonomy so there are more choices throughout the day. Stories are longer and children are encouraged to participate by commenting and questioning. Through our play-based curriculum there is continued exploration of how the world works. Gross motor skills develop through dance, physical education and playground activities and fine motor skills are developed in the classroom with a variety of manipulatives, paint, play dough and other media.
Our middle preschoolers (three and four year olds) are active with problem solving where the correct answer is far less important than an opinion. We promote the understanding of one-to-one correspondence as math becomes a logical way to understand the world. Children begin to identify favorite foods and solve simple problems. Communication takes on new forms as children begin reading environmental print, writing recognizable words, creating poetry and discussing the author’s intentions in a favorite story. There are imaginative activities where the children act out situations from real life and strive to find their own solutions. There are also lots of opportunities to ‘read’ to a friend and be read to by a teacher. Time is spent learning more about oneself and one’s friends, understanding feelings and learning how to become an effective cooperative member of a group.
For more information on our Nationally Accredited Early Childhood Education Department, please contact Charlotte Gould at 520.299.3000 x115 or Wendy Edmonds at 520.299.3000 x112.
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