Curriculum
Most experts will agree that children, especially young children, learn best in an environment which has a balance of structured and free choice activities. We embrace this concept and provide a wide range of hands-on activities that encourage children to experiment with science, math, language, reading, music, and art. Blocks, books, painting, toys, dress-ups, puzzles, manipulatives, games, and role-playing are available to the children during class time.
CPCP has chosen to use The Creative Curriculum. This program has been adopted by Baltimore County Public Schools and provides both direct instruction and hands-on activities, each of which will focus on the whole child. During the course of each class, the children will have the opportunity to participate in free choice activities, small group encounters, and whole group teacher-directed experiences. Free choice activities encourage personal interests and self-expression. Small group encounters are designed to enhance social skills and to provide reinforcement and extensions to concepts. Whole group experiences are intended to develop listening skills and the ability to follow directions, as well as to allow practice in being part of a group.
The Pre-Kindergarten Classes are structured to prepare your child for kindergarten. The classes will provide many experiences that will allow the students to be successful and to practice the necessary pre-reading and pre-math skills needed for kindergarten, while interacting with others in a social setting. A “letter of the week” program has been adopted to give exposure to the alphabet. Emphasis is placed on recognition and phonemic awareness. We also use Handwriting Without Tears to teach the children how to correctly form the capital letters. A “number of the week” program has also been implemented. Children are introduced to the numbers 1-20 and practice, patterning, one to one correspondence, addition, and subtraction.