CURRICULUM

The curriculum at FACE Children's Center is child-driven. To decide on a theme to use in a classroom, the teachers do a variety of things. They observe the children at play to see where their interests lie. They interact with the children to prolong and extend the play and gain interest level. And they listen to the children to learn of knowledge gained through the activity.

After a child-driven theme is chosen, the children are directly involved in the planning. The teacher will ask two very important questions:

1. What do you know?
2. What do you want to know?

The answers given decide which direction the theme will take.  As the theme develops, the teachers are constantly observing and listening to the children to see what interests them. Many times a theme will start out in one direction and change course due to the children's participation and attention level.  A theme always has teacher-oriented goals that must be accomplished, but the way to do this can vary immensely.

OPEN-ENDED ART

At FACE, art is an open-ended creative process for the child. Our teachers prepare the environment for children to learn through active exploration of materials. The success of open-ended art is directly related to children being able to express themselves freely in a manner that has been created by them.

Natural creativity is developed in a low-key, non-intimidating setting. With open-ended art there is no right and wrong for the child to contend with, therefore eliminating any sense of failure that could be felt in a structured project. Our teachers place the emphasis of creativity on the process rather than the finished product.



Teachers and children are constantly interacting during this time. Children build language skills describing their work. The children work together to clean up, developing a spirit of cooperation around the art table. The end result is a roomful of happy artists!

FIELD TRIPS

Our annual spring field trips for the Chipmunk and Butterfly Classes are to Southwick  Zoo and The EcoTarium. Parents sign permission for their child to attend the trip and pay the admittance fee for each field trip.

When traveling off-site, we travel by a school bus equipped with seat belts. We leave the Center at 9:30 and return between 1:00 and 3:00 depending on the field trip. Children bring their own picnic lunch from home.

We also have walking field trips to local playgrounds in the Spring.

HOLIDAYS

The Board of Directors and the staff of FACE feel that a policy of openness and inclusivity is imperative if we are to teach our children understanding, and if we are to contribute to a world filled with justice and peace.



Therefore, as a culturally diverse childcare center, we strive to incorporate many aspects of family celebration into our classrooms. Holiday celebrations will be explored in a thoughtful manner by our staff through age-appropriate art, stories, songs, and food.