Programs
GAP Child Care Center uses The Creative Curriculum® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos and The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool in our classrooms. The program was developed by Bethesda-based Teaching Strategies, an educational publishing company founded by a former preschool teacher that focuses on early childhood learning and development. Like us, they believe that effective and vibrant early childhood classrooms depend on an understanding of child development, and they base their program on early childhood education research and best practices.
Infants (6 weeks – 1 year) and Toddlers (1 – 2 years)
Our goal in the infant and toddler classrooms is to thoughtfully observe children in order to be more responsive to their interests and needs as we help them develop intellectually and emotionally. We connect each child’s actions and behaviors during our daily routine and various activities with selected objectives for development and learning. We can then respond to each child based on our observation and reflection.
Routines
Hellos and goodbyes
Diapering and toileting
Eating and mealtimes
Sleeping and naptime
Getting dressed
Activities
Playing with toys
Imitating and pretending
Enjoying stories and books
Connecting with music and movement
Creating art
Tasting and preparing food
Exploring sand and water
Going outdoors
Preschool - 2– 5 years
Our preschool classrooms’ age-appropriate curriculum encourages curiosity and introduces memory, reasoning, early literacy and math skills. We address 38 core objectives for development and learning that are fully aligned with the state early learning standards, and we offer interactions and experiences that are most important for children’s development.
Our preschool classroom contains 10 classroom interest areas that promote intellectual development.
We use a variety of music, movement activities, and games to teach numbers, colors, and letters and their corresponding sounds. Literacy and mathematics learning are incorporated into each interest area, as well as everyday routines and activities.
Children are regularly assessed for progressions in development and learning.