Curriculum
Christian/Spiritual Learning
The Christian Learning Center is a Christ-centered preschool that meets the intellectual, spiritual, physical, social, and emotional needs of the children we serve. We believe that every child is wonderfully made by God our Father. Therefore it is our desire to create and provide a loving Christian atmosphere that can serve to guide and nurture each child. We offer an environment that encourages children to pray and worship Jesus by actively participating in our interactive weekly Chapel. CLC integrates Christ’s love in every aspect of our curriculum. We encourage age-appropriate participation in several outreach projects to teach or children about having a service heart. We believe that when you nurture the whole child you equip them to “Shine the Light of Christ for all to see.”
Standards-Based Learning
The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are the essential first step for designing effective preschool lessons at CLC because they interconnect the emotional, social, cognitive, and physical development and learning of the whole child. As such, these standards are used as the base for reflective teachers as they create learning experiences that build on what children already know and capture their interest in learning. The Standards are intended to assist preschool teachers and administrators in shaping a meaningful and well-rounded daily program for children. They include examples of what children should know and be able to do along with a continuum of development when exposed to a variety of appropriate learning experiences. The Standards are grouped around five areas of children’s development, including (1) Approaches To Learning, (2) Social and Emotional Development, (3) Mathematics, (4) Language and Literacy, and (5) Physical Development and Health. These standards are not considered curriculum or assessment measures but rather a guide to each teacher’s daily curriculum planning. These standards can be viewed in more depth at: https://scendeavors.org/media/3sym1lya/sc_els-second-edit.pdf
Standards-Based Training
Children who participate in high-quality care and education programs are better prepared to begin formal schooling with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for success. CLC teachers and administrators are accredited by the South Carolina Center for Child Care Career Development and attend rigorous high-quality early childhood professional development on the core competencies which increases the teachers’ levels of expertise. This document, The Foundation of Excellence: South Carolina Core Competencies for Early Childhood Teachers/Caregivers and Program Administrators, can be viewed at, https://scendeavors.org/media/2a4fa5xa/corecompetencies.pdf
Adopted Curriculum
Handwriting Without Tears is a developmentally-based, award-winning handwriting curriculum developed by occupational therapist Jan Z. Olsen. It is appropriate for use with preschoolers through cursive writers. Its emphasis is on teaching preschool children body organization/awareness, socialization skills, and directional concepts necessary for pre-writing and writing. Your children will participate in music movement using the Get Set For School CD, and they will meet/create Mat Man in their classroom! They will play with the Handwriting Without Tears wooden pieces (i.e., “big/little lines” and “big/little curves”). This program promotes hands-on, multi-sensory methods for teaching children proper letter and number formations. To learn more about how you can best support your preschooler’s pre-writing and writing skills at home, please check out the website at http://www.lwtears.com/. You will find a wealth of parent-specific information, and the website is very user-friendly.
