Why First Baptist?
Parents today are faced with many things when it comes to raising children and one of the most important things is their education. Picking a preschool for your child is no easy task. This will be their introduction to school! This is the first step on the ladder of education. So how do you choose? How do you know if that school is the school for your child? Well unfortunately there is no easy answer to those questions. Today there are so many things out there related to education and a lot of misinformation. Many parents still think that if their child knows their ABC’s, can count to 10 and write their name then they are ready for Kindergarten. Nothing can be further from the truth.
We believe that curriculum should be integrated with high-quality assessment, professional development, and family connection resources to create a well-rounded program that addresses the needs of early childhood education professionals, children, and their families. The Creative Curriculum implements a developmentally appropriate program that promotes children’s social-emotional development while learning in the core areas of literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies. It combines the latest research and the freshest ideas into a forward-thinking approach to learning–one that honors creativity and respects the role that teachers play in making learning exciting and relevant for every child in their classrooms. Our unique approach is designed to inspire teachers, to help them create a high-quality learning environment and, most of all, to support their important efforts as they open doors to successful learning.
Over the years studies have revealed that academic content alone cannot be the sole focus of any good quality preschool program. Learning the alphabet and numbers and writing their name are not the only things children need to learn in preschool. Cognitive, social and physical skills are vital at this age. Cognitive skills/abilities are brain-based skills we need to carry out any task from the simplest to the most complex. They have more to do with the mechanisms of how we learn, remember, problem-solve, and pay attention rather than with any actual knowledge. These are things like motor skills, perception, decision making, language skills, etc. Social skills are the skills they use to communicate and interact with each other, both verbally and non-verbally. Physical Skills are the skills necessary to perform tasks like jumping, balancing, running, holding a pencil, cutting, etc… These involve both fine motor and gross motor skills. As you can see, everything your child will need to succeed will start here. It is at this age children will develop the skills needed throughout the rest of their lives. Think of preschool as “setting the stage” for their future.
Children need to develop a sense of self and independence that can be used throughout the rest of their education as well as in their adult lives. The development of specific personal and social dispositions is imperative to children between the ages of 3 and 5. Children need to develop a sense of initiative, responsibility and independence. In addition to these dispositions, it is important for a child to develop the dispositions of curiosity, friendliness and co-operation. These dispositions lead to strong critical thinking skills which is vital to children as they grow, learn and then throughout their adult life. We at First Baptist believe that children develop these skills best through play which is why our learning and teaching philosophy is “Learn Through Play”. It is through active exploration/learning (play) that children learn the most and while they are “playing” the teaching opportunities are endless.
At First Baptist our certified teachers follow our philosophy in the classroom. Gone are the days of having kids sit and learn to write their name over and over or the days of worksheets that have no meaning to children this age. Our classrooms are setup into learning centers and the children move freely within these centers and LEARN! After morning circle time/welcome time, the children go to the learning centers and our teachers work with them throughout the day. Don’t be fooled, there is a reason for EVERYTHING we do. Playing a board game can be used to teach counting skills and a white board on the wall can be used to teach proper writing techniques while strengthening their fine motor skills so they will be ready for the next step of writing their name on a paper. A fun sensory bin filled with objects hidden in sand can be used for letter recognition as they search for specific letters. Our teachers play along with them while supporting their learning through open ended questions and scaffolding. Our teachers are also able to teach to EACH child’s level of development and guide them individually at the level they are at. Children cannot write their name without developing fine motor skills needed to achieve this goal. Think of it like this. ALL children must have certain skills before moving to the next stage just like they needed to learn to crawl before they walk. They must learn to hold a spoon before they can feed themselves. This never changes. We at First Baptist teach children the necessary skills needed for the next stages of life as well as skills they will need for the rest of their lives.
