Program Information

Fisher Early Learning Center Curriculum

Fisher Early Learning Center utilizes two research-based curricula as the foundations for our practices: 1) The Creative Curriculum (CC) and 2) Connect4Learning (C4L). CC is used in our infant through preschool classrooms. C4L is used in our Pre-kindergarten classrooms.

CC incorporates developmentally appropriate practices that consider the child's developmental level and provides opportunities for teachers to work with children who have various skills and abilities. The curriculum is delivered within a play-based format and integrates all areas of development including social-emotional, physical, language, cognitive, literacy, mathematics, science and technology, social studies and the arts within the daily classroom routine and structure.

C4L uses two fundamental academic domains - math and science - to provide rich content on which to build children's classroom experiences. Social-emotional and language-literacy learning domains are supported by focused fundamental academics. These four domains are woven together to ensure that each subject is addressed meaningfully and comprehensively with each child. It is an interdisciplinary, holistic, playful, digitally supported curriculum that is designed around learning trajectories.

Along with CC and C4L, the teachers and children engage in a project-based approach to learning and exploration, which incorporates the children's interests as well as their individual needs when planning short and long-term activities. Using a combination of teacher- and child-directed explorations, learning opportunities are embedded into daily routines where children are allowed to be active explorers of their environment as individuals, as well as in small and large groups. Teachers are there to promote the children's unique interests and to facilitate opportunities for a more in-depth acquisition of knowledge and skills.

Principles

Principles of Creative Curriculum

Learn about the five fundamentals that guide our practice and help our teachers structure preschool programs in a specific way.

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Principles of C4L

C4L aims to synthesize research-based approaches in four domains of learning: mathematics, science, literacy, and social-emotional development.

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Preschool/PreK

In the preschool years, routines, expectations, relationships and the environment continue to be important factors in growing and learning. In addition, children begin to diversify their interests and assert their independence in various ways. CC addresses all areas of development and allows teachers to modify their instructional activities to meet the needs and interests of the children. The curriculum provides a very comprehensive set of objectives to ensure that all developmental domains are addressed, and also a flexible structure to ensure that children's voices and values are heard and respected as a part of their learning journey.

In the PreK years, a more intentional focus is devoted to early academic competencies essential to later school success. In C4L, high-quality play and high-quality instruction complement and enrich each other.

Infants & Toddlers

In the early years of development, establishing routines and creating a responsive environment are essential elements to building a nurturing caregiving environment in which very young children feel safe. Furthermore, trusting and responsive relationships with caregivers are also critical to a child's sense of security. Assisting children to understand themselves and trust their environment is the focus of CC for infants and toddlers. Promoting self-regulation as well as a desire to explore and engage in one's environment is facilitated through strong relationships with caregivers and partnerships with families.

Progress Monitoring

Fisher utilizes the MyTeachingStrategies progress monitoring tool, which is designed for use with children from birth through Kindergarten. As the term indicates, progress monitoring is a practice that is used to observe children's growth and development over a period of time and evaluate the progress of their skills and abilities. Progress monitoring allows us to assess children's abilities, interests and needs across all domains of development and learning (Social-Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social Studies and The Arts.) Furthermore, as we observe and document children's abilities and skill levels, we are better informed to plan curricular activities that will complement and challenge their growth and development. Fisher participates in the Colorado Department of Education Results Matter program, a statewide program that promotes the use of ongoing, developmental, observation-based assessment in early care and education settings. Results Matter serves as Colorado's unified child outcomes measurement system for many early childhood programs and services.

For more information about Results Matter visit http://www.cde.state.co.us/resultsmatter