Early Childhood Center OUR DAILY PROGRAM
The daily schedule for the children is a guide. It provides a framework for planning and organizing the daily routine and play activities for the children. The daily routines for children will vary based on the age of your child.
Morning Meeting
Our ECC faculty have been trained in Responsive Classroom. As part of our continuing effort to integrate this student-centered social-emotional approach to learning, each day will begin with a morning meeting and end with a reflection. The goal is to build classroom community and close connections between students and teachers, nurturing the well being of all.
Social-Emotional Learning
We encourage the children to continuously compromise with their peers, find solutions to their problems, ask for help when needed, use appropriate language to express themselves, manage feelings, and form positive relationships. Children will be challenged to learn to express their wants and needs as well as learn to use social and linguistic clues to understand language.
Daily Tefillah, Tzedakah and Acts of Chesed
Tefillah helps children, at an early age, develop an appreciation for the world around them. Daily prayer builds their sense of community, deepens their sense of gratitude, and strengthens their relationship with Torah and Mitzvot. Part of your child’s program is to develop an awareness and commitment of beautiful Jewish values of giving of charity and performing acts of chesed.
Music and Movement
The children will engage in whole-group music and movement activities. The activities range from playing various instruments, dancing, and listening to diverse forms of music. The children will also become familiar with the various Israeli and Jewish songs.
Center Time - Indoor Investigations
Indoor investigations give the children the opportunity to explore, observe, hypothesize, question, and discuss to clarify their understanding through an activity of their choice. The various areas within the classroom offer open-ended materials for the children to investigate. The areas include writing, blocks, science and discovery, dramatic play, math manipulatives, library and listening, and music. Children are encouraged to extend their exploration and knowledge of a specific topic as well as encourage child-initiated learning. The children’s play will enhance a child’s natural curiosity, allowing for experiences that will contribute to and advance knowledge and understanding of the world. By providing a child with periods of uninterrupted play, with supportive interactive adults, we create the opportunity for a child to develop an understanding of the steps involved in critical thinking and problem solving, fostering a lifelong commitment to discovery and learning.
Outdoor Investigations
Outdoor investigations provide the children the opportunity to explore and investigate the outdoor classroom on the roof, weather permitting. The children are offered activities that physically challenge their bodies in natural ways while enhancing their gross motor abilities. Activities include but are not limited to climbing, balancing, and hanging as well as opportunities to work as a team through building or carrying activities. In the outdoor classroom, children also have the ability to connect with nature through sand play, gardening, and natural materials.
Literacy Circle
The children engage in whole group or small group discussions regarding a presented storybook. The storybook is typically related to a project or activity occurring within the classroom. During this time, the children are encouraged to comment, ask questions, and discuss topics related to the book.
Brain Builders
We encourage the children to be critical thinkers and think of themselves as researchers. We allow them to find solutions to their problems through scaffolding, to think symbolically through creations or pretend play, and to connect personal life experiences to classroom discussions and activities. Through play and day to day classroom experiences, the children gain skills in the areas of math, science and technology. In our environment, the children are encouraged to use principles of scientific inquiry skills in various forms in an effort to solve problems.
Learning Spaces Your children’s teachers intentionally and thoughtfully select classroom materials and design spaces based on an array of interests and to promote growth and development. By altering the environment and intentionally selecting manipulatives and materials, teachers provide new explorations for children to better support their learning. Each item in the learning space has a purpose and potential in engaging a learner. Our classrooms offer a myriad of opportunities for self-expression, creative thinking, problem solving and deeper learning.
Mealtime and Snack We offer a full lunch and snack service throughout the school year. Our ECC students eat in their classrooms. As eating is a sensory experience, the children are encouraged to try different foods, engage in conversation with their peers, and use appropriate table manners. Children learn to recite the proper brachot, blessings, before and after meals.
Rest and Recharge
We have embedded a time for rest, quiet play and recharging. Children’s brains are working overtime to absorb and process social situations, information, observations, and their own assessments of each event! Children are still learning to listen to their own unique body cues and benefit from thirty minutes of quiet time reading, listening to mellow music, or quietly playing with toys.
125 East 85th Street, New York, NY 10028 212-774-8000 • www.ramaz.org • @ramazschool