Council on Rural Services has transitioned to a new Preschool Curriculum. The curriculum of choice is The Creative Curriculum. The Creative Curriculum is research-based and will offer our teachers opportunities to assess and evaluate our children with valid and reliable assessments. The Creative Curriculum will enable students to become more knowledgeable of their interests through educational opportunities that will be interest based.  This transition will also enable parents to have immediate access to their children’s assessment outcomes, journal with the teacher, assess the children at home, access classroom newsletters, and much more from any internet access point.  Parents will be invited to take part by having their own account on CreativeCurriculum.Net, which offers all of these opportunities.

The Goals of Our Curriculum: The most important goals of our preschool curriculum are for children to get along well with others and become enthusiastic learners. We want children to become independent, self-confident, curious learners who can work well with others. We are teaching them how to learn, not just in preschool, but all through their lives. We do this by creating purposeful and productive play experiences that help children grow in all areas.

Our curriculum identifies goals in four areas of development.

• Social/emotional – to help children develop independence, self confidence, and self control, follow rules and routines, make friends, and learn what it means to be part of a group.
• Physical – to increase children’s large muscle skills – balancing, running, jumping, throwing, and catching – and use the small muscles in their hands to do tasks like buttoning, stringing beads, cutting, drawing, and writing.
• Cognitive – to acquire thinking skills such as the ability to solve problems, to ask questions, and to think logically – sorting, classifying, comparing, counting, and making patterns – and to use materials and their imagination to show what they have learned.
• Language – to use words to communicate with others, listen to and participate in conversations with others, understand the purpose of print, recognize letters and words, and begin writing for a purpose.

Through the activities we plan and the way we organize the classroom, select toys and materials, plan the daily schedule, and talk with children, we seek to accomplish the goals of our curriculum and give your child a successful experience.