Curriculum

Overview 

At New Generation Learning Center, our primary goal is to support comprehensive child development encompassing academic, social, and emotional skills. Recognizing that each child progresses at their own pace and has unique learning styles, our dedicated teachers craft personalized lesson plans tailored to their classroom’s needs. We are committed to nurturing and empowering every child to reach their full potential. Success for us isn’t solely defined by early reading ability or athletic prowess; we value emotional intelligence, empathy, teamwork, and the ability to learn independently. It’s essential that children not only acquire knowledge but also develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Our curriculum adheres to the New Jersey Standards and Guidelines for Early Childhood Education, and we take pride in surpassing expectations across various domains.

Socioemotional Development 

At our daycare, fostering social and emotional development is a top priority for us. We understand that parents choose daycare to provide their children with opportunities to make friends and grow in these crucial areas. We actively promote social interaction through encouraging conversations and emphasizing good manners. Each week, we concentrate on key skills such as sharing, taking turns, using indoor voices, respecting personal space, expressing emotions verbally, and seeking adult assistance when needed.

In addition to social skills, we help children learn practical information about their environment, including their parents’ names, home address, and phone numbers. Our aim is to cultivate independence, self-help abilities, and self-confidence in every child. We believe these skills are essential for kindergarten readiness and for navigating life successfully.

 

Languages

From their very first day with us, children are immersed in language, naturally eager to imitate the sounds and words they hear. At our center, we support young learners as they progress from their first words and songs to reaching key reading milestones by the time they graduate from PreK. Each day, we engage them with enriching story times and foster a love for reading through independent reading moments.

We utilize a diverse range of learning strategies to introduce letters, ensuring that we cater to different learning styles. These include visual, tactile, and auditory approaches, such as letter scavenger hunts, creating letters with playdough, tracing, and gradually progressing to writing and spelling. Our goal is to guide children from recognizing a few letters to confidently reading their own names and enjoying simple, engaging books.

Additionally, we enrich their language experience by offering Russian, Chinese, and Spanish, helping children develop multilingual skills and a broader understanding of different cultures.

 

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math).

This area blends science education with a focus on fostering creative and out-of-the-box thinking. Beginning at the age of 2, children engage in various scientific concepts. They explore counting, measurements, color mixing, and the reactions between acids and bases. Our approach encourages children to formulate their own questions and hypotheses, promoting critical thinking from an early age.

We offer a range of challenges to stimulate creative problem-solving skills. Children progress from observing experiments to actively conducting, predicting outcomes, and recording their findings. Our curriculum also includes activities that transition from basic counting of fingers and steps to tackling simple addition, subtraction, and word problems.

 

Arts and Crafts 

Artistic expression plays a vital role in children’s development, providing them with a powerful means to express themselves. At our center, art is integrated into the curriculum across all age groups, recognizing its significance in fostering creativity and communication.

While we guide and offer ideas for art projects, our emphasis lies more on the process rather than the final outcome. We teach essential skills such as using scissors, coloring within boundaries, handling glue, and painting techniques. It’s important to note that we encourage children to enjoy the creative process without imposing our expectations of perfection. We support their artistic journey while allowing them the freedom to express themselves authentically.

 

Music and Theater 

Engaging in music and theater is equally essential as learning academic subjects like letters and numbers. At our center, we prioritize musical expression through comprehensive music classes twice a week. In these sessions, children explore rhythm and tones, learn to play instruments together as a group or “band,” sing, clap, and engage in various musical activities.

As children progress, they’ll have the chance to showcase their skills during special occasions, providing them with valuable experiences. Performing fosters teamwork, teaches responsibility through collaborative efforts, helps overcome stage fright or prevents its development altogether, boosts self-confidence, and broadens their creative horizons. These experiences are integral to their holistic development and prepare them for a well-rounded future.

 

Sports 

Physical activity plays a crucial role in early childhood development, fostering active minds that learn and perform better. At our center, we prioritize ensuring that children engage in at least 2 hours of vigorous physical activity daily. Weather permitting, we make it a point to go outside every day to cultivate healthy exercise habits.

To integrate daily exercise into our routines, we actively involve each student in diverse dance activities during circle time. We also avoid prolonged periods of sitting still, encouraging movement throughout the day. Additionally, our curriculum includes extracurricular activities such as soccer, dance, gymnastics, and yoga, all designed to promote an active and healthy lifestyle among our young learners.

 

Gardening 

Our center is committed to sustainability, striving to be a daycare where we teach children the importance of caring for our planet. Through our year-round garden program, children learn basic principles of zoology and botany. They witness firsthand the life cycles of butterflies, ladybugs, frogs, and even chickens by growing them from larvae or eggs. We emphasize composting and the vital role of worms in soil health, observing them in action.

During fall, we collect various leaves and identify local trees. Our gardening classes include creating bird feeders and learning about songbirds and other backyard birds. In winter, we continue our gardening activities indoors, preparing for the summer season. Additionally, we engage in aquaponics projects, using fish tanks to explore sustainable food production methods.