Our Approach to Early Education
A Wall Street Journal article told of a preschool in Virginia that advised a mother her 3 year old was behind because he didn't know now to write his name. The school suggested remedial drilling with flash cards which she tried until she and her child were so frustrated that she stopped. Some years later, her child is doing quite well in elementary school.
We at Creative Habitat Children's Center reject the cookie cutter philosophy of preschool education exemplified by this story. Children develop at different rates. Furthermore, preschool is about more than academics. Equally important are social and emotional development. That being said, however, every child needs to attain a certain level of academic development prior to kindergarten, and our purpose is to insure your child is fully prepared socially, emotionally,and academically to succeed and enjoy kindergarten when they leave us.
If you haven't been exposed to kindergarten recently, you may be surprised. Children learn to read and write in kindergarten. They keep written journals and are expected to have rudimentary punctuation knowledge, such as the significance of periods, exclamation points and quotation marks. There is a heavy emphasis on phonetics to decipher words. In math, they learn addition and subtraction, and they are exposed to art, computers, history, science, and a variety of other subjects.
Our academic program begins at the infant stage and progresses to our pre-k class. On a typical day at Creative Habitat, the children have outside play after breakfast, to burn off some energy prior to their classroom work. Midmorning is devoted to teacher directed academics. The afternoon typically has both teacher directed activities and child directed play. Every week has a theme to maintain continuity across all classes in the school. Themes are influenced by national theme weeks, holidays, events, and seasonal changes. We encompass a variety of activities both serious and simply fun.
We also meet with local kindergarten teachers to understand what incoming students are required to know and what changes are expected in the future. The director and teachers are always available to discuss your child and his or her academic progress.
Creative Habitat Children's Center
1190 West Latimer Avenue
Campbell, CA 95008
408-374-4442
Hours: M-F 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM