Preschool & Pre-K Curriculum

How We Teach

Clear Guidelines for Teachers

At Children’s Treehouse Learning Center we focus on creating trusting and supportive relationships between teacher and child. Children’s Treehouse practices HighScope’s Curriculum which includes defined teaching practices that enable adults to create effective early childhood programs. HighScope’s curriculum is research based and child focused. Through research it shows children learn through discovery, also known as Active Participatory Learning. At Children’s Treehouse Learning Center each day your child will read, play, create, explore, sing, discuss, observe, and move.

Three topics that are particularly important for our teachers to strengthen their programs are: adult-child interaction, classroom layout and materials, and the daily routine.

Adult-Child Interaction

Adult-child interaction is the process of working alongside children and communicating with them both verbally and nonverbally to encourage learning. A key strategy for adult-child interaction is sharing control with children. Additional strategies include supporting children's play, using encouragement instead of praise, and taking a problem-solving approach to conflict.

The Classroom

Our classrooms are divided into interest areas stocked with a stimulating range of materials designed for specific types of play, for example, house area, art area, block area, small toy area, reading and writing area. Materials are arranged in consistent places and the shelves are tagged with child-friendly labels so that children can get out and put away materials themselves. The classroom's organization also helps children understand how the world is organized, and concepts like more, less, same, different, large, small, in, out, in front of, etc.

The Daily Routine

In our daily routine there is a consistent framework for the day that provides a balanced variety of experiences and learning opportunities. Children engage in both individual and social play, participate in small-and large-group activities, assist with cleanup, socialize during meals, develop self-care skills, and exercise their small and large muscles. The most important segment of the daily routine is the plan-do-review sequence in which children make choices about what they will do, carry out their ideas, and reflect upon their activities with adults and other children.

What We Teach

A Comprehensive Curriculum

Children’s Treehouse Learning Centers Curriculum, is a comprehensive curriculum focused on the following eight Learning Domains, which are based on the dimensions of school readiness identified by the National Education Goals Panel. Our curriculum content areas are:

Approaches to Learning - Young children approach learning in different ways, each bringing a unique set of attitudes, habits, and preferences to their interactions and explorations. By understanding how to support this area of early development, adults can foster children's creativity, curiosity, confidence, independence, initiative, and persistence as they carry out their intentions, solve problems, and engage in a variety of learning experiences.

Social and Emotional Development - Creating a warm and nurturing environment in preschool not only helps children form trusting relationships with others but also promotes learning in all areas. Surrounded by our positive and supportive classroom climate, children are more likely to become engaged and motivated learners.

Physical Development and Health - Preschoolers are physically active. Our teachers use children's physical actions as a gateway to learning in all areas of the curriculum. They also focus on personal care skills and acquiring habits that foster lifelong health.

Language, Literacy, and Communication - The connection between language and literacy is powerful. Our Preschool Curriculum focuses on this connection by providing meaningful language and literacy experiences for children during every part of the daily routine.

Mathematics - As young children explore their environment, they are beginning to notice relationships that are the foundations for mathematics. They can sort and match things that are the same or different; they can also arrange things in simple patterns, based on their characteristics; they are beginning to understand the meaning of words and phrases like "more," "less," "a lot," and "the same as."

Creative Arts – Arts, Music and Movement experiences in preschool not only contribute to children's artistic and creative development but also to a wide range of skills in other areas, including perceptual, cognitive, language, and social skills. Children love to imitate and pretend play through building and art materials and music and movement. Each day your child will read, play, create, explore, sing, discuss, observe, and move.

Science and Technology - Young children are experimenters and testers from birth. If we observe young children as they explore their world, we will see them using science processes such as observing, classifying, experimenting, predicting, drawing conclusions, and communicating their ideas to others. Our teachers support these processes by providing hands-on materials and multi-sensory experiences that build on children's discoveries and help them develop the habits of mind and skills associated with scientific thinking. 

Social Studies - Our classrooms are a perfect setting for acquiring the basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes children need to live as contributing citizens in a complex society. Because young children are concrete thinkers, age-appropriate social studies experiences start with children's own lives and help them relate new learning to what is familiar. After their family, the classroom is the first society that young children belong to. For them, early social studies learning grows from their interactions with the people and materials in the preschool setting.

While learning in these domain areas prepares children for later schooling, Children’s Treehouse Learning Center takes the learning process beyond traditional academic subjects by applying methods that promote independence, curiosity, decision making, cooperation, persistence, creativity, and problem solving in young children.

Theme Based Topics of Learning

Our curriculum revolves around theme-based topics of learning. The child-related themes such as At the Zoo, Big Blue Sea, or Backyard Science provide a meaningful context for learning and foster a cohesiveness of learning throughout our school. 

Your child explores these interesting topics through reading and technology.  Your child writes about facts that he learns, creates related art projects, sings theme-related songs, and pretends with creative movement and free play. 

The weekly themes provide the “glue” that joins the learning domains of our well balanced curriculum.

Key Developmental Indicators (KDIs)

Our curriculum is based off these eight Learning Domains and guided by the HighScope’s Preschool Curriculum 58 key developmental indicators (KDI’s) that meet all state standards. Each KDI is linked to one of the dimensions of school readiness, and each is a statement that identifies an observable child behavior reflecting knowledge and skills in those areas.

Take a moment to explore Highscopes KDIs in each area by visiting www.highscope.org.

How We Evaluate

Why is Assessment So Important in Preschool Programs?

Research tells us that the best programs constantly measure how well teachers teach and how much children learn. They use the results to continue what is working and improve what is not; for example, to decide whether to provide more teacher training or to identify gaps in children's experiences.

Child Assessment

Children’s Treehouse Learning Center uses HighScope’s (COR) Advantage birth-to-kindergarten child assessment, which evaluates children's learning in all nine content areas. The tool assesses children's learning in every content area. Routinely, teachers and caregivers generate brief written descriptions, or anecdotes, that objectively describe children's behavior. They use these notes to evaluate children's development and then plan activities to help individual children and the classroom as a whole make progress.

Program Assessment

Children’s Treehouse Learning Center uses HighScope’s Program Quality Assessment (PQA) to evaluate our teachers and program and ensure we are using the most effective classroom and program management practices. Every area of classroom teaching and program operations is rated to identify strengths and areas for improvement.