Reviews
“We have 17 month old twins that are enrolled at First Steps. My husband and I love that I can drop the kids off in the morning and he can pick them up in the afternoon and we do not have to worry about them throughout the day. We know they are in good hands. They have a great curriculum and enjoy going there. The teachers are very nice and spend quality time with the kids. We get children s daily activity sheets and it s nice to know that they aren t just playing with toys all day long. They are actually doing constructive activities that are the building blocks as they move up through the program and move onto the next age level classroom. It s always nice to get new fridge decorations too! We love it at First Steps and couldn t ask for a better place to bring our kids and group of people!“
- greatschools.org
First Steps Nursery School Philosophy
We believe that children learn best by actively engaging with people and things in the environment. Our children should be involved in hands-on experiences, real-life adventures, and assisted discovery as they explore concepts through play. The core of our HighReach Learning curriculum we use is “Teaching and Interacting with Purpose Using Learning Zones.” This helps our teachers focus on learning approaches that can be adapted to the individual needs of our children, which can be developed during any type of experience or interaction. The Learning Zones take advantage of the back and forth interaction between our teachers and children throughout the day.The HighReach Learning curricular approach is based on:
- Relationship-based learning
- Sound early childhood research and theory
- Emergent curricular development
- Project-focused play investigations
- Intentional planning and teaching strategies
- Involving family, culture, and communities
Outcomes
We have heard from both parents and local elementary school teachers alike, that First Steps children are very well-prepared for Kindergarten and First Grade, especially in literacy competency and social development. We attribute this to the skill and experience of our teachers, as well as the large amount of observations, coaching, and feedback our center directors provide.Perhaps that is one of the reasons our families choose to enroll their other children at First Steps as well.First Steps Curriculum Builds 21st Century Skills
First Steps has been offering CompuChild for the past 8 years!
Research shows that children who use computers at a young age have greater developmental gains in cognitive, social, language and physical skills. Through participation in CompuChild classes, children gain a solid understanding of the computer as a valuable learning tool. Not only will children master basic computer skills, they develop academic readiness skills in math, science and reading as well as life skills to prepare them for the challenges of tomorrow. Using the standards created by International Society for Technology in Education as guide, our curriculum provides students with early technology literacy.
A love of learning is promoted through:
- Creativity
- Innovation
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Critical Thinking
- Problem Solving
- Decision Making
- Digital Citizenship
