Eagle Valley Child Care Association’s philosophy is based on a belief that children of all abilities are individuals who are curious about their world and have the powerful potential to learn from all that surrounds them. Our centers are Reggio Emilia-inspired. As such, they place an emphasis on children as active constructors of their own learning, with teachers present as guides, resources, and caregivers. Learning is a never-ending process and often takes on the most meaning in relationship to others. At EVCCA centers, children are encouraged to explore what interests them, develop their own thoughts, and find ways to share their ideas with others.
At Eagle Valley Child Care Association, we focus on child-centered teaching, developmentally appropriate practices, and the belief that ‘play is a child’s work.’ Our goal is to develop each child’s confidence, creativity, and social/emotional and life-long learning skills in our program. To support this goal, we use the Creative Curriculum – a learning curriculum that is designed to enhance learning in literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, and technology by focusing on big ideas, interesting projects, and individual students’ passions and needs.
The Creative Curriculum is based on objectives for development and learning that focus on all the most critical areas for success: social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language development. These objectives are built into every classroom activity, which means that the teacher helps your child develop skills and knowledge in these critical areas all day long. For more information about the Creative Curriculum, visit their website or ask to borrow one of the overview books in our library.
Child assessment is a vital component of all high-quality early childhood programs. Assessment is essential to understand and support young children’s development. Eagle Valley Child Care Association has selected Teaching Strategies GOLD (TSG) to measure child outcomes. TSG is an ongoing observational assessment tool based upon years of feedback from thousands of educators and significant research about how children develop and learn. TSG makes it easier for teachers to gather information in the classroom and communicate with families about children’s development and learning. All staff members are trained in the use of TSG, which includes the purpose and value of assessment and appropriate assessment tools. Eagle Valley Child Care Association assessment policy adheres to the NAEYC Position Statement: Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation. For more information about TSG, please visit https://teachingstrategies.com/product/gold/.
Our foundational goal at Eagle Valley Child Care Association is to help our students develop strong social and emotional skills. Instead of discipline, we use guidance. Guidance is about building an encouraging setting for every person in the group. It means helping young children understand they can learn from their mistakes, and it starts with showing them how. Research indicates that children with strong social-emotional skills tend to be happier, show greater motivation to learn, have a more positive attitude toward school, more eagerly participate in class activities, be more “kindergarten ready”, and demonstrate higher academic performance than students who exhibit social and emotional difficulties (Hyson 2004; Kostelnik et al. 2015).
Additionally, socially and emotionally healthy children are better able to establish and maintain positive relationships with adults and peers. To support our students in developing these skills, we take a proactive and preventive approach to guidance that reinforces appropriate behaviors rather than focusing on inappropriate behaviors.
- Our Environment: We provide children with exciting materials and engage them in activities that are appropriate for their age to keep them focused and attentive. We develop schedules that meet the needs of young children by avoiding long periods of wait time without activity. Yet, our schedule is flexible enough to follow the children’s interests as well as their cognitive, physical, and biological needs.
- Our Teachers: We work to develop a strong rapport with each child by speaking to children calmly, especially during redirections. We help children put words to their emotions. We use social stories to help teach our students healthy social skills. We strive to serve the individual needs of each child while ensuring the safety of all.
- Our Families: We communicate regularly with families to ensure consistency in guidance between home and school. We partner with families to offer support, guidance, and, if necessary, connect them with experts to help give their children the best foundation for academic and life success.
