Every child is unique and deserves the opportunity to experience, express, understand, and learn about their emotions. We focus on developing a child’s self-image, focusing on positive behaviors and building rewarding and fulfilling relationships. Focusing on developing the child’s ability to identify and understand their own feelings as well as to understand the feeling of others. We also work to help a child build their self confidence through successful learning and responsive nurturing interactions from our teachers.

The world today is more advanced and complex than ever before. Our focus on science and engineering helps to foster a child’s natural curiosity about the world, promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills, increase collaboration opportunities, and helps the child learn how to focus and maintain the ability to observe. Through science and engineering children learn persistence, learn trial and error, build confidence and develop analytical skills, which helps them learn about how things work around them.

One of the major steps of early childhood education is developing the ability to read and understand what is being read. Depending on the age of your child and their ability this can be as simple as learning letters to emergent literacy to reading independently. Phonological awareness, vocabulary, understanding how to read and write letters and words, letter blends, beginning and end sounds, reading comprehension, sequence understanding, and so on are all components of this subject. As your child grows up with The Sapling School, we will work on increasing their ability and help them make their way toward reading on their own.

In order for a child to understand the world around them math will play an important part. Through exploring patterns and shapes, comparing size differences, and counting objects, younger students will learn mathematical basics. As they get older, the focus will shift to more advanced concepts including addition and subtraction, understanding money and time, the beginning of fractions and so on. Math is incorporated in a variety of ways both through formal instruction and through play. Children will learn how to refine their ability to solve problems, use number concepts, and explore skills.

It is more than just running around; physical development refers to the increased ability for both fine and gross motor skills. When children are younger the focus is on gross motor skills primarily, such as standing, holding themselves up, walking, jumping, etc. As children get older the attention then shifts to fine motor development, which are the skills needed to engage in smaller more precise movements, typically involving the hands. This helps to build, write, and express themselves artistically with precision. In addition, we look to have a well-rounded academic experience and know that it is healthy for students to have a certain level of physical movement in order to maintain a balanced body.

It is said that artistic activities increase a child’s intellectual development, stimulating both sides of the brain. It is easy to see the many benefits of artistic expression as it increases the capacity of attention, concentration, memorization and the release of emotion. It also helps to build the sensory skills of a child, learning the different colors, reaffirming their knowledge of different shapes, primary and secondary colors, in addition to much more.

We are all a part of the world and at The Sapling School we like to celebrate those differences. Starting at around age two children start to realize differences between people. It is important that they learn that all are equal and special regardless of gender, race, age, or ability. Through self-understanding, reflection and their teachers, students will learn what it means to be respectful, empathetic and open. Students will find ways to communicate, encourage positive relationships, and challenge stereotypes all while learning to understand themselves. Students will learn about different cultures through song and story, learning about different cultural holidays, learning about their peers’ different multi-cultural practices, and exploring other parts of the world.