| Curriculum |
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At The Oxford School our two main focuses are 1)providing a safe and nurturing environment for our students and 2)providing a developmentally appropriate curriculum. Our curriculum uses a combination of structured and unstructured activities to develop each child’s knowledge of Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Health, Music, Art, Large Motor, and Small Motor Skills. Each classrooms schedule allows for a variety of activities while allowing for children to explore their interests, creativity, and social development. We work with each child individually using ongoing assessments to help ensure that each child is being challenged, having fun, and developing appropriately. Our teachers and director are always available to address concerns and share ideas. Our curriculum establishes a group of focuses for each age group including: Infant: *Care – Nurturing and ensuring needs are met *Language Arts – Songs and stories Encouraging vocal expression Sign Language Circle Time *Small & Large Motor Development – Toys including blocks, books, balls, etc. Sitting up, crawling, and walking Beginning to feed themselves *Music – Instrument and rhythm exploration Songs and singing *Art/Sensory – Exploring different materials to express creativity Toddler: *Language Arts – Expanding vocabulary and communication skills Exploring the alphabet, emphasizing letter recognition by sight and sound Sign language *Math – Identifying the numbers 1-10 Counting from 1-20 Recognition of shapes and colors *Social Studies – Recognizing family members Learning the consequences of sharing and the concept of morals and manners Encouraging imaginary and dramatic play *Science/Health – Exploring with hands on experiments Hygiene including, tooth brushing, hand washing, and toilet training Recognizing body parts *Art – Introducing children to multiple materials to create art Encourage individual creativity Small motor skills including writing and scissors *Music – Introduction of various instruments Stretching, dancing, and marching to music Learning short songs and finger plays *Creative Movement – Dancing, stretching, aerobics, marching with instruments Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten *Language Arts – Recognizes letters by sight and sound Improving handwriting skills Pre-reading skills Monthly sight words Individualized reading programs Rhyming and syllable recognition Recognize and write own name in print Sign language *Math – Number concepts 1-50 One more or one less Applying math to daily lives Positions and attributes *Social Studies – Family and friends Sharing and concepts of morals and manners Pledge of Allegiance Roles of a citizen of city, state, country *Science/Health – Health and hygiene Living and non-living things Hands on experiments and exploration *Art – Encourage expansion of individual creativity Multiple means to create art Using art to explore weekly themes *Music – Exploring different types of music Using numerous instruments Encourage child’s involvement in rhythmic activities and singing *Creative Movement – Dancing, stretching, marching with instruments, and aerobics Kindergarten *Language Arts – Individualized reading programs Sight words and phonics Handwriting Daily journal development Expression and comprehension through pictures and writing Sign language *Math – Numbers, number sense, and operations #1-25 Shapes and positions Measurement, patterns, functions, sequence Problem solving *Social Studies – Caring for school environment Responsibility to follow directions and rules Explore cultures and environments Community members Wants and needs Rules, the need for them, and responsibility for actions History *Science – Exploration of plant s and animals Colors and weather |