Children's Ark Academy, Alpharetta

CURRICULUM We are committed to nurturing the whole child socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and intellectually. We incorporate the use of a faith based curriculum here at Children's Ark Academy. The Pinnacle Faith-based curriculum is a research-based early childhood curriculum, designed with both teachers and students in mind. Based on the works of Piaget, Gardner, and Erikson, Pinnacle uses lessons that engage children in developmentally appropriate activities that adhere to NAEYC guidelines. Pinnacle uses lesson plan guides, activity enrichment, and long-range goals linked to key standards. Your toddler will learn things like basic language arts, numbers and Bible lessons. Beginning with the 2/3 year level, they learn vowel and consonant sounds and recognition of lower and upper case letters. By Pre-K they will learn to blend phonic sounds, pronounce one and two vowel words and read sight words throughout many books. In addition to writing skills they, develop language & listening skills that include color words, shapes, animals, transportation, countries, community helpers, health, safety, manners, and science. Pinnacle curriculum gives us the opportunity to fully prepare your child for kindergarten. Children work on projects that expand their creativity and imagination, learning letters, phonics, science, and counting numbers. Our goal at Children's Ark Academy is to honor God in everything we do and teach the children about God. We do this by including Bible stories, verses, songs and prayers in our everyday activities. These activities are provided in a safe, loving and nurturing environment. The children are assessed twice a year in the fall/spring, we use an assessment preschool observation checklist and evaluation tool. THE EXPERIENCE Children are our top priority. We provide a safe, secure, and loving environment for every child from 6 weeks to 12 years old. Our desire is that every child who comes into our care will learn and know that there is a God in heaven who loves them unconditionally. Our curriculum combined with a fun, relaxing environment make an excellent place for kids. We want to partner with the child's parents to keep your little one headed in the right direction...God's direction! Your experience at our school should be one of Galatians 5:22-23 which reads "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Children's Ark Academy is a happy place where children laugh, learn, sing and play and pray. They explore nature, climb, run, exercise, and make lifelong friends. Best of all, they grow in God's love under the watchful guidance of a devoted team of experienced teachers who have chosen Early Childhood Education as their career path. INFANTS AND CRAWLERS We provide a safe, warm and stimulating environment for your child's development. Specific places for sleeping, playing, diapering and feeding provide a sense of order and security in a cheerful atmosphere. Your child's personal crib provides a cozy and familiar place for sleeping. As your baby begins to sit up and crawl, colorful surroundings and toys encourage exploration and learning. The infant rooms and equipment are specially designed to engage the senses and stimulate your child's physical and mental development. Lots of hugging, singing, rocking, reading and playing are standard fare in every infant room. Children respond best to warm, face-to-face interactions, so our teachers always interact at their level. Our teachers will communicate with you every day when you drop off and pick up your child. We also use PreciouStatus a simple, powerful, mobile app connecting families to educators anytime, anywhere, on any device. Family members receive private, real-time photos, updates and bulletins for infants, toddlers, twos and pre-schoolers from their teacher charting their progress. TODDLERS Your baby's first years of life are an amazing time, filled with discovery and enormous growth. Your toddler is asserting his/her independence in new ways every day. We recognize that children at this age may be at very different stages of development. Some may have just started walking, while others are already exploring the many other facets of their emerging development. Our toddler rooms provide a flexible and fun environment that supports every child's need for a balanced day of small group activities, free-play, music and movement, reading, outdoor plays and quiet time. A variety of learning centers encourage toddlers to find and use the materials, toys and equipment that spark their interest. Through fun activities and gentle guidance, our toddler teachers create a nurturing environment that stimulates learning in a calm and reassuring way. They know when to stand back and let your child explore, when to lend a hand, and how to use short, informal activities to encourage social development and friendships. Teachers interact with the children as they go about their day, cheering their successes and discussing what they learned. As relationships grow, so will your child's language skills and confidence. We'll check in with you every day when you drop off and pick up your child. We also use PreciouStatus a simple, powerful, mobile app connecting families to educators anytime, anywhere, on any device. Family members receive private, real-time photos, updates and bulletins for infants, toddlers, twos and pre-schoolers from their teacher charting their progress. TWO YEAR OLD PROGRAM Two-year-olds are filled with energy and curiosity about the world and have a new sense of increasing independence. This is the time they go through rapid development in many areas, and they are eager for attention to help them learn and understand basic things about the world. Our 2-year-old program still allows for flexibility, but at this age, we feel children do need a little more structure. Our two's focus on play, group activities, socialization skills and preschool preparation. One main focus in our two's program is language development. During this time in your child's life, communication begins to flourish. We'll check in with you every day when you drop off and pick up your child. We also use PreciouStatus a simple, powerful, mobile app connecting families to educators anytime, anywhere, on any device. Family members receive private, real-time photos, updates and bulletins for infants, toddlers, twos and pre-schoolers from their teacher charting their progress. PRESCHOOL PROGRAM 3s & 4s Teachers working with our pre-schoolers will strive to show their students that learning can be fun. Play is truly a child's work and it is through play that children are best able to learn new concepts and ideas. Our teachers will encompass all content areas, including math, science, language arts, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, sensory, art and dramatic play as they plan the daily activities and projects for the class. Our preschool program is structured to prepare your child for the next level of skills. Each day, the teacher will conduct group activities and circle times, where the class will meet as a whole for activities such as calendar time, weather, story time, topic discussion, reiterate with dictation or to assign daily job responsibilities. Also, outdoor time is provided to strengthen your child's large motor skills. We'll check in with you every day when you drop off and pick up your child. We also use PreciouStatus a simple, powerful, mobile app connecting families to educators anytime, anywhere, on any device. Family members receive private, real-time photos, updates and bulletins for infants, toddlers, twos and pre-schoolers from their teacher charting their progress. State Funded Pre-K Georgia's Pre-K Program is a voluntary pre-kindergarten program provided by the state for Georgia's 4-year-old students. This program provides children with a high-quality preschool experience in order to prepare them for kindergarten. Children enrolled in Georgia's pre-k program demonstrate significant gains in language, communication and cognitive skills. The environment is set up to encourage children to have fun while they learn. State Funded Pre-K Curriculum- We Can Developed to serve all Pre-K children, We Can is a proven, evidenced-based, early learning solution that supports teachers of all experience levelsaddressing key foundation skills in the Common Core State Standards and other state standards for kindergarten. The robust, multidisciplinary curriculum provides a clear road-map for early childhood successfeaturing easy-to-implement lesson plans and a wide range of innovative learning tools. We Can integrates assessment with instruction and offers teachers multiple opportunities to observe children, identify their capabilities and needs, and monitor their progress. AFTERSCHOOL We follow a daily schedule of developmentally appropriate activities, including student academic support for homework assistance, reading, math and science, music, outside play, indoor games, arts and crafts, dance and more. Homework/reading is scheduled every day for 45 minutes. Bible/Science/Cooking In addition to our daily schedule each week we have extracurricular activities in bible study, science experiments, and cooking class. At Children's Ark, your child will enjoy year-round opportunities for fun, learning and social development. Each and every day, whether your child is enrolled in our after-school, school holiday, or summer camp programs, he or she will discover the excitement and challenges of new experiences shared with friends. EXTRA ENRICHMENT Media Center Our media center features nonfiction and reference books for children on all topics, as well as a literature collection rich in current and retrospective works. It includes a variety of picture books on low, easy-to- reach shelves, biographies of children's book authors and illustrators, three-dimensional books and models, reference and encyclopaedia books, and biblical stories. Bible/Music "Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God" I Corinthians 10:31 Our faith lessons are once a week that come from the Bible and are an addition enrichment to our daily curriculum. We teach in a kid-friendly manner to help children understand what God's Word means for them and how it relates to their lives and learn about God's love. We are non-denominational. Lessons are taught through key Bible stories and it is organized into five faith lessons with the story told using music, books, object lessons, puppet pals and other visuals. It is truly our goal to uplift each and every child and through key Bible stories that are organized into faith lessons which is a means of encouragement and very beneficial to children of all ages. EXTRA CURRICULUM Childrens Ark Academy offers other programs as an added benefit to you. These programs are an additional cost but are totally optional. Currently, we offer a combination classes: Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop, Cheerleading, Gymnastics and Happy Feet, Soccer. Tap, Jazz, Ballet Combination Childrens Ark Academy offers Tap, Jazz, and Ballet through Weatherspoon Studios, Inc. The classes are held at Childrens Ark and each Tap/Jazz/Ballet combination class is 4 sessions of 45 minute instruction once a week throughout the school year. These classes are offered to boys and girls ages 2 and up. Classes will consist of basic instructions and positions of Tap, Jazz, and Ballet. They will also include warm up, stretching, and exercises preparing each child for different routines for the end of the year recitals. Happy Feet teaches the key concepts of soccer using many creative techniques. The HappyFeet curriculum is designed to gradually develop ever more advanced physical skills and self-belief. HappyFeet is age and skill level appropriate. You will be amazed when you see your 3 year old performing advanced dribbling skills after just a few weeks in the program! He/she will also work extensively on striking the ball to score goals. To make sure very child has a positive experience, HappyFeet classes are non-competitive. We use fun techniques to train advanced motor skills, dynamic dribbling, shooting skills and fitness. HappyFeet classes are 30 minutes in length (National Association for Sports & Physical Education recommendation). Every child constantly has a ball. HappyFeet uses nursery rhymes, songs, stories and fun games with a soccer ball to maximize motor skill development. Two and three year olds love acting out nursery rhymes and songs. Four and five year olds have a blast with stories and fun games. The HappyFeet ball is called "Bob the Bobcat"! Kids love taming their "Bobcat"! SUMMER CAMP We provide a specialized "camp" setting for our school-age children. On days off, spring break, winter break and summer break, the children go on daily field trips. These adventures are fun-filled activities. Camp can be a great learning opportunity for children, a place where children make lasting friendships and are introduced to lifelong hobbies like swimming, roller skating, bowling and exploring Atlanta. In addition to our Vacation Bible Camp curriculum, we include extensive science exploration and experiments. Our campers experience the excitement of digging for fossils and dissecting sharks and amphibians. We are pleased to offer an exceptional "in-house" day camp for preschool children, featuring arts and crafts, cooking projects, bounce house, magic show, sports, drama, music, talent show, plays and much more. Our primary goal is to offer a quality instructional and recreational program. Each day promises to be filled with fun and excitement.