Curious Cubs Playschool, Fremont

Curious Cubs Playschool Mission Statement To provide safe, quality, & enriching education that helps develop the skills children need to succeed in future. About Me Steve jobs rightly said “It’s so hard that if you don’t have a passion, you’ll give up". Keeping these lines in heart I pen down briefly a bit about myself. Kids call me Ms. Palak and my passion is to teach young children. I have been working with young children since before mine was even born! As a teacher, and as a parent, I have had my roller coaster rides. I have had moments of brilliance, laugh!! And moments of... well, "fail" might best to describe them! When one dreams of becoming a teacher, a vision is in place of what it will be like. I often witness little kids who would come to my playschool with a spark in their eyes, curiosity in the minds and to have fun in their body language. I believe in helping little kids learn by doing. And seeing the excitement in a child’s eyes when they finally achieve is my reward. These visions is one of the reasons why teaching is my passion. I believe that once in the field, one must not only focus on children’s content growth, but the overall growth of the child and oneself. When teaching becomes a true passion for a person, one cannot help being humbled by the accomplishments that can be made in the life of a child and in the life of a teacher! I feel proud and blessed that I have got the opportunity to follow my passion – TEACHING. My Education • Master of Education in Early Childhood Education (GPA 4.0) - San Francisco State University, USA • Master of Arts in Philosophy - University of Mumbai, India • Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy – University of Mumbai, India Additional Certifications: • California Childcare certifications from Red Cross ▪ Preventive Health & Safety ▪ Pediatric First Aid, CPR and AED • Certification in Early Childhood Care And Education (E.C.C.ED) • Special Education in Learning Disability • Jolly Phonics Learning • Personality Development & Communications Skills My Experience Over Eight years of devoted experience teaching kids from ages 1 to 8 years old in various organizations: • Little Flower Montessori, Fremont CA • Little Mud Puddles, Fremont CA • Peek-A-Boo Club for Cubs, Mumbai India • Garodia’s Academy – A Pre-school, Mumbai India • Shishuvan Pre-School, Mumbai India Curriculum Curriculum is carefully planned and created to be developmentally appropriate for the unique needs of young children. I will plan a daily schedule and learning activities with four things in mind: • developmental stages, need and abilities of all young children, • needs of the age group they serve and their abilities • needs of the specific, individual children in their care, and • Personal experiences and history each individual child brings to the day care learning experience. The following beliefs guide curriculum development in my play school: • Children need many sensory, concrete, hands-on learning experiences. • Each child has a unique learning style, rate of learning and developmental abilities. • Children learn best through playful experiences with peers, adults and materials. • The classroom environment and curriculum should nurture curiosity, exploration and investigation. • Children need time for independent activity as well as cooperative play and learning. • There should be a balance of: active and quiet play; self-directed and teacher-planned experiences; indoor and outdoor play; large and small group play; • Activities will address the child's total development: intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically. • Children learn best when allowed to explore and arrive at answers and understand/construct concepts through their own thinking processes. Trial and error are accepted means of exploration and attempts to make sense of the world. • Teacher will guide children's learning by asking well-chosen, open-ended and thought-provoking questions which help children arrive at their own conclusions through their own reasoning. • Children will be exposed to concepts dealing with art & woodworking, science, math, social studies, music, health, safety, cooking & nutrition, creative movement, dramatic play and the language arts (including listening, speaking, reading and writing.) • Children's development is best assessed by observation, and documentation. • Curriculum and associated practices will be non-biased in terms of gender, culture, race, age, abilities and economic background. • Parent involvement is desirable and necessary to enhance children's learning & development.