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 For
the children enrolled in the children’s program, the focus is on
promoting optimum physical, social, emotional, and intellectual
development. The program is planned to offer children hands-on
experiences based on their developmental levels. These
experiences are implemented through the medium of play and are
based upon the theory that children construct knowledge from
interacting with objects and people in their environment, and
from reflecting upon and organizing those experiences. This
occurs optimally when their physical needs are well met and they
feel emotionally secure. Because children are such active
participants in learning, the program makes every effort to
support children’s initiative and autonomy by giving many
opportunities each day to make decisions and to exchange points
of view with others.
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 The
encouragement of socialization skills and a positive
self-concept are important goals and are promoted through
helping the child gain control over how feelings are expressed
and by assisting the child in learning acceptable ways of
dealing with and expressing strong feelings. Additional goals
focus on helping the child to develop intellectual curiosity,
skills in observing, problem solving and learning through his or
her own efforts; these goals are accomplished by providing a
balanced program that includes both teacher-directed and
self-selected activities. The environment of the children’s
center is such that each child is encouraged to actively
participate in the learning process.
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