Ross Early Learning Curriculum: Fostering Holistic Development from the Start

Introduction

The Ross Early Learning Curriculum is designed to provide children with a comprehensive and nurturing foundation for future success. Recognizing the critical importance of early childhood experiences, the curriculum emphasizes a holistic approach that encompasses physical, intellectual, emotional, and social growth. This article explores the key components of the Ross Early Learning Curriculum, highlighting its focus on community involvement, individualized learning, and the development of essential skills.

The Foundation: Family and Community

The Ross Early Learning Curriculum recognizes the family as the child's most important learning environment. Therefore, it offers education, involvement opportunities, and support for the entire family. This approach emphasizes the importance of collaboration between parents, teachers, and the community in fostering children's readiness for kindergarten and beyond. Viewing readiness in broad developmental terms ensures that the uniqueness of each child is preserved and respected.

The Anaheim Elementary School District Office of Early Childhood Education mirrors this philosophy, providing children and families with comprehensive preschool services and early learning foundations. This collaborative approach ensures that children receive the support they need to thrive.

The Importance of Early Learning Experiences

Research in brain development emphasizes that early learning, especially from birth to five, directly influences a child's ability to learn and succeed in school. The Ross Early Learning Curriculum is designed to capitalize on this critical period by providing stimulating and enriching experiences that promote cognitive, social, and emotional growth.

Children's school readiness is significantly affected by the early care and learning experiences they receive. Quality early education and prekindergarten experiences are vital for developing the skills and knowledge children need to succeed.

Social-Emotional Development: Building Blocks for Success

The Ross Early Learning Curriculum places a strong emphasis on social-emotional development, recognizing that these skills are essential for building relationships, managing emotions, and navigating social situations. Young children need social-emotional competencies, acquired through the development of close relationships, shared conversations, and a nurturing environment.

Preschool teachers guide children in learning essential social skills, including responsibility and self-control. These skills are developed through shared activities in a developmentally appropriate and well-designed preschool classroom environment.

Language and Communication: Fostering a Love of Words

The curriculum recognizes the crucial role of language development in overall cognitive growth. Children's early language growth and later language outcomes are directly related to the verbal communication they receive from adults and other children.

In the preschool classroom, students have meaningful and comprehensive opportunities for language stimulation. These interactions help children develop their vocabulary, communication skills, and love of reading. Children engage in longer conversations with adults and other children, using a greater variety of words. They begin to identify the first sound in a word, identify and name five to ten letters, and begin to know sounds for some.

Science and Math: Exploring the World Through Discovery

The Ross Early Learning Curriculum fosters a joy of discovery and a positive approach to learning through science and math exploration. Children become confident learners by identifying solutions and problem-solving through persistent hands-on experimentation, becoming critical thinkers for a lifetime. Science in preschool fosters a joy of discovery and a positive approach to learning.

Read also: Sul Ross State University History

Young children explore the mathematic domains through interactions with their everyday environment. Children experience math throughout the daily routine by counting, sorting, building shapes, measuring, and estimating. The preschool classroom is designed with intention and order to promote math experiences as the children play and explore their world. Children connect number words and numerals to the quantities they represent. They examine new objects or situations with deeper curiosity.

Arts and Culture: Nurturing Creativity and Expression

The visual and performing arts are natural to young children, exhibited early in the form of scribbling, pretending, humming, and swaying to music. The Ross Early Learning Curriculum recognizes the importance of nurturing these natural inclinations by providing regular opportunities for artistic expression.

In the preschool classroom, children engage and encourage children in arts activities on a regular basis. Children create detailed artwork that includes people, animals, and things. They play movement games that involve following directions as well as creating unique moves. They play a character role in simple dramatic scenarios from books.

Understanding the Social World: Building a Sense of Belonging

Children learn early how people live in the social world. Their preschool classroom mirrors the larger society with its diverse ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The Ross Early Learning Curriculum helps children develop an understanding of themselves and their roles and responsibilities within their community.

Preschool teachers help children to think about themselves and their roles and responsibilities that they and others assume. Children are developing a sense of belonging to places and groups that are meaningful to them.

The Ross School Approach: A Holistic and Integrated Education

The Ross Early Childhood (EC) Program provides a safe, nurturing environment that allows students to transition smoothly from home to school. The EC Program is a gateway to Ross School’s unique Spiral Curriculum, and even the youngest learners at Ross benefit from our holistic pedagogy.

Ross School, with campuses in East Hampton and Bridgehampton, NY, is situated in a pastoral environment deeply connected to both nature and the world’s cultural and economic center, New York City. On the Ross campuses in East Hampton and Bridgehampton, buildings and classrooms are intentionally and systematically designed based upon research in how students learn and how our brains develop. Students integrate concepts, theories, and methods from multiple disciplines, deepening their understanding of a topic.

Early Childhood Specials Program

EC students take part in a Specials Program that connects students with expert teachers in specialized areas. Classes in performing arts, science, visual arts, music, library, and wellness both augment and integrate with the curriculum, enriching and deepening student learning.

Ross Learning Academy: A Collaborative Approach

Ross Learning Academy, LLC. provides quality childcare and stimulating education experiences in order to promote each child’s social/emotional, physical and cognitive development, as well promoting literacy skills development. RLA will support children’s interest in a creative way and produce life-long learners. At RLA, credentialed early educators will educate each child at their own developmental pace. The Ross Learning Academy is a year-round early learning center.

The Ross Learning Academy is the collaborative effort of an involved, active, and informed team of parents, educators, volunteer community members, and business professionals who contribute to the lifelong success of its students. The Academy admits students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students.

Daily Activities at Ross Learning Academy

The days at Ross Learning Academy start off with a variety of quiet and active activities available for children to explore at their own pace. This is followed by a morning meeting so all children can be welcomed as part of the community. This time is also used to read, sing and/or discuss plans for the day. During the course of the day students discuss, investigate, discover, play, get to know one another, learn to resolve conflicts, and grow.

Key Developmental Milestones

The Ross Early Learning Curriculum aims to help children achieve key developmental milestones, including:

Building relationships with familiar adults, talking about thoughts and needs with them.
Seeking out other children during play time and beginning to build relationships with them.
Playing with other children showing the ability to resolve disagreements with little help from adults.
Beginning to gallop while improving jumping and hopping skills.
Tracing letters and simple shapes while also showing signs of a right- or left-hand preference.
Gaining independence with self-care skills such as undressing to use the toilet and remembering to wash hands.
Connecting number words and numerals to the quantities they represent.
Engaging in pretend play alone or with others by taking on roles and using props.
Participating in scientific experiments led by adults.
Creating detailed artwork that includes people, animals, and things.
Playing movement games that involve following directions as well as creating unique moves.
Playing a character role in simple dramatic scenarios from books.
Engaging in longer conversations with adults and other children using a greater variety of words.
Beginning to identify the first sound in a word.
Identifying and naming five to ten letters and begin to know sounds for some.
Taking on simple activities like setting the table with cups and plates independently and continuing until the task is done.
Paying attention to a person or activity for five to ten minutes.
Examining new objects or situations with deeper curiosity.

Success Stories: Ross Alumni Making a Difference

The success of the Ross Early Learning Curriculum is reflected in the accomplishments of its alumni, who have gone on to make significant contributions in various fields.

Lilah Yektai ’21 is making her mark in the art world with a number of recent exhibitions and accolades.
Musician R.O. Shapiro (Raphael Odell Shapiro) ’08 made a much-anticipated return to the East End, performing at Amagansett’s Stephen Talkhouse.
Daria Schieferstein ’11 is an accomplished attorney at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, LLP in New York.
The photographic work of Jeremy Dennis '08 was recently covered in an article in "The New Yorker."
Daniel Bennett '04 and his brother Evan Bennett '07 have become successful restaurateurs with three popular restaurants under their belts: MIMI, BABS, both in Manhattan, and DOUBLES in Amagansett Square.
Ross alum and Shinnecock native Christina Douglas '03 is making movie magic!
Ross alum Ahmed Abdirahman has played a huge role in growing political literacy and minority representation across Sweden.
Ross alum Forrest Gray '10 is making a name for himself in the music and entertainment industry.

These alumni exemplify the values and skills instilled by the Ross Early Learning Curriculum, demonstrating the transformative power of a holistic and engaging education.

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