We use Creative Curriculum which is a comprehensive, research-based curriculum that features inquiry, exploration, and discovery as the foundation of all learning. Children have opportunities to think critically and develop process skills with rich, hands-on investigations of relevant and interesting study topics in the classroom.

During our studies, or long-term investigations, children learn concepts and practice skills related to literacy, math, science, social studies, and the arts. They develop thinking skills as they observe, investigate, ask questions, solve problems, make predictions, and test their ideas.

Our classrooms are currently investigating the following study topics:

SIMPLE MACHINES (Blue and Yellow Classrooms)

BALLS (Orange classroom)

TREES (Purple, Green and Gray Classrooms)

Play improves the cognitive, physical, social and emotional well being of children and young people. Through play, children learn about the world and themselves. They also learn skills needed for their every day lives, such as: confidence, self-esteem, resilience, peer interaction, social skills, independence, curiosity, coping and problem solving. Check out the photos of a couple of our friends engaged in PLAY.

With the warmer weather our students have the opportunity to play with our sand and water tables! These are a huge hit here at the ELC! Sand and water play promotes development and learning- Here's how!

Social Emotional: Sand and water inspires children to work together to construct a sand village or to wash a baby doll in water or chasing a bubble floating in the air. Playing with these materials can calm a child who is upset- they often express their feelings or thoughts during this time.

Physical Development: Children strengthen their muscles as they mold wet sand or scoop water. They develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination when they work with props. They pour water through a funnel or sift sand through a sieve. They develop gross motor skills by carrying buckets of sand or water outdoors.

Language & Literacy: Children expand their vocabulary as they learn new words such as "grainy", "sprinkle", "shallow" and "sieve". When they write letters in the sand they are building literacy skills!

Cognitive, Mathematics & Science: Sand and water are natural companions in scientific explorations. With water, children learn that as a liquid it can be splashed, poured and frozen! As a solid, sand can be sifted, raked and shoveled! They learn about volume and capacity when they fill up empty containers. They explore cause and effect when objects sink or float!

Enjoy some of our friends playing in our water and sand tables!

It was great seeing a lot of our families here for our Fall Fest event! It's an awesome opportunity to come into your child's classroom and see what they do on a daily basis. Also to engage with them while they participate in classroom activities! Taking part in these events help build strong connections between you and your student as well as establishing a trusting relationship with your students teacher! We encourage you to continue creating these healthy connections. Please take a quick look at the article posted below on how you can continue creating these healthy relationships! Our parent/teacher conferences are coming up on November 7th & 8th as well as our next home visit day, November 20th! Please contact Ms. Lindsey to schedule your home visit today!

Our school implements The Pyramid Model, a framework for supporting the social and emotional development of our children. An important part of our Pyramid Model work includes supporting families and sharing information about promoting social and emotional skills at home.

Here at school, each classroom has a Safe Place, which is a physical location where children can go to self-regulate and/or co-regulate when they are feeling strong emotions. It is equipped with tools for calming and self-regulation, and supports the skill of composure by providing the opportunity for children to remove themselves from the group in order to become calm and maintain control when they are angry, frustrated, sad or scared. Check out this tip sheet for creating a space like this for your child to utilize at home, as well.

• 11/5- No School/Election Day
  
• 11/7- Parent/Teacher Conferences
• 11/8- No School- Parent/Teacher Conferences
• 11/11- Veterans Day
• 11/20- Home Visits
• 11/27-11/29- No School/ Thanksgiving Break

• Your family's health, well-being and partnership is important to us! Use the forms below to easily request information, resources and/or support for your family.

• Are you interested in more information, resources, or a meeting with one of our staff members? CLICK HERE for a Request for Family Support
• Could you family benefit from extra food on the weekends? Click HERE to sign up for the Food Program!
• Does your child need a winter coat or full-size backpack? Click HERE to sign up for the Coat or Backpack Request Form!

Click HERE to sign up for the Backpack Food Program!

Do you have younger children? Bring them in for a developmental check-up! Open to EMSD residents with children aged 0-5 years old. Call Pam to schedule an appointment for a screening (now scheduling for September). Currently enrolled students do not need to be screened.

• 24-25 Family Folder-Here you will find general information about our school and programming. This folder contains information about school supplies, our daily schedule, policies/procedures, communication platforms, the school calendar and more!
• 24-25 Early Learning Center School Calendar
• Outdoor Play Guide--Children benefit from being outdoors for unstructured play in a natural environment. Please see the attached Outdoor Play Guide, as the colder weather begins to move in.

Important contacts:

Main Office: 309-865-6900

Pam Webster, Secretary (pwebster@emsd37.org)

Lindsey Johanson, Family Educator (ljohanson@emsd37.org)

Melissa McCullough, Principal (mmccullough@emsd37.org)