Introduction to Rothewood Curriculum

Welcome to Rothewood Academy

Who are we?

We are dedicated to teaching the WHOLE CHILD – head, hands and heart.  This holistic approach to early learning is what makes Rothewood unique in the ECE field.

How do we do it?

We begin with building trusting relationships and making lasting connections with the children, with their families and with each other.

We create a magical environment that encourages children to explore and test out their own curiosities and expand on their internal sense of wonder.

We trust the children in THEIR process!  We follow the child’s lead and help guide them to learn through their own discoveries and play.

We RESPECT children!  We think of each child as having full rights as a human being.  This unique little human deserves our respect and honor.  He or she is the whole reason we are here!

We hire exceptional teachers that act as educational guides to support the children’s learning.

We Value Play as the Essential WORK of the Child

The benefits a child receives through the actions of play are so rich and necessary for development.  The creative actions of play builds neutrons for higher thinking.  Play expands a child’s language skills and comprehension.  This is huge as children begin to read!  As we get to know “our” children, we come to recognize the various stages of play that we are witnessing and can then provide the necessary resources to expand that play, which, in turn, broaden the child’s understanding and knowledge.

How do we play?

Our programs focus on strengthening children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development with age appropriate activities.  Inspired by methodologies such as Reggio Emilia and Montessori to create a unique program that honors the children and their process of gaining knowledge and preparing for the rest of their school “career”.  Our goal is to provide a rich, meaningful environment that compliment a child’s natural desire to learn.

Physically – we work on developing both fine and gross motor skills – in our classrooms, our playgrounds and in our gross motor rooms

Verbally – our classrooms are rich with expressive communication to help develop strong language skills

Socially – teachers scaffold social skills by role modeling how to interact with others

Cognitively – we offer many opportunities for children to develop solid critical thinking and problem-solving skills.  Teachers are not providing the answers – they are creating scenarios and providing resources where children are able to find out the answers for themselves

Emotionally – we help children to identify and learn to master and express emotions

We believe that children have a natural curiosity and a need to construct their own knowledge.  The best way for them to accomplish that is in an environment that is created to encourage them to actively pursue investigations and projects that are of interest to them to develop and strengthen critical thinking skills.

Who do we play with?

Babies – around 1 year old

Our baby classes are all about sensory!  Babies learn everything through their senses – taste, touch, smell, sound and sight.  The sensing organs associated with each sense sends vital information to the brain to help the baby to understand and make sense of the world.  Each experience is developing a solid foundation for the baby to construct knowledge.  It is quite common to see babies mouthing, grabbing, dropping, and shaking materials as they explore objects.  This is motivated by an inner drive that demands to know “What is It?”  “What will It do?”

We provide our babies with an environment that is rich with different textures, sounds and experiences to encourage opportunities for meaningful discoveries.

Junior Kindergarten One – two-year old’s

Our two-year old’s have unique needs that differ from the babies and the Junior Kindergarten Twos.  They are like busy bees buzzing from one activity to the next with a seemingly insatiable need to check everything out.  Their needs for movement are huge and developmentally necessary for their growth.  For example, at this age we see a real need to climb.  Rather than telling a child “no”, when a child is trying to climb somewhere inappropriate, we show the child where climbing is appropriate.

We provide our JK1’s with an environment that offers beautiful open spaces that encourage movement as the children explore.  Activities help to meet the need for movement and many opportunities to work on muscle development as we work towards prewriting and prereading activities.

Junior Kindergarten Two – three to four-year old’s

Our three- and four-year old’s are striving for independence, enjoy having options and lots of variety in their daily routines.  They are making friends and are bolder in their explorations.  They enjoy a good joke and are enjoying conducting experiments with others.  Many are highly creative story tellers and enjoy spending time in the Dramatic Play areas creating imaginative make-believe stories!  Others are enjoying creating monstrous block structures that spread out in all directions and may be a collaborative effort!  It is a busy classroom as children are testing out their play ideas.

Junior Kindergarten Three – four- and five-year old’s

Also, a busy classroom – our four and fives are beginning to develop empathy and an awareness of the rights and feelings of others.  Capable and confident, there are many deep conversations about social awareness, and strong opinions!  The reading library and Science tables are popular and STEM challenges are greeted with much enthusiasm!