Our Creative Curriculum

Creative learning center is a private Preschool and Primary school in Shrewsbury, New Jersey that offers a unique and progressive approach to early childhood and primary education.

Our Preschool program is offered three, four, or five mornings per week as well as three afternoons per week. To encourage self-esteem and competence, our classrooms have mixed-aged groupings.   We understand that children do not all learn at the same rate or in the same manner and we make sure that each individual’s needs are met.

In our Preschool classrooms, our certified teachers develop creative, meaningful learning activities that reach the hearts and minds of our young students.  Play is an essential part of our daily program because we believe that through play children are developing important language and cognitive skills as well as social-emotional competence.  We plan a challenging curriculum that is integrated across disciplines such as reading, mathematics, science, social studies, cooking, art, drama, and creative movement activities.  These themes extend from two to six weeks in length and are guaranteed to excite your child about the world around him or her.  We follow Piaget’s philosophy in that we expand the child’s world by offering content that is stimulating to your child’s developing brain. 
 
At creative learning center, we recognize the importance of the arts as an avenue for authentic self- expression and communication. We understand that the art process is central to young children’s development in all areas.   In our Art Studio, the preschoolers work with a certified art teacher in small groups.  The art teacher engages our children in the creative process by presenting diverse artistic materials that encourage the children to explore and discover!

Enrichment Classes
Creative learning center is proud to offer our four different advanced enrichment classes.  These classes have been designed to enhance your child’s interest in a specific subject area.  Combined with a preschool or public school Kindergarten program, your child will gain a wonderful, new perspective on the joys of learning.  Each enrichment program offers hands-on activities, arts and crafts, science experiments, cooking, and dramatization.  Literature is our springboard to our search for knowledge in our enrichment classes!  “Funtastic” field trips also make these classes memorable learning experiences.
 
Enrichment A:  Magical Mystery Tour 
This program is open to students who are three years six months to five years old.  It meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 11:45 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

When you venture on our magical mystery tour, anything can happen!
Ogres run wild, dragons sing, and pirates sail to a land where imagination is king.  Grab your scuba gear as we dive down under the sea and don't forget your binoculars  as we forage through a tropical paradise!  Take magical wings and become airborne as we fly back in time to a land where dinosaurs roam freely or stop along the way at a medieval village with knights, princesses, and even fairies!  This class celebrates a child's sense of wonder through fabulous and fanciful children's literature, while simultaneously incorporating higher level science and social studies concepts.  Enchanting art, music, drama, and cooking activities will allow our imaginative and kinsethetic skills to flourish! 

Enrichment B:  Fizz, Bubble and Pop
This program is open to students who are three years nine months to six years old.  It meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 11:45 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

How do you turn a class of learners into a roomful of wide eyes and giggles?  The answer is by providing fascinating experiments that children will create and explore for themselves.  From spinning eggs to shadow and light rooms, these activities will turn your child into a super scientist!

We will investigate our five senses, kitchen chemistry, the solar system, our human body and more.  Our goal is to stimulate you child’s sense of curiosity and discovery and help your child evaluate his or her natural surroundings.
 

Enrichment C:  World Travelers
This class is open to students who are between the ages of four and six years old.  It meets on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 11:45 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

Grab your passport and your imagination as we get ready to travel around the world!  Using literature and video as our guides, World Travelers is an exciting and challenging curriculum that expands children’s horizons beyond the school into the wider world.  Our young travelers will use foreign languages, art, cooking, science experiments, and song and dance to develop respect and understanding for other cultures.  History and geography concepts are stimulated through hands-on activities, while field trips further advance our “World Travelers” understandings.
 

Enrichment D:  Hello America
This program is open to students who are between four and six years old.  It meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

From lobstering in Maine to apple-picking in Washington, children will visit every corner of our glorious country and learn about each state’s unique history and personality.  The USA will come alive through arts, social studies, science and cooking.  Great literature and special field trips will help make our journey even more exciting!

Our Primary Learning Community is a full-day mixed-age classroom for five to seven year olds.  It is a caring community of learners in which all children feel accepted and respected.  Our 7:1 ratio allows us to work with our students in small groups or individually every day.  As NAEYC notes, “A looping classroom favors both the child and the teacher and adds stability to children’s lives…and provides the most rewarding opportunity for helping children succeed.” We understand that learning is social and that our students learn by interacting with each other and their environment.

In our Primary Learning Community, the students are actively engaged in higher level reading, writing, and math projects, facilitated by our outstanding teaching staff.  Because we know that the human brain seeks meaningful connections, we integrate our curriculum around study topics.  These topics cross discipline areas and help our students more deeply understand and apply concepts.   Some of our study topics have included Great Artists, Greek Mythology, Ancient China, Gardening, Famous People and Landmarks, and Invention Convention.  With each study topic, we coordinate a rich variety of reading, math, science, social studies, creative movement, and drama activities.   Our Primary Art Studio is another daily part of our curriculum and a place where children are actively engaged in creative expression.   We also have a Spanish immersion program to prepare our students for the future!
 
Our program seeks to help children develop dispositions such as curiosity, imagination, flexibility, initiative, and persistence because we believe that these qualities will contribute to their future success in and out of school. By engaging our Primary students in interesting, creative, and challenging learning experiences, we help them to make sense of their world and become life-long learners!