Temple Shalom's ELC's mission is to create a vibrant, engaging, Jewish, child centered community characterized by developmentally appropriate learning and inquiry based exploration while building a nurturing and safe community for the entire family. The Early Learning Center's mission is to create a vibrant, engaging, Jewish, child centered community characterized by developmentally appropriate learning and inquiry based explorations while building a nurturing and safe community for the entire family. Our goal is to nurture each child's natural sense of curiosity and creativity to help them develop the critical thinking skills necessary to become independent and enthusiastic life long learners. We believe that young children learn through play and need the opportunity to investigate their interests in a meaningful way. Children's growth and development are both enhanced by their respectful indvidualized relationship built with their teachers as well as the relationships built between their teachers and parents. Our philosophy and emergent curriculum are based on the understanding that each child develops at an individual pace. We are deeply immersed in the developmental stages and needs of young children, and seek to create a secure and exciting place for children to expand their imagination and grow confident in their abilities. A successful emergent curriculum approach means that the teachers thoughtfully plan the environment, offering many visible choices, based on the children's skills and needs. Our curriculum is planned in a way that the children are naturally exposed to the foundational concepts of literacy, math, writing, science, and social studies in a manner that is meaningful for them. All of our classroom and other activity areas at the ELC are set-up with these premises in mind. In each classroom, there are clearly defined interest areas where children can engage in activities of their choosing. These areas may include spaces for: art, alone-quiet time, reading & relaxing, block building, dramatic play, sensory/water activities, science, musics, manipulatives, gross motor activities, writing, and drawing. These spaces are created based on a child's eye view, are adapted to meet the current interests and play needs, and are rearranged occasionally to renew interest in a particular area. Open-ended use and transformation of materials is encouraged with focus being process rather than product.
