Green Twig School

echanisms of maturation. We have no control over the environment from which a child comes; we can construct the environment that a child joins on their first day of school. That is our responsibility. A teacher must possess an excellent overall scope and sequence of child development and will "fit" each child along the continuum. A child is born, rolls over, sits up, crawls, pulls up, stands and then walks. These experiences in learning to walk must go in sequence; one cannot hurry up or delete a stage or the final result will not be a success. Learning in a "sequential order" is also necessary to obtain important abilities such as learning to communicate and cooperate with each other. Our classrooms are built on the sequential needs and development of the child. We recognize what each child knows and needs to match the materials and experiences to those factors. Through constant interaction with their world, children begin to collect, classify and predict. They recognize patterns and use them to establish order in their lives. This order allows them to function successfully. As they integrate models of behavior into their frame of reference, it allows the child to incorporate both similar and new experiences into their learning situations. Green Twig's first priority is to provide a caring, supportive environment. It will be filled with materials and events that have relevance to the child's realm of experience; concrete, not in any way abstract. It will serve as a foundation for the development, expansion and extension of thought processes. Through this environment, we will seek to:

* Foster and protect the child's physical health and well-being
* Help the child to achieve a positive self-image
* Encourage the child to express spontaneity and creativity
* Offer a variety of experiences that satisfy and stimulate the child's innate interest and
curiosity
* Create an atmosphere where the child feels free to participate as an individual yet learn the
social give and take of relationships
* Encourage communication among classmates and adults to improve language skills and sharpen
conceptual learning
* Help children develop an internal control system for behavior
* Encourage and reinforce listening and concentration
* Communicate with and assist parents