Safari Childcare
Teaching Strategies
Safari Childcare follows a developmentally appropriate thematic curriculum.
Our philosophies are derived from world-renowned child development theorists.
Developmentally Appropriate Educational Curriculum
Our curriculum blends child and teacher directed activities and incorporates smooth transitions between activities. We recognize there is no cookie-cutter approach to development. Each child is unique and develops at his/her own pace. We look for signs each child is progressing along a sequence of developmental benchmarks. This allows teachers to approach each child at the appropriate developmental level.
Benchmarks of Development
✓ Social/Emotional benchmarks emphasize self-awareness, expression of feelings, and interaction with others.
✓ Language benchmarks focus on the development of speech sounds and communication skills.
✓ Cognitive benchmarks evaluate how a child acquires and uses information.
✓ Motor (Small and Large) benchmarks track how a child uses his or her body with control and efficiency.
✓ Hygiene and Self-Help benchmarks evaluate how a child cares for his/her personal needs.
As educators and caregivers, it is our responsibility to make sure each child is surrounded by positive, supportive, and encouraging interactions. We never scold, but instead positively encourage students in an environment that allows children to fail, encourages them to succeed, and fosters self-esteem.
We strive to ensure children can reach and achieve these developmental milestones. In the event a child needs further assistance we will offer additional resources to parents.
Our curriculum blends child and teacher directed activities and incorporates smooth transitions between activities. We recognize there is no cookie-cutter approach to development. Each child is unique and develops at his/her own pace. We look for signs each child is progressing along a sequence of developmental benchmarks. This allows teachers to approach each child at the appropriate developmental level.
Thematic Curriculum
Classroom Learning Centers
✓ Library: Children explore and enjoy good books in this cozy corner designed to allow students to read alone or with a friend. Soft furniture makes it a comfortable place to practice reading. Students can also listen to books on tape or stories read aloud by their teachers. Felt and flannel pieces, puppets, and other props are used to enhance the stories
✓ Manipulatives: Exploration is essential to the development of mathematical and logical thinking. Magnetic letters, puzzles, cars, lacing and sorting bears, linking toys, peg boards, and play money are a few items found in this center which helps children exercise fine motor skills.
✓ Blocks: Construction materials for designing and building are found in this center where children learn to share materials, work together, and simultaneously increase their vocabularies while interacting with friends. Size, shapes, measurement, distance, and building skills are encouraged while students explore blocks, trucks, road signs, dinosaurs, cars, and other block accessories.
✓ Dramatic Play: Recreating social roles children see in their everyday lives starting with a kitchen set, dress-up clothes, child-sized furniture, and other props and costumes encourage students to use their creativity and communication skills while exploring with their friends. Social-emotional and language skills are also developed in this center.
✓ Large Motor: Equipment located both in the classrooms and on the playgrounds allows children to expend their energy while developing their muscles and exercising. Climbers, riding toys, tunnels, and rocking boats are a few items you may find in this learning center. Students go outside on the playground twice a day (weather permitting).
✓ Language & Literacy: Flannel board stories, pictures, story boards, and a writing area encourage spontaneous storytelling and writing. Other literacy-rich components located throughout the classroom include: labeled bins, pictures of the children, menus, calendars, charts, alphabet and number displays, and easels.
✓ Science Center: A sand and water table is used to encourage curiosity, questions, and experimentation while discovering measurements, volume, and other interesting concepts like floatation. Free exploration promotes an interest in nature and environment as well as the laws of physics that govern it. Materials include: magnifying glasses, leaves, rocks, birds' nests, snow, colored sand and water, and anything else that could lead to hours of self-directed discovery.
✓ Math: Play money, cash registers, clocks, and counting and sorting bears are just a few items found in this learning center that create opportunities for children to sort, classify, count, and match objects. Not only do these centers provide some of the student’s first interactions with math, but this center also promotes language development.
✓ Music: Children dance, sing, and enjoy sounds and rhythms through a diverse selection of classroom music. Musical instruments such as cymbals, triangles, tambourines, and maracas can also be found in this center. Music is also used to transition children from one activity to the next with ease; the clean-up song and ants go marching are Safari favorites.
✓ Games & Puzzles: To facilitate cognitive and language development, children can choose from an assortment of games which help develop numbers, colors, shapes, sizes, matching, and memory. Social and emotional skills are also developed while playing games as children take turns and learn patience.
✓ Art Center: This multi-sensory experience may include paints, crayons, clay, colored pencils, yarn, natural materials, glitter, sequence, glue, scissors, stencils, pencils, pen, and an assortment of paper. Creativity, self-expression, and communication skills are all developed in the art center.
✓ Computers: Some classrooms contain computers which help students learn to point, click, and master hand-eye coordination while they explore various games and skill building programs. Math, language, and reading programs are included in this assortment to enhance daily lesson plans.
Strive to thrive, not just survive.
Family owned since 1991, at Safari Childcare, you can feel confident everyone knows your name, as well as your child's likes, dislikes, learning style, and preferences for being comforted and/or encouraged. At Safari, parents, staff, and management work together to ensure each child thrives.
Safari Childcare offers specialized infant & toddler care, licensed Preschool, Pre-K & Full-Day Kindergarten, and summer enrichment camps to keep students engaged in hands-on learning year round. Our kindergarten-readiness program fosters achievement in literacy, math and science, and ultimately prepares students for elementary school and beyond.
We are now enrolling students from six weeks to 12 years old. Stop in for a tour, to learn more about our early childhood philosophies and program features.
