A place for children

Every child should have a happy childhood. Children in daycare centers are entitled to an environment that provides them with opportunities to explore the wonders of our world. It is important that the center has the right balance between freedom and limitation as well as between excitement and relaxation. Little Giants offers a warm and friendly atmosphere with lots a fun and laughing. We strive to give the children a home away from home.

Active learners

Children are active learners. In being so, they learn best from activities the plan and carry out by themselves. All are little scientists, builders, acrobats and artists, who need active experiences with their environment and people around them. They need the opportunity to set goals, to plan, to reflect and to act independently. Since children communicate from birth they need to grow up in a place that is filled with books, language experiences and communication.

Caregivers are mentors

Little Giants caregivers are part of a team, that offers children a learning environment that provides countless choices for important developmental experiences. They provide age-appropriate choices for each individual child, ask questions and create obstacles and challenges that help children to find answers. With the support of their primary caregiver children develop their intellectual capacities and the knowledge they need for future academic success in school.

An adequate learning environment

Our program creates an age-appropriate and individualized environment, in which each child can discover the secrets and contexts of the world around us. Daily routines and rooms are designed in a manner, that allows individual exploration and learning.

The room design by itself is part of the learning experience: Labeled shelves use colors, symbols and words, which teach the meaning of written language. Scientific experiments give a first insights into the areas of biology, physics and chemistry. Communication and number games are part of our daily routine, like lunch and cleanup time. Furthermore we offer group activities, which allow children to choose projects following their own interests. They learn to be part of team and to collaborate with others.

Documentation

Documenting the learning experiences and the development of every single child is a key element of the Little Giant curriculum. Our caregivers diligently keep diaries of each child. In routine parent-caregiver conferences the developmental status of the child is discussed. The child's work of art is kept in folders and at the end of the year parents can take home these precious creations.

Documentation is the basis for an accurate evaluation of a child's development. Using the insights gained, parents and caregivers define learning goals for the following weeks. Although the primary caregiver gives suggestions on how to support the child best, it is the parents final decision which program elements shall be emphasized.

Parents are partners

At Little Giants parents are partners in every aspect of the curriculum. The help to set goals and priorities and support the learning success of their child by activities at home. Daily written information about the child's physical well-being and its emotional highs and lows, give parents more insight into their child' development. In addition, the information conveyed helps recognize possible conflicts among children and emerging health problems like constipation very early.

Theoretical foundation

The Little Giants curriculum is based on theories on early childhood development an learning. The developmental psychological insights of Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Erik Erikson and Howard Gardner are part of our concept. We also include the works of Daniel Goleman on emotional intelligence in our educational routines. The key factors of the Little Giants curriculum are:

• Children are active learners.
• Intelligence comes in many forms and shapes.
• Language plays a critical role in a child's development, because it is our primary means of communication.
• Based on brain development, there is an optimal time for learning, especially for acquiring language skills. An environment that is rich and stimulating is essential during the first five years of live.
• Children primarily learn through exploration and discovery, interaction with other children and adults as well as through reflection of experiences.
• Our staff creates an environment that supports each individual child's learning process.

Preparation for school

Children are born with the enthusiasm and the unstoppable drive to learn. Our mission is to foster and support these precious gift of nature. When entering school, children should be able to think independently, to solve problems, to work with others and to communicate.

The learning environment

The learning environments at all Little Giant centers share the following characteristics:

• Caregivers and parents work to together on clearly defined learning goals. The development of a child is documented and discussed on a regular basis.
• All our centers share a well planned room design that offers the children a large number of choices. The rooms always support discovery and exploration and they offer age-appropriate challenges.
• Activities and projects reflect the children's interests and skills.
• Our caregivers support a child's quest for knowledge and independence. The recognize moments in which a child needs a helping hand and support to master a new challenge.
• Our curriculum design is based on a team work approach.
• We document the experiences of all children and discuss them with their parents.

Our curriculum not only includes interactions, but also a carefully planned room design in the learning process. We integrate elements of language education (German and English), mathematical and scientific thinking, projects, environmental themes and art in our learning centers.

Conclusion

Little Giants regards every child as an unique individual. We emphasize individual strengths and support children to reach their full potential. We help children to build the skills necessary for comprehending information and solving problems. Attending a Little Giants Early Learning Center prepares for future success in school and life.