Kiddie Academy® offers educational child care for children as young as six weeks old, and you might be surprised to know that our Life Essentials® curriculum includes a program specifically for that age group. If you’re curious about why a child that young might need a curriculum, or what that curriculum might entail, keep reading!
“A child’s brain develops faster from birth to age five than any other time,” said Former Senior Vice President of Operations and current Life Essentials® Curriculum Advisory Council member, Sharon Lytwynec.
This statement alone supports the idea that having a curriculum for infants is important. However, when we refer to a curriculum suitable for this age group, we aren’t talking about teaching things like facts and figures.
During this stage of rapid brain development, a child’s brain produces more than a million connections per second. To foster this, we focus on things like creating a stimulating, nurturing environment where children feel safe, understanding each child’s individual cues, and facilitating activities that encourage growth.
Activities are chosen based on your child’s needs and skills to ensure they have a meaningful impact, and they are implemented not only during group playtime but also throughout each child’s daily routine. These activities are intended to create opportunities for your child to develop physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and even communication skills.
Some examples might include:
- Observing how to ask for and accept help from others
- Practicing holding themselves up through tummy time or being on their hands and knees
- Exploring and/or stacking toys with various textures, sounds, and shapes
- Working together to create artwork, uncover hidden items, and experiment with instruments and sounds
Each activity correlates to our Life Essentials® curriculum, which focuses on producing six key outcomes: Character, Confidence, Curiosity, Connection, Critical Thinking, and Creative Expression. By instilling this during infancy, children are given a stronger start toward developing skills that prepare them for life.
Learn more about our Life Essentials curriculum or schedule a tour to see firsthand all that Kiddie Academy has to offer. You can also check out this video about our infant curriculum.
