Programs Offered

Playmates promotes the individual child’s physical, emotional, social, and intellectual growth and well- being in six quality, nationally accredited early childhood programs in Wayne and Cabell Counties of West Virginia that will provide the following:

• Creative Curriculum learning environment.
• Supervised rest and/or nap periods.
• A reasonable routine for meals, snacks, sleep, and indoor/outdoor play.
• Indoor and outdoor activities to allow for large and small muscle development of the individual child.
• A balance of quiet and active group and individual activities.
• Opportunity for self-expression in conversation, imaginative play, and creativity.
• Occasional field trips to places of interest in the community.
• Respect for each child as an individual, allowing choice of activities and interest.
• A variety of social activities. (Grouping shall take into account the child’s level of maturity.)
• Opportunities for mixed age experiences and for interactions with the child’s own age group.
• Nutritional meals and snacks, keeping in mind that good nutrition improves both physical and mental performance.
• Field trips for preschool and summer camp programs/transportation provided.
• After school services/transportation provided.
• Will assist with special needs either on site or referrals.
• Early intervention testing and support with trained early intervention staff for special needs.

Our programs use The Creative Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers which focuses on what is most essential for healthy growth and development: building responsive relationships with children and families. The programs are founded on the principles of developmentally appropriate practice using guidelines developed by NAEYC and ZERO to THREE. These guidelines enable program staff to make decisions about the well-being and education of young children based on three sources of knowledge:

1. What is known about child development and learning- an understanding of characteristics within a given age group helps determine what activities, materials, interactions and experiences will be safe, healthy, interesting, achievable, and challenging.
2. What is known about each child- an understanding of the unique strengths, interests and needs of each child in the group helps guide caregivers/teachers to respond and provide support to individual children.
3. Knowledge of the social and cultural context in which children live- knowing about a child’s family and community helps caregivers/teachers ensure that learning experiences are meaningful for, relevant to, and respectful of each child and family.

The curriculum addresses the following criteria under the following categories of developmentally appropriate practice:

Infants

• Relationships among caregivers and children
• Environment and experiences (play, eating, sleeping, diapering)
• Health and safety
• Reciprocal relationships with families

Toddlers

• Relationships among caregivers and children
•  Living and learning with toddlers
• Environment
• Health and Safety
• Reciprocal relationships with families

The preschool programs use The Creative Curriculum for Preschools which enhances social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language development. Goals and objectives for each of these developmental areas are organized Developmental Continuum for Ages 3-5.

Since children do not master a skill all at once, each objective has three steps that illustrate the typical sequence of development. A special category called forerunners looks at emerging behaviors for each objective to assess all children’s learning and development, including those with disabilities or developmental delays.

The Developmental Continuum is divided into four areas -social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language.

Social/Emotional Development goals:

• Sense of Self
• Responsibility for Self and Others
• Prosocial Behavior

Physical Development goals:

• Gross Motor Skills
• Fine Motor Skills

Cognitive Development Goals:

• Learning and Problem Solving
• Logical Thinking
• Representation and Symbolic Thinking

Language Development Goals:

• Listening and Speaking
• Reading and Writing

The Creative Curriculum for Preschools is aligned with the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and the West Virginia Early Learning Standards.

For young children, meaningful and long-lasting learning requires active thinking and experimenting to find out how things work. This is best accomplished through purposeful play facilitated by highly intentional teaching practices.

The curriculum provides teachers with guidance in these areas:

• How Children Develop and Learn
• The Learning Environment
• What Children Learn
• The Teacher’s Role
• The Family’s Role

Drama Club
The Drama Club provides enjoyable opportunities that build academic skills in literacy and art. Children participate in book discussions, read alouds, story and literature dramatizations, reenactments and writing. Children can create their own costumes and props, write scripts, plan productions or put on a puppet show.

Afterschool Detectives Club
The Afterschool Detectives Club encourages children to use everyday activities or situations to practice math and science skills. They predict, hypothesis, experiment, problem solve, explore and discover in a safe, fun learning environment. The staff build on children’s prior knowledge by determining what they already know, find out what they want to know and then reflect on what was learned. Then, they help children relate the new knowledge to the real world making it meaningful to them.

Hip-Hop Club
The Hip-Hop Club incorporates music and physical education to allow children opportunities to be creative, competitive, and face up to challenges as individuals and in groups and teams. They learn to plan, perform, and to evaluate actions, and ideas, to improve their quality and effectiveness. Through this process they improve physical fitness, achieve personal goals, assume leadership roles, cooperate with others and become more confident. The activities provide an outlet for creativity and self- expression.

Tutoring
Each location provides tutoring in math, science, reading and spelling. Communication between parents, tutors, public school day teacher and the child is ongoing to maximize the child’s learning and to ensure each child receives help in areas of needs.

Kids Care Club
The Kids Care Club is the newest project for the 21st Century After-School Program. The Kids Care Club is a program of the Points of Light Foundation, and its mission is to develop compassion as well as the spirit of service and philanthropy in elementary and middle school children. The club will help children to have hands on opportunities to volunteer and help others within their local, national, and global communities. Through this Club, children will take on various community projects and then be able to post their progress and successes on the Kids Care Club website as well as here on our website. This is a wonderful opportunity for children, staff, and parents to work together on projects and encourage our children to take responsibility for our community, while developing a strong sense of self, and having fun while doing something kind for others. Please take a moment to view the Kids Care Club website and look around. The web address is www.kidscare.org. If you would also like more information of the Points of Light Foundation you can visit, www.PointsofLight.org. These are great organizations and we are proud to be affiliated with them. We hope that you will give us your support and be an active partner in our newest project.

Design and Create using Legos and K’nex!

• Create and construct models of towers, buildings, plus machines of all kinds that really work.
• Create your own digital portfolio! Build and track your accomplishments online, anytime. (With an Internet connection at home, parents can access your portfolio at home to see all the great creations you design and build.)
• Apply math and science to real world situations.
• Develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.
• Develop skills for life situations.
• Build self-esteem and HAVE FUN!

21st Century S.T.E.A.M. is a place in which every student can feel that he or she has a voice and is valued.

Our Current focus is on the Second Step Curriculum, a drug and violence prevention program. It is designed to promote social competence and reduce children’s social and emotional anxieties. The curriculum focuses on teaching students several skills central to healthy social and emotional development such as: empathy, impulse control, problem solving, and anger management.

The information is introduced through stories, role-play, games, activities and group discussions. To ensure that each child gets the most from this program, students are divided by age so that activities, games, role-plays, and group discussions are adequate and successful.

We also have fun with many self esteem activities and projects.

Morning Activities

Social interaction: Learning Centers, Physical Education activities including basketball, organized games, outdoor play, etc.

Group Discussion: Field trips, rules, theme related topics, group sharing, program planning,etc.

Music Experiences: Musical activities; Dance-Dance Revolution, freeze dance, instruments, musical games, talents shows, etc.

Learning Experiences: Theme related hands on arts/crafts, math, science, engineering, social studies, cooking and literature activities.

Field Trips: Swimming, Camden Park amusement park, bowling, skating, lazar tag, golfing, Movies, museums, Gymnastic centers, etc.

Afternoon Activities

Quiet Time: Story sharing, educational media, computers, table games, etc.

Special Activities: Preplanned group activities Drama Club, Afterschool Detectives, Hip-Hop Club, Social Club, Lego labs, etc.

Social Interaction: Learning centers, basketball, organized games, indoor/outdoor gross motor activities, etc.

Transportation provided by WV Department of Education and Wayne and Cabell County Boards of Education.