EPiC Curriculum

Our Educational Play Inspired Curriculum

As you can tell by its name (Educational Play Inspired Curriculum), our curriculum is play based. All of the experiences we are providing to the children have intentional educational components, but they are implemented through play. Our curriculum follows two-week themes that teachers bring to life throughout the classroom environment and through the hands-on play experiences they provide for their students. They act as facilitators and enrich the children’s play by asking open-ended questions. These interactions lead to higher thinking and encourage the mastery of the program’s goals.

See Examples Of Our EPiC Curriculum In Action

Our teachers use their curriculum in conjunction with The Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards (CT ELDS) (pdf). The curriculum corresponds to the developmental appropriateness of each age group and, in addition, its content covers each of the CTELDS domains, including science, mathematics, creative art, language, and literacy. Teachers are trained to infuse learning into play through ongoing trainings, interactive learning challenges, and on-site coaching from their trained directors.

For more information on the Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards, please visit CT.gov/oec/elds

Each week, our curriculum includes activities and experiences that allow our teachers to observe their students as they build skills related to their program’s goals. The teachers use their observations to assess the children’s progress over time and to adjust their teaching and activities that they are providing through the classroom. Teachers get together with families a couple times a year to discuss their child’s progress and developmental goals that teachers and parents come up with as a team.

All of our core values are woven into our curriculum (kindness, wellness, fun, inspiration and community). Our curriculum also includes weekly sign language. Each week’s curriculum includes activities and discussions that introduce new sign language vocabulary and broaden children’s experiences and understanding of ecology, conservation, and personal health.

In addition, our preschool families have the option of enrolling their child in our literacy program, EP read with Me. The program is designed to promote emergent reading and writing comprehension. We offer a variety of fun and stimulating activities to help children identify letters, comprehend sounds and words, and develop best practices to support early writing habits. Each lesson takes place in a teacher-led, small group setting with the intention of enhancing the emergent literacy skills that children are already learning as part of our EPiC preschool curriculum.
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Our Outdoor Classrooms

The importance of outdoor play for young children cannot be overstated. That’s why we bring learning to the great outdoors! Our playgrounds are equipped with materials and equipment that allow our teachers to bring the fun outside. Our outdoor learning centers include items such as weather stations, giant outdoor musical instruments, easels, huge outdoor construction sets, cascading water tables, and so much more! Some centers even have a “mud-kitchen”, complete with running water!