EPiC Curriculum

Our Educational Play Inspired Curriculum

Our experienced Curriculum Director, Chelsea Johnston-Bernstein, oversees the planning and implementation of our EPiC curriculum, ensuring that we maintain the high standards to which we strive.

See Examples Of Our EPiC Curriculum In Action

As you can tell by its name, our curriculum is play based. This means that the experiences we are providing to the children have intentionally educational components, while being implemented through play. Our teachers 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.

The curriculum corresponds to the developmental appropriateness of each age group and, in addition, its content covers each interest area, 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 our Program Specialists and Chelsea.

Our curriculum also includes weekly sign language learning and a health and wellness component. 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.

Our teachers use their curriculum in conjunction with their age group’s learning goals. The Creative Curriculum Objectives (pdf) are a set of 21 goals that encourage children to develop social & emotional, physical, cognitive, and language skills.

The Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards (CT ELDS) (pdf) were developed through the work of the Connecticut Early Childhood Education Cabinet and its Early Learning Standards Workgroup. In addition, over 100 state and national experts participated in some way during the development process, helping to ensure a strong and comprehensive set of Early Learning Standards for Connecticut.

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 goals for our infant and toddler programs are from the Creative Curriculum Objectives and the goals for our preschool programs are from the Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards (CT ELDS). The teachers use their observations to create assessments which are used to share information with families during parent-teacher conference weeks held throughout the year.

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!