WEE Learn Curriculum Overview
The Child Development Center uses the WEE Learn (Weekday Early Education) curriculum. This is a Christian-based curriculum especially designed for preschoolers. Each unit includes Bible stories, Bible verses, and thoughts (verses put into words that a child can understand). Prayer is also part of our program as we seek to provide a Christian environment. The CDC encourages the parents to use these essential tools with their children at home.
To appropriately meet the needs of preschoolers, our curriculum:
- Is Activity-Based—Preschoolers are active learners and must be involved in activities that do not force all the children to do the same thing at the same time. Learning center activities allow children to learn through experience rather than simply listening.
- Provides Choices—Preschoolers need to be able to choose which centers to work in, what to build with the blocks, or where to put the paint on the paper. Teachers provide an environment filled with unit-related choices and a child chooses what interests him.
- Allows Physical Activity—Because muscles are growing and developing, preschoolers need to be able to move about freely. Learning activities allow children to move about as they choose a center, work a puzzle, draw a picture, build with blocks, play in the home-living center, and enjoy a book.
- Encourages Creative Expression—As a teacher develops activities related to a unit theme, the creative expression in art, writing, puzzles, music, and other activities belong to the child. Every child is creative. They should be allowed to express themselves and experiment with their own design rather than a teacher providing a “pattern” or assisting them with an art activity. The experience, rather than the finished product, is the goal. Children become confident as they use their own ideas.
- Provides Balance—Because curriculum provides a guide for the day, it provides a balance of activities: quiet/active, indoor/outdoor, working alone/interacting with a group, rest/physical activity.
- Includes Beginning Group Experiences—While younger preschoolers will only be aware of themselves and their own activity (solitary play), they will eventually move to parallel play, and finally to group participation.
- Makes Learning Fun—When preschoolers are allowed to move around, express their own creativity, and choose what interests them, they will be successful, relate positively, and enjoy learning.
- Invites Conversation—Preschoolers learn through simple conversations about God, the world He made, and how to treat each other.
- Provides a Flexible Schedule within a Familiar Routine—Flexibility allows teachers to meet the needs of the children while helping them feel secure in a familiar routine.