Our Program

First and foremost your child must feel safe, physically and emotionally.  We teach safety rules and healthy habits and put them into practice every day.  We emphasize sharing, caring, listening, following directions, taking turns, expressing emotions, and communicating needs while treating each child with love and respect. The preschool curriculum is developed on the principle that young children learn most easily when the curriculum is developmentally appropriate, the children are actively involved in hands-on experiences, and while they are engaged in play activities.  “Developmentally appropriate” means that the learning activities planned for the children are matched to the stages of development for their age group. The children are allowed to develop at their own rate without pressure.  Your child will be provided with activities in the areas of social skills, creative skills, language arts, mathematics, motor skills, science, social studies, thinking skills, and problem-solving. The early childhood curriculum incorporates many different learning experiences, materials, equipment, and teaching strategies to accommodate all the children in the classroom.  In order for the program to be effective, a balance between the needs and interests of the children and the skills to be learned must be achieved. Teachers strive to teach to the whole child using research-based strategies and staying focused on the school’s mission of teaching Catholic values in an atmosphere that promotes the growth of each child’s mind, body, and spirit.

In addition to a sound curriculum, ECDC provides opportunities for children to explore classes outside their regular classroom. Classes in fitness, Spanish, art, music, and gymnastics are part of the students' weekly schedule.

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd 
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a program designed to help children know and love Jesus. The children gather each week in the atrium, which is a sacred space made especially for them. The classes are structured to offer a time of prayer and song, a time for the “presentation,” and a time for individual work by the child. Presentations are brief lessons given by the catechist and enable the child to draw nearer to God. Following the presentation, the children do works, using hands-on materials. The work of the children is their prayer and is the most important part of their time in the atrium. For a video about the program, click here.

Fitness and Gymnastics
Preschoolers enjoy fitness and gymnastics classes each week. Teachers use activities with movement, rhythm, and dance to teach skills such as balancing, tumbling, kicking, running, hopping, and jumping. Visual-motor and gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and cross-body exercises are incorporated to support the healthy physical development of each child.

Music
Students discover different varieties, forms, and interpretations of music. They begin to grasp that music is a language all of its own. God created a world full of music and the students are opened to the awareness of music in everything. Some of the skills taught are musical terms such as piano and forte, using wind, percussion, string, and brass instruments, and repeating simple patterns. Children also rehearse and participate in the annual Christmas Program and May Crowing events.

Spanish
Research shows the best age to introduce a foreign language is during early childhood. Students learn to recognize differences and similarities between English and Spanish. They are exposed to the sounds and rhythm of a new language, while naming common use objects and activities. Lessons incorporate familiar songs, vocabulary, and phrases. Children also learn color names, counting 1-10, the Sign of the Cross, the Our Father, days of the week, and are introduced to Spanish culture through pictures, stories, and objects. 

Art
Children participate in an art class once a week. The class is led in process art experiences and techniques intended to increase their knowledge and appreciation of art. They use a wide variety of media to explore color, texture, design, and expression. We highlight the students' work in the spring Spanish and Art Show.