INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT

The children at Kid Kountry are continually provided with opportunities to learn letters and numbers. However, these are just that...opportunities. Children have internal developmental clocks and will always do the best they can. They are constantly absorbing and learning the world around them. That is why Kid Kountry provides a positive environment where the specialists interact with the children.

If Kid Kountry insists on workbooks, memorization, drills and tests children may lose something very important. Instead of feeling confidant they begin to feel apprehensive and fearful of what they don't know. Kid Kountry takes their cues from the children. They ask questions and observe when they are ready to learn. Kid Kountry also understands that children teach themselves through play by reenacting what they have seen and experienced elsewhere. They sample ideas and concepts to develop their skills that will later be a basis for writing.

Mathematical skills involve logical thinking. Simple memorization is not our goal. We are building a foundation for logical thinking. We provide children with opportunities to count objects, sort them into piles, and add some and take some away. Through these steps and games they gradually learn to understand addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Without these concrete experiences, children may learn to please us by giving correct answers now. However, important math concepts will bypass them and we will have deprived them of opportunities to know the why of logical thinking.

Children have a natural enthusiasm towards learning. At Kid Kountry, learning is fun because children proceed at their own pace . Academic structure will come all too soon and we hope to give them confidence. Confidence to not only accept challenges but to be excited, active learners. We convey to children that it is up to them to discover, explore, invent, create and solve.

TWO/THREE YEAR OLD DEVELOPMENT

These children are egocentric yet able to continue to build and learn the concept of respect for themselves and others. They learn with their whole bodies and they learn by doing rather than by being told what to do. They are discovering their world on a very physical level. This can be seen by the way they prefer to walk, climb, run, carry, dump, drop and pick up anything and everything. In actuality, they are learning to use their large muscles. Kid Kountry plans for them by having a flexible and spontaneous curriculum. Toddlers are active explorers, eager to try new things and use materials in different ways.

We follow the children's cues. This is the age to build on communication skills, to learn how to identify feelings and express them. Subconsciously, they are learning all the grammatical rules of their native language. They are moving from simple sentences to complex ones. We keep their environment fair and consistent. Furthermore, it is structured to allow them to learn to make choices. They are moving towards independence and our expectations are developmentally appropriate while remaining supportive. Modeling and explanations are our tools.

Our education specialist uses warmth, patience, acceptance and respect to redirect toddlers and guide them towards self-control. We draw attention towards appropriate behavior because these children like to act in ways that will draw the most attention. Their threshold for frustration is low and their language skills limited yet their need to express themselves is great. Kid Kountry realizes all this and helps the child build language through modeling and prompting.

FOUR AND FIVE YEAR OLD DEVELOPMENT

Kid Kountry has a pre-school curriculum that prepares the child for kindergarten. The four and five year old wants to be seen as big, dependable and, as one child told us, respectable. Learning to sit still and listen is an achievement as is mastery of the scissors. However, the focus for this age group remains the same. Self respect and respect for others through communication.

At Kid Kountry, the program emphasis is always on the needs of the child and self-expression. Personal responsibility is increased through events that give the child confidence in the world around them. Their language skills continue to grow in a curriculum of field trips, science activities, music appreciation, art, culinary experiences, and free play. The world is a stage and the children are shown how to use and enjoy it. The pre-school children are encouraged to know themselves by themes of family, community, country and the world. As they acquire confidence and knowledge about themselves by experiencing their world they prepare for their later life.