Learning in the Early Childhood School

Our Philosophy 

The Early Childhood School at Forest City International School (FCIS) believes that early childhood is a crucial time for shaping children's identities and laying the groundwork for their future development. We are committed to supporting healthy identity formation by drawing on our understanding of child development and learning, as well as considering each child's individuality and the social and cultural context in which they live, starting with their families. We believe that providing a high-quality early childhood education begins with our perception of children as strong, capable, resilient, and full of wonder and knowledge. We continuously evaluate our actions to ensure that our environments reflect this image and honor children's potential as learners.

Our Curriculum 

Our approach to early childhood education at FCIS is a response to the needs of the Forest City community, designed to lay a strong foundation for lifelong learning. By incorporating the inquiry-based methodology from the world-renowned preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, we emphasize child-centered, experiential learning that fosters creativity and critical thinking from an early age. This collaboration between teachers, families, and students allows children to explore in-depth projects while developing vital skills, dispositions for learning, and a sense of connection to their family and community. Our curriculum integrates interdisciplinary learning experiences that nurture natural curiosity and problem-solving abilities, helping students build a solid foundation in core subjects. Supported by research-based practices, learning through play, developmental assessments, and standards from the USA, we offer a world-class education in the foundational years.

Our Learning Community

We are a welcoming and inclusive learning community that encourages asking and exploring questions. We adhere to the principles of Universal Design for Learning, which means we provide multiple ways for our students to demonstrate their abilities and express their thoughts. This approach ensures that all students can engage with the concepts being taught. We value each child for who they are, not just for what they can do, and we encourage them to see themselves as persistent individuals who continue to make an effort when faced with challenges. Being part of our community also means contributing to the well-being of the entire school. Our curriculum is designed to help students develop a sense of belonging and connection to the broader school and community. Through activities such as beach exploration and field trips to learn about our local environment and the origins of life in Forest City, our students envision their place in the world and actively contribute to building a vibrant community.

How we support Social Emotional Development  

At FCIS, we prioritize the social-emotional development of our youngest learners using the Second Step curriculum, a research-based program that equips children with age-appropriate strategies to develop essential social skills such as empathy, emotion management, and problem-solving. Through engaging, interactive lessons, children learn how to identify and express their feelings, build positive relationships, and handle challenges constructively. Additionally, our early childhood students are assessed using the New York Early Learning Standards, ensuring their development aligns with recognized benchmarks for social-emotional growth. By integrating these standards, we create a supportive and nurturing environment where children can thrive emotionally and socially, setting the foundation for lifelong success in both personal and academic areas.

How we support English Language Development 

One of our most important goals for our students in early childhood is for them to be comfortable joining in discussions in an English-speaking environment. Research shows that children with more developed vocabulary skills in their home language will be able to develop English language skills more easily in a high-quality English language environment as we provide for children in their foundation years at Forest City International School. For that reason, we encourage families to continue providing rich, descriptive language experiences for their children in their home language. Our teachers use proven strategies for promoting language development and self-confidence in English language learners. These strategies include self-talk, where teachers narrate their actions; parallel talk, where educators describe what is happening in the learning environment; and Positive Descriptive Acknowledgement, where teachers highlight and affirm the internal qualities and positive behaviors demonstrated by children.

Mathematics Instruction in the Classroom

Foundational numeracy skills will be presented through counting and recognizing patterns from the world around us. Our students are exposed to number concepts and patterns through group investigation, math centers, nature walks, snack time, and at many other times throughout the school day. As the children mature and gain experience, the math program becomes more direct as students build on numeracy and patterns and add several math concepts like non-standard measurement, and problem-solving involving addition and subtraction to give them a strong foundation and prepare them for the elementary program. 

Literacy Development in the Classroom

Students enrolled in the Early Childhood School at Forest City International School have a variety of age-appropriate opportunities to grow their literacy skills. Through shared and interactive reading sessions and access to a variety of high-quality children’s books and writing materials, the children will be shown how to read and write for meaning. When children enter Kindergarten, the literacy instruction becomes more direct to help prepare children for the elementary program. Learning the English alphabet, the letter sounds, and different strategies will give students a strong foundation in literacy. 

Physical Education, Art, and Music in the Classroom

Students have specialist classes in physical education, music, and art as part of our integrated project approach. In Physical Education, the specialist teacher introduces the children to swimming, games and exercises to develop whole body muscles, as well as dance as a form of creative self expression. In Art, our specialist helps young children learn to develop their imagination while they control and build the muscles in their hands through cutting, painting, and using clay. Our music specialist introduces the children to the development of musical skills such as making steady beats and rhythmic patterns, as well as how to listen to and develop an appreciation for classical music using the Kodály Concept. The children also gain experience using Orff-Schulwerk instruments to create their own music. 

World Languages

Early childhood students will participate in daily Mandarin lessons, providing them with consistent exposure to the language and helping to build foundational communication skills in a bilingual environment.

K5 Only

Project Time 

Project time begins every day with our morning meeting at 8:30. The purpose of our morning meeting is for children to plan how they will use project time to meet goals for instruction and self-determined play with their teacher. We promote creative thinking during this time and at other gatherings throughout the day by encouraging the children to plan and brainstorm ideas for how they will represent their thinking using music, movement, and art with phonics, reading, writing, and mathematics as a focus. We also promote concept development during our morning meeting with activities that promote vocabulary development, scientific thinking, analysis, and reasoning. These learning engagements include asking and answering why and how questions, problem-solving, prediction, experimentation, classification, comparison, and reflection on their learning. 

During project time, our students choose between a variety of learning centers with materials they can use to explore new concepts related to previous learning or direct instruction. For younger children, project time is an opportunity to gain experience playing alongside their peers as they move through the stages of play development from parallel play and associative play toward more cooperative play. This experience prepares them to participate in group projects and develop self-regulation skills that allow them to benefit from more formal instruction.

Technology 

Children have access to iPads with apps that reinforce language, literacy, and numeracy skills introduced by their teachers. Most importantly, students in the Early Childhood School use technology in a variety of ways to produce content and document projects for Learning journals in Seesaw.