How Newport Children's School Prepares Your Child for Success: A Parent’s Guide to Our Early Learning Curriculum

At Newport Children’s School, we understand that choosing the right preschool, kindergarten or educational daycare for your child is an important decision. As a parent, you want a program that nurtures your child’s development in a safe and caring environment. Our early education program, modeled after the renowned Second Step Early Learning Curriculum, is specifically designed to support your child’s social, emotional, and academic growth. Below, we explain how this curriculum works and how it prepares your child for success, both in school and beyond.

1. Building Essential Learning Skills

The foundation of our educational daycare focuses on equipping children with the skills they need to thrive in a learning environment. In Unit 1: Skills for Learning, children develop fundamental skills like listening, focusing attention, following directions, and self-talk.

• Listening & Attention: We teach children how to focus their attention on the teacher and peers, ensuring they stay engaged in group activities—an essential skill for any successful early education setting.
• Self-Talk: Children practice "self-talk," or talking to themselves quietly, which helps them stay focused and calm during learning activities.
• Following Directions: This key skill helps children become more responsible and capable learners, setting them up for future success in both preschool and kindergarten.

By mastering these skills, your child will feel more confident and capable in the classroom, making the transition to kindergarten readiness smooth and stress-free.

2. Fostering Empathy and Emotional Understanding

Empathy is at the heart of building meaningful relationships, and it’s a crucial aspect of our preschool curriculum. In Unit 2: Empathy, children learn how to identify their own emotions and those of others, fostering kindness and understanding.

• Identifying Feelings: Children learn to recognize emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, and fear by focusing on facial expressions and body language.
• Caring and Helping: We teach children how to show empathy by saying kind words or offering help to a friend who may feel upset or left out.

These social-emotional learning skills are key components of a quality educational daycare and help your child develop strong relationships with peers while building the foundations for cooperation and teamwork.

3. Managing Big Emotions

Managing emotions is one of the most important skills for young children in an early learning environment. In Unit 3: Emotion Management, we guide children through managing strong emotions like anger, disappointment, and frustration.

• Belly Breathing: This simple relaxation technique helps children calm down when they’re upset—an important tool for navigating the emotional ups and downs of daycare and preschool.
• Calming-Down Steps: Children are taught to put their hands on their tummy, say “stop,” and breathe deeply when feeling overwhelmed.

By practicing these strategies in our educational daycare, your child will develop emotional resilience, preparing them for challenges they may face in kindergarten and beyond.

4. Encouraging Positive Friendships and Problem Solving

Social skills are essential for your child’s development, both in and outside of the classroom. In Unit 4: Friendship Skills and Problem Solving, children learn how to make and keep friends, as well as how to resolve conflicts in a positive manner.

• Fair Ways to Play: We teach children to play together, trade toys, and take turns, ensuring everyone feels included and has fun in our educational daycare setting.
• Problem Solving: Your child will learn to use words to identify problems and think of multiple solutions, helping them navigate social situations independently.

These essential early learning skills not only help children form lasting friendships but also encourage teamwork and cooperation, which are invaluable as they prepare for the structure and routines of kindergarten.

5. Smooth Transition to Kindergarten

As your child grows and approaches kindergarten, it’s important that they feel confident in their abilities to succeed in a more structured school environment. Unit 5: Transitioning to Kindergarten ensures that they are ready for this big step.

• Assertive Communication: We teach children to speak up respectfully if they feel unsafe or uncomfortable, promoting self-advocacy from an early age.
• Kindergarten Routines: Through activities like practicing listening rules and playing together, children become familiar with the routines they will encounter in kindergarten.

This unit of our preschool curriculum prepares your child for the next stage of their education, helping them feel excited and ready to enter elementary school with confidence.

Why Social-Emotional Learning Matters in Educational Daycare

Research shows that social-emotional learning (SEL) is critical to a child’s academic success, emotional well-being, and future life satisfaction. By focusing on empathy, emotion management, and problem-solving skills, we help your child build a solid emotional foundation that will support them throughout their education and beyond.

At Newport Children’s School, our commitment to providing a holistic and nurturing approach to educational daycare means your child will have the best possible start to their educational journey. Our curriculum not only prepares them for kindergarten readiness but also equips them with lifelong skills in learning, friendships, and emotional well-being.

Learn More or Schedule a Tour

If you’d like to learn more about how our curriculum can benefit your child, or if you’re interested in seeing our educational daycare in action, please contact us to schedule a tour. We’d love to show you firsthand how we create a nurturing and engaging learning environment for every child.

‍