The Early Childhood Learning Center of Natomas (ECLCN) cares deeply about the future of our young children.  We feel that in order to have the most effect on that future, we need to include curriculum which addresses current health and learning issues facing our society.  Following, you will find how the components of our program have been carefully developed in order to speak to these issues. 

      According to the National Institute of Health, “Obesity in kids is now epidemic in the United States. The number of children who are overweight has doubled in the last two to three decades; currently one child in five is overweight. The increase is in both children and adolescents, and in all age, race and gender groups”.   

      Children who attend ECLCN are encouraged to be active. We start out each day with a lively “Get Your Body Ready” routine which promotes exercise as part of a daily routine.  Exercise has a positive effect on the “whole body”. Vigorous activity improves learning by increasing the amount of oxygen to the brain, relieves emotional stress, burns calories, and helps social relationships develop. The indoor gross motor area also encourages children to be active, especially when outdoor play is not available.  The indoor gross motor area will be an ever changing, dynamic area with many opportunities for active play. 

      Not only is an active lifestyle important but better nutritional choices are important.  

      “What was once a disease of our grandparents is now a disease of our children," said study chair Dr. Francine Kaufman, director of the Comprehensive Childhood Diabetes Center at the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 20 percent of new childhood diabetes cases. "The lifestyle of our children has radically changed in the past 20 years, and especially in the past 5 years. Today, only one in four children in California is physically fit," she noted, citing a recent California Department of Education study. 

      Snack time is offered during the flexible activity time here at ECLCN.  Children are offered a nutritional, low fat, low sugar, low preservative snack with milk during the flexible activities time. Juice will be offered occasionally. Self-help skills are also promoted as the children will often be included in making, serving, and cleaning up after their snack.  
 

“Studies show that between 15-25% of U. S. students are bullied with some frequency while 15 – 20% report that they bully others with some frequency” (Melton, G. B.. Limber, S. Flerx, V. Cunningham, P., Osgood, D.W., Chambers, J., Henggler, S., & Nation, M. (1998). Violence among rural youth. Final report to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) 

“Recent studies show that although school violence has declined 4% during the past several years, the incidence of behaviors such as bullying has increased by 5% between 1999-2001” (U.S. Department of Ed, 2002) 

“Bullying has been identified as major concern for schools across the U.S. (National Education Association3. (2003). School safety facts. Retrieved August 12, 2005, from www.nea.org/ schoolsafety/ssfacts.html.) 

“There is no one single cause of bullying among children. Rather, individual, family, peer, school, and community factors can place a child or youth at risk for bullying his or her peers”.  (Stop Bullying Now, U.S. Health and Human Resources and Services Administration) 

      Every day at ECLCN, children will meet in a small group “Community Meeting” where every child will be welcomed to the center by their peers, all children will learn each other’s names, and each child will have an opportunity to share and listen to each other’s celebrations or concerns.  “Lack of empathy” is a trait that has often been linked to children who bully others. (Stop Bullying Now, U.S. Health and Human Resources and Services Administration). It is never too early to teach children to respect and value differences in other people. Through the “Community Meeting” we hope that children will develop understanding, maybe even empathy, for others who are different from themselves. By encouraging children to share celebrations or concerns, we give shy or non assertive children a “safe” platform to practice speaking in front of others. In this way, children should develop the confidence to speak up for themselves and be less likely to be a victim of bullying.
      Bullies also tend to “view violence in a positive way, be easily frustrated, and have difficulty following rules” (Stop Bullying Now, U.S. Health and Human Resources and Services Administration). Violence will not be condoned at ECLCN. No violent toys or computer games will be allowed. Children will inevitably have conflicts.  However, through the practices of our trained staff, children will be encouraged to express themselves with words and resolve conflict through compromise.  To minimize frustration, staff will employ a variety of teaching strategies that allow for different learning styles and be consistent and fair in enforcing rules.
      Children often learn bullying by watching others. Treating each other with respect forms the foundation of our program. The staff at ECLCN will always model appropriate non violent behavior in their actions, words, and body language. In service programs reinforce this with the staff as we continue our efforts to recognize the importance of this characteristic in our program.
 

According to Vygotsky's theory of Zone of proximal Development, problem solving skills of tasks can be placed into three categories. These are as follows: (a) those performed independently by the student; (b) those that cannot be performed even with help; and (c) those that fall between the two extremes, the tasks that can be performed with help from others…The zone of proximal development can be used to design appropriate situations during which the student can be provided the appropriate support for optimal learning. Learning and development is a social and collaborative activity that cannot be "taught" to anyone. It is up to the student to construct his or her own understanding in his or her own mind. It is during this process that the teacher acts as a facilitator.(www.archive.org)
   Part of the children’s day is spent participating in “Structured Activities”.  It is during this time that the teacher’s have the opportunity to “facilitate” the children’s learning.  Each day, teachers will design an appropriate situation which will be just beyond but within reach of the children’s level of understanding.  Through social interaction with teacher and peers, the children will “construct” or “add to” or “alter” their foundation of what has already been learned.  An example of this might be in the science center where the teacher sets up an experiment with magnets where the children explore the concept of “attract and repel”.  This opens the opportunity for the children to go beyond the usual “what happens when” and ask the question “why”? In this way, the teacher/peers become facilitators of optimal learning. 
Vygotsky also says that “When providing appropriate situations, one must take into consideration that learning should take place in meaningful contexts, preferably the context in which the knowledge is to be applied.” (www.archive.org)
      We have addressed this learning principle by basing our learning centers on a “village concept”.  In our Village Café children will be pretending to cook and serve foods in what look like a café.  They will pretend to be doctors/nurses in what resembles a doctor’s office.  Science activities will be done in a science lab complete with lab coats and safety goggles.  Learning becomes more meaningful because it is completed doing activities in the context where they can apply it. 
Vygotsky continues with “Out of school experiences should be related to school experiences. Pictures, and personal stories incorporated into classroom activities provides the students with a sense of oneness between their community and learning.”
      In the Community Meeting children will be given the opportunity to share their stories and celebrations bridging the gap between school and home.  As the teachers listen, they will develop curriculum based on the children’s interests to extend this benefit into the planned activities.  We encourage parents to inform us of any special interests their child develops in an attempt to capture this wonderful motivation for learning.
 

“Literacy problems in the primary grades and beyond cross racial, linguistic, and
socioeconomic groups, but the children at greatest risk for reading problems in elementary school are those who start kindergarten with weak language skills, poor
abilities to attend to the sounds of language as opposed to its specific meanings, deficient letter recognition, and unfamiliarity with the basic purposes and strategies of reading.” (Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.) (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.) 

      Developing literacy skills is extremely important at ECLCN.  We have addressed children’s literacy needs several ways.  One way is to encourage the use of our Book Borrowing Library for children and adults.  Children and adults can borrow any book for a week to take home to read by themselves or preferably with someone else.  Taking the time to read to your children increases their literacy skills several ways but one of the most important is by knowing that it is important to you.  Let them see you reading, share your book stories with each other, and show them how much you enjoy it.  They will see that reading can be a life long pleasure and will be more likely to copy your behavior.  Another way we encourage literacy skills is by making the Reading center into a comfortable, cozy place where they can go to read alone, with friends, or with their stuffed animal “Reading Buddy”.  We read to the children on a daily basis using comprehension strategies based on “pre” reading and “post” reading activities. Every group reading session is followed by an activity which extends the story of the book.  For instance, if we were reading “Clifford and the Runaway Rabbit”, we might follow it with a game where the children had to follow a trail to find a rabbit.   We integrate literacy activities into all the learning centers by using print to identify objects, placing relevant books in all areas such as a book or puzzle or dinosaurs in the science area, stocking areas with printed materials such as menus in the Village Cafe, and creating activities where children need to find their own materials based on a “picture” list.  Developing skills such as holding a pencil, using scissors, pasting and gluing can all be practiced in our Village Post Office Literacy Center.  We will also be using lessons from the same curriculum used by the Natomas Unified School District for developing literacy skills at the preschool level during our Community Meeting time. We will continue to update our curriculum as new strategies for teaching literacy skills are developed.  
 

Hopefully this commentary about our program at the Early Childhood Learning Center of Natomas gives you a better understanding of the commitment we have to the future of our young children.  As always, our open door policy welcomes your suggestions, questions, and/or concerns about our program. We welcome the opportunity to continue the dialogue.