St. Vincent De Paul Center

The philosophy behind our curriculum is that young children learn best by doing. Learning isnt just repeating what someone else says; it requires active thinking and experimenting to find out how things work and to learn firsthand about the world we live in.

Through research, we learn that children learn primarily through play. Play provides the foundation for academic or school learning. It is the preparation children need before they learn highly abstract symbols such as letters (which are symbols for sounds) and numbers (which are symbols for number concepts). Play enables us to achieve the key goals of our early childhood curriculum.

The Goals of Our Curriculum

The most important goal of our early childhood curriculum is to help children become enthusiastic learners. This means encouraging children to be active and creative explorers who are not afraid to try out their ideas and to think their own thoughts. Our goal is to help children become independent, self-confident, inquisitive learners. We are teaching them how to learn, not just in Pre-School, but all through their lives. We are allowing them to learn at their own pace and in the ways that are best for them. As teachers plan activities and provide opportunities for children to work and play together, children learn to get along with others and to feel good about themselves. These experiences positively effect their growth and all other learning for the rest of their lives.