Curriculum
During the first year of life, an infant’s brain is busy building brain connections through everyday experiences and interactions. The more activities you provide, the more connections are made. Our infant curriculum enables our caregivers and parents to help build brain connections for infants at every turn.
Each infant curriculum kit actively engages and stimulates infants through social interactions: talking, playing, moving, singing, reading and signing. The activities are integrated across all areas of development — physical, emotional, social and cognitive. The activities promote language development, a sense of self, sensory awareness, self-help skills and much more.
To provide activities appropriate for the varying development stages of an infant, our curriculum divides activities specific to each three-month interval during the first year of life.
Our infants receive American Sign Language instruction on a daily basis. Signing is an amazing way infants can communicate prior to having verbal skills. Infants develop the fine muscles in their hands prior to those required for speech, so they’re equipped to communicate before they can speak. What’s more, signing can lessen frustration and outbursts because infants can immediately communicate their wants and needs.
Infants also partake in infant yoga daily to help work self awareness and motor skills. Yoga supports neuromuscular development, body awareness and self-confidence. It also familiarizes the infant with relaxation techniques. Infant yoga is supported by research that shows that brain connections are built by engaging infants in interactive experiences that involve sensory, motor and social explorations.
A weekly learning plan is posted outside the classroom detailing learning activities for each infant every day at The PREP.
Electronic updates, photos, and daily reports are sent to the parent’s email each day to communicate about the child’s day and pertinent information as needed.
Enrichment Classrooms for Infants
As weather permits, PREP infants have scheduled activities on our outdoor playground. We also have a Multi-Purpose Room where infants can enjoy scheduled motor-skill activities when weather precludes outdoor play time.
Health and Safety
We provide an extremely sanitary and safe environment for our infants. Infants sleeping in cribs do not share their crib with any other child to minimize the spread of germs and keep their sleeping area sanitary. A hand-washing sink is in a separate vestibule area outside the classroom – and all visitors are required to wash their hands prior to entry. To maintain a sanitary floor area for the infants to crawl, explore and learn – we have personalized slippers and foot booties on hand for teachers and parents alike to wear when entering the toddler space – along with personalized cubby holes for shoes for each enrolled family right outside the classroom. All visitors to our infant space must remove their shoes and place booties over their feet upon entry.
We have diaper-changing stations that are forward-facing to the classroom. This allows the teachers to change a child’s diaper while never having their back to the classroom. With the high number of diaper changes that occur per day, this setup enables teachers to both change a diaper and monitor the classroom at the same time. To make the process more sanitary, eliminate odor and control contamination, we even have an exhaust mechanism built into our diaper disposal system.
Closed circuit cameras in the classroom can be viewed from the specialized PREP Parent Lounge at the front of the building. A specialized fingerprint entry system secures the visitors entering the building.
A separate Tender Loving Care (TLC) area provides a place for a sick child to be removed from the classroom to eliminate further spread of sickness in the classrooms.