At The Global Child, teachers & staff help children reach learning and developmental goals. Founded and currently owned by mom & former administrator and teacher Virginia Brown, The Global Child operates four centers in Connecticut, in Stonington, Norwich, Ledyard and Farifield County's newest location. Estero, FL is the location of T.G.C's newest location. Virginia spent 24 years in the Public School System in Connecticut focusing on Early Childhood Education as a kindergarten teacher, special education teacher, principal, and director of special education. In 2011, she founded The Global Child with the goal of creating a center that would put parents' minds at ease while providing an educational and enriching experience for their children. Today, she shares her thoughts on Curriculum development in Early Childhood Education, why it's important, and what makes The Global Child's programs different.
It feels like many don't think of curriculum and structured learning for our youngest children, but in actuality it is one of the most important elements of a high quality early childhood program. Children at this age absorb some much and acquire so many early foundational skills. Why is Curriculum important for our earliest learners?
Curriculum is not only important for early childhood schools but, essential because it ensures that children have exposures and experiences to develop and meet age-appropriate milestones that they need for Kindergarten and beyond. Studies show that young children who possess Kindergarten readiness skills in the academic and social/emotional areas experience much greater school and life success. Children ages birth to 6 weeks are incredibly receptive to learning and their brains are developing very quickly, therefore a curriculum designed for young children that has an assessment aligned with it guides our skilled teachers to create learning opportunities that meet and often exceed children's needs.
Can you share more about the Curriculum at The Global Child School? How is it developed? How does it change based on a child's age?
At The Global Child we use researched based Development Standards aligned with known milestones to created to our very own proprietary curriculum for our students. While early learning standards and milestones offer our teachers guidelines for their lesson planning and daily activities, The Global Child curriculum is designed specifically to meet a child's developmental needs by targeting what a child should know and be able to do at each age. Our enriched learning goes beyond numbers and letters, it's about new opportunities, skills and engagement for each and every one of our students while integrating and foster literacy skills through and English and Spanish language focus.
You integrate Spanish into the program for children starting at infancy. Can you share a bit more about the program you use?
Spanish is integrated into our children's daily experiences and activities. We provide daily opportunities for children see, read, hear and use Spanish through books, songs and activities. It's important that this is part of our curriculum because incorporating another language into our daily activities gives The Global Child children a whole host of advantages such as increased cognitive skills, literacy skills and an understanding of different languages and cultures. At T.G.C. children have opportunities for exposure of languages integrated thorough our play-based curriculum, age-appropriate learning activities which include songs, read alouds of familiar books, and familiar English opportunities paired with the Spanish language. Native speakers support the integration of Spanish into our curriculum.
How do you know if your child's school offers a high-quality curriculum that will prepare your child for school?
As parents we all want to be certain that our children have the best possible chance at success and life. Therefore, it is important as parents we know our children are spending their days exposed to curriculum, activities and teachers that support and optimize learning. Here are some basic questions you can ask your child's administrators and teachers are:
Do you have a researched base curriculum that is designed around academic, cognitive, social/ emotional, and physical development? Would you be willing to show me examples of what your curriculum looks like?
Do you use an assessment aligned with learning goals and objectives? Do you measure children's growth and or progress?
Do teachers use the curriculum to design their daily lesson plans? Is this something shared with parents?
Who creates your program's curriculum and is anyone in charge of monitoring it?
In 2011, Virginia Brown founded The Global Child. The school's 3rd location is in Bethel at 15 Park Lawn Drive. If you are interested in learning more about the programs at Bethel center, please contact Sue Canfield by phone at (203) 798-0015 to set up your tour. Currently, The Global Child operates four schools throughout Connecticut (Stonington, Norwich, Bethel, & Ledyard) and is expanding through franchising opportunities. If you'd like to learn more about opening a location in your town, please contact Virginia at: vbrown@globalchildfranchise.com. You can also, click here for more information.