Goals & Curriculum

The Early Childhood Center is a nurturing and interactive environment that fosters the emotional, physical, social, and intellectual growth of every child. Our goal is to guide children gently on their own unique journeys into the world of classroom learning.

Our educational program is built on an inquiry based, integrated and hands-on model. This type of learning challenges children to explore, manipulate, and interact with their environment. We work in small groups to allow for questioning and learning by using all the senses, and to give the teacher a sensitive understanding of how each child learns.

We use an activity center model in which each of the following centers is designed to reach specific goals:

• MANIPULATIVES AREA for fine motor skills and mathematical concepts.

• DRAMATIC PLAY AREA for sharing, creativity, expressive and creative language skills.

• BLOCK AREA for problem solving, math, and teamwork.
• COOKING & BAKING CENTER for literacy, mathematical concepts, science, hands-on activities, and nutrition.
• MUSIC & MOVEMENT SPACE for singing and listening, instruments, physical fitness, and coordination.
• OUTDOOR PLAY for large muscle movement.
• LITERACY AREA for text-rich classroom and immersive literature experiences.
• LIBRARY AREA for foundational reading and writing and love of books.
• ART CENTER for creativity, original expression, and free thinking.
• SAND & WATER AREA for science, relaxing, calming, and re-energizing.

Each day, children are given the tools, guidance, and freedom to develop their own love of learning. Our philosophy, based on a developmental approach, fosters the emotional, physical, social, and intellectual growth of every child. Because children learn by doing, our program is focused on the power of play, through which we enhance students’ interaction with people, places, and the subject matter at hand.

ECC Goals & Curriculum

At Ramaz, our Early Childhood curriculum rests on a firm foundation of research and focuses on the emotional, social, cognitive, language, gross motor, and fine motor stages of child development.

The curriculum of the Early Childhood program at Ramaz is based on an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Children can learn many subjects (for example, math, science, social studies, Judaism) from a central theme. There is a strong emphasis on Torah stories, Jewish and American holidays, community, family, and nature. As the year progresses, we include emergent themes that will arise, based on the discussions and expressed interests of the individual classes.

Program Highlights

• Our curriculum is theme-based and child-initiated, with many activities centered on Jewish and American holidays, Torah stories, and the seasons.

• Learning is meaningful because of our integrated curriculum, which means that every activity incorporates multiple learning topics.
• Our Inquiry-based program allows for risk-taking, reasoning, social interaction, and fosters learning in math, science, social studies, literacy, and Hebrew. When children question and work to find solutions, they learn through trial and error and through consequences. This is true in both the social and academic domains of the classroom.
• All of our head teachers have or are working toward a master’s degrees, and all of our classrooms have Israeli Hebrew teachers.
• On a daily basis, children are taught critical English language and literary techniques. We use the Sounds in Motion program for our Pre-K children. This teaches letter sounds in a kinesthetic way. It also focuses on teaching children the important skill of listening.
• In Kindergarten, the teachers are trained in Fundations and Singapore Math.
• One of three teachers in every ECC classroom speaks exclusively in Hebrew throughout the day. This approach, coupled with our Chalav U’Dvash program (a Hebrew language curriculum designed for very young children), promotes rich receptive language skills and specific expressive-language skills.
• Every classroom has a designated time in which children are given the opportunity to speak and share, listen, and respond.
• The holidays are a significant part of our curriculum and each one sets the stage for a great variety of learning opportunities. For example, at Chanukah, students fry latkes and make scientific discoveries related to oil. During Purim, the children write their own plays, learn about shapes, and investigate the science of sound using ra’ashanim.
• The ECC takes full advantage of New York City, visiting museums, exploring Central Park, and meeting with local community organizations

At the Ramaz early childhood center, ours is a child-centered culture that addresses the individual developmental needs of each student. Every step of the way we ensure each child has a rich understanding of the values of menschlichkeit, a deep respect for Torah, the Jewish people, Medinat Yisrael, and the meaning of mitzvot.