In addition to serving children ages 5-12, (typically Kindergarten through 6th grade), the school also provides high-quality early childhood and child development services to children ages three and four who live in the Neighborhood. Families have the option of choosing morning or afternoon sessions which last between 3-4 hours each. The basic program is free to eligible low income families. Affordable extended day and summer options are also available for families who need high-quality full-day child care.
The Early Childhood Model at Ideal Elementary
The three- and four-year-olds who attend Ideal Elementary learn through interaction with others, including parents, staff and peers in a safe, friendly, high-quality learning environment. Enrolled children attend classes that have stimulating physical environments so that they can acquire knowledge by manipulating, exploring, and experimenting with real objects. Their nutritional needs are met with the serving of healthy meals and planned activities which teach good eating habits. The comprehensive curriculum offers children learning opportunities through active involvement with age-appropriate materials. Outdoor settings include spaces for play, exploration, and social interaction, and specific times during the day are set aside for recess, outdoor activities, and physical movement, including climbing and playing on playground equipment, digging and planting, and individual play.
Well-trained staff members and early childhood development specialists with specialized knowledge in child development support children’s learning and include a focus on building a strong self-concept, task-related attention, following directions, exerting independence, expressing creativity and interacting positively with others. Staff regularly recognize, reinforce, and extend children’s strengths while remaining sensitive to cultural values and individual differences.
Attention is given to each child’s developmental level, and programs are designed to meet his/her individual growth. Children in this program learn through student-centered curriculum that is purposeful in progression. Teachers follow the children’s interests and development abilities and when timely in terms of development, the program focus includes literacy, reading and English Language Development.
Child/Teacher ratios are low enough to encourage child-teacher bonding and to promote individual interaction, and there is a lead teacher who is assigned to each child to ensure continuity. Teachers choose grouping patterns that range from whole-class to small group to pairs to individual work to facilitate learning for each individual child.
Access to Additional Early Childhood and Community-Based Services
Ideal Elementary believes the serving the whole family is the best way to help children succeed. The classrooms work in partnership with Head Start and Early Head Start to ensure that eligible families and children receive referrals to community-based services as needed and to provide comprehensive educational, health, and family support services. High-quality pediatric healthcare and wellness services are available and accessible on-site for families who wish to use them.
Ideal Elementary pre-school teachers are welcoming and work respectfully with all parents as children’s first and constant teachers and include them in policymaking, program planning, classroom practice, and evaluation. All of Ideal Elementary Early Childhood programs emphasize parent involvement, prioritize hiring of qualified parents as employees, and have active Parent Advisory Councils that guide the programs. Parents are welcomed into the classrooms as volunteers and as regular participants in child/parent activities and opportunities for learning.
Regular daytime and evening parent education programs led by parenting experts are available and well-attended and include a focus on a diverse range of topics, including “How to listen, talk and play with your child”, “Role modeling for respectful behavior and values”, “Establishing rituals and routines”, “Setting goals and boundaries”, “Encouraging, celebrating, and having fun with your child”, “Child safety tips”, “Self-care for parents”, “The importance of reading”, “Brain food for your child” and more. If needed, free childcare is available during these programs.
The Ideal Elementary Family Resource Center has an extensive early childhood lending library and offers regular and frequent Parent-to-Parent support groups. Drop-in hours are also available for parents who want to connect with others and/or who need extra support.
Ideal Elementary realizes that school readiness depends not only on a child’s cognitive development but also on children’s physical, social, and emotional development. In addition to partnering with medical and mental health service providers, Ideal Elementary also works closely with local universities, libraries, parks, recreation centers, and police departments to develop community networks focused on school readiness and success.
The children who attend Ideal Elementary Early Childhood programs are healthy and thriving, have families who are actively engaged and serve as strong support for their child’s early learning and development. The children are learning the skills that they need to start school motivated to read and with the prerequisite language and early literacy skills.
As a direct result of Ideal’s Early Childhood programs, the majority of children arrive fully ready for Kindergarten, where learning is fun and is fully integrated into classrooms. Children solve problems, talk, draw, paint, build, dramatize, write, and read as they interact with their peers, teachers, and with classroom materials. Full-day Kindergarten is designed to be the perfect transition into elementary education, both cognitively and socially.
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