FREE CHOICE CENTERS

Children attending ChildTime SAC are encouraged to take part in child-selected group activities. Standard staff practices and policies include attention to positive reinforcement, personal interaction and preventative behavioral techniques. Our unique approach to this is the group reward and discipline system that has been a very effective and positive guide towards creating a safe and fun environment which benefits all children.

Each school site varies their specific activities and daily routines which incorporate the following activities;

(click activity)
Music & Movement | Science & Nature | Math & Reasoning
Reading & Language Arts | Blocks & Construction
Dramatic Play | Arts & Crafts | Organized Games

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Music & Movement

• Hear music for quiet listening
• Hear music that tells a story
• Create vocal sounds by imitating sing songs
• Move and dance • Develop coordination
• Play simple rhythm using musical instruments
• Repeat simple patterns with voice, movement and/or musical instruments
• Participate in rhythmic activities
• Acquire fundamental movement skills
• Develop spatial and directional awareness
• Recognize and compare sounds
• Forumulate patterns • Explore vocal sounds
• Explore imitation/recognition of environmental sounds
• Explore difference between speaking and singing voices
• Sing action songs • Explore tone matching
• Explore rote singing of melodic patterns
• Recognize high/low, loud/soft, fast/slow, up/down, long/short, and smooth/jerky
• Hear short selections for expressive movement
• Listen and identify simple music forms
• Perform gross motor movement to records and singing
• Move to epxress mood/meaning of music
• Explore sounds • Explore singing games
• Explore complicated rhythm patterns
• Make choices & decisions

Science & Nature

• Use senses to gain information about the environment
• Describe the phenomena in the environment
• Use vocabulary to compare objects
• Compare similarities & differences among objects
• Sort objects from the environment according to one or more characteristics
• Sequence events in order of their occurrence
• Know & practice safety • Use computers
• Talk about what is seen, heard, touched, tasted or smelled as objects.
• People and events are experienced
• Observe color, texture, size & shape of objects
• Observe changes in environments & the objects in it
• Observe cause & effect of materials
• Observe system, cycle, interactions & diversity of environment
• Classify objects from the environment as living or non-living
• Describe external features of organisms
• Make predictions • Use the Scientific Method
• Develop curiosity about the natural world
• Observe relationships between objects
• Use weight & measurement methods to gain information
• Observe forces such as gravity & magnetism
• Respect and use tools appropriately & safely
• Match, sort & classify objects • Group objects
• Make choices & decisions

Math & Reasoning

•Use oral language in a variety of situations
• Match objects in one-to-one correspondence
• Learn social skills appropriate to group behavior
• Use vocabulary to designate quantities & relationships
• Demonstrate concepts (part vs whole)
• Use vocabulary to compare objects (same vs different)
• Form groups by sorting & matching objects
• Know & discuss consequences of actions in social relationships
• Acquire non-locomotor movement skills
• Create, repeat or extend patterns • Develop hand/eye coordination
• Learn order & mapping skills
• Learn physical representations of additions & subtraction
• Develop classification skills • Express relative sizes
• Learn size & shape differences, relationships & recognition
• Understand gravity, stability, weight & balance
• Think, create & implement plans
• Make choices & decisions

Reading & Language Arts

• Respond to simple directions, commands & questions
• Recognize & compare familiar & unfamiliar sounds
• Acquire the meaning of new words & expand their vocabulary
• Listen to literary selections for personal enjoyment
• Use a variety of words to express feelings & ideas
• Dictate ideas & feelings as they are recorded
• Retell a familiar story • Read / tell own stories to others
• Use oral language in a variety of situations
• Create stories using inventive spelling
• Develop fine motor skill • Focus attention on a teacher
• Identity authors & illustrators as being creators of stories
• Listen to appreciate sound devices of rhythm, rhyme, alliteration & onomatopoeia
• Relate events from personal experiences
• Communicate effective in one-on-one & small group situations
• Tell what a story is about • Retell an unfamiliar story
• Recall important facts from a story
• Arrange the events of a story in sequential order
• Distinguish between real & make believe
• Respond to various forms of literature
• Become acquainted with a variety of selections, characters & theme of our literary heritage
• Select books for individual needs and interests
• Follow simple story lines in stories read aloud
• Recognize that everyone has experiences to write about
• Recognize that writing can entertain & inform

Blocks & Construction

• Use oral language in a variety of situations
• Match objects in one-to-one correspondence
• Learn social skills appropriate to group behavior
• Use vocabulary to designate quantities & relationships
• Demonstrate concepts (part vs whole)
• Use vocabulary to compare objects (same vs different)
• Form groups by sorting & matching objects
• Know & discuss consequences of actions in social relationships
• Acquire non-locomotor movement skills
• Create, repeat or extend patterns • Develop hand/eye coordination
• Observe & follow safety rules • Learn order & mapping skills
• Learn physical representations of additions & subtraction
• Develop classification skills • Express relative sizes
• Learn size & shape differences, relationships & recognition
• Discuss ways people help each other
• Understand gravity, stability, weight & balance
• Think, create & implement plans • Discover properties of matter
• Discover the names of buildings & function of buildings
• Develop respect for the work of others
• Make choices & decisions

Dramatic Play

• Use a variety of words to express feelings and ideas
• Use oral language
• Match objects in a one-to-one correspondence
• Learn social skills • Identify basic economic wants of people
• Explore different celebrations and customs
• Know and observe rules of the classroom
• Explore sequences in basic family routines
• Experience consequences of actions in social relationships
• Practice self-help skills • Participate in leader/follower roles
• Develop concept of family by practicing roles
• Work cooperatively • Practice simple home chores
• Engage in dramatic activities
• Engage in nonverbal communication
• Speak clearly and at an appropriate rate
• Engage in one-on-one communication
• Discover ways people help each other
• Discover socially acceptable & unacceptable behavior
• Discover cause and effect, interaction of materials and change
• Share materials and take turns • Make choices • Make decisions

Arts & Crafts

• Discover line, color, shape & texture by seeing & feeling objects
• Experiment informally with a variety of media
• Express individual thoughts and feelings through pictures
• Look at & talk about artworks including primary sources
• Engage in conversation by sharing ideas with others
• Use the sense to gain information about the environment
• Develop problem solving skills
• Experiment with art materials to understand properties, cause & effect
• Explore art work • Develop manipulative & fine motor skills
• Develop hand-eye coordination
• Respond to story telling by drawing or painting
• Observe color, texture, size & shape of objects
• Make choices and decisions

Free Play, Outside & Organized Games

• Develop muscular strength & endurance
• Develop flexibility & cardio respiratory endurance
• Develop locomotor & non-locomotor skills
• Manipulate bean bags, large balls, jump ropes & hoops
• Perform body mechanics
• Develop body awareness
• Develop spatial & directional awareness
• Develop coordination & balance
• Particpate in cooperative games
• Develop & practice behavior reflective of good sportsmanship & understand safety
• Develop primary gymnastic skills (crawling, rolling, creeping, scooting, sliding & balancing)
• Respect equipment & materials
• Makes choice & decisions

(click activity)
Music & Movement | Science & Nature | Math & Reasoning
Reading & Language Arts | Blocks & Construction
Dramatic Play | Arts & Crafts | Organized Games