Our approach combines Piaget’s emphasis on learning through active discovery with Waldorf-inspired creativity, imagination, rhythm, and connection to nature. Children are given time to explore, create, think, and grow through meaningful hands-on experiences.
Our mission is to help children build the skills, independence, confidence, a sense of belonging and love of learning they need for a successful start in school and beyond, in a nurturing and safe environment.
Children are encouraged to try, practice, problem-solve, and build confidence through meaningful successes.
Warm relationships and consistent routines help children feel safe, secure, and connected. Our caring, experienced teachers have been part of ECLA for many years, creating lasting relationships and a warm, nurturing environment where every child grows with confidence and a strong sense of belonging.
Hands-on experiences encourage curiosity, creativity, cooperation, and a lasting enthusiasm for learning.
Children develop thinking, reasoning, early literacy, math, and problem-solving skills through hands-on activities.
We help children recognize and express their emotions, build confidence, and develop a positive relationship with their teachers.
Daily indoor and outdoor activities strengthen gross and fine motor skills through movement, art, writing preparation, yoga, and active play.
Children learn to make friends, communicate, share, cooperate, take turns, and become caring, confident members of their classroom community.
Through daily interactions, children learn kindness, respect, responsibility, honesty, empathy, and how their choices affect others.
Art, music, imaginative play, storytelling, crafts, and open-ended activities encourage children to express ideas, use their imagination, and develop their own creativity.
These six domains are not taught separately. They naturally overlap throughout the ECLA day. A child planting a seed, for example, may be practicing science, counting seeds for math, learning new language, strengthening fine-motor skills, cooperating with friends, and developing an appreciation for nature. That’s what we do every day at ECLA.
Our curriculum is built on weekly themes drawn from what the children are curious about. Ideas build across subjects, and knowledge connects and deepens week after week.
| Month | Weekly Themes |
|---|---|
| September | How To at School and Manners; How To at School and Safety; Body and Dental Care; Nutrition and Health |
| October | 5 Senses; Weather and Seasons: Fall; Pumpkins and Farm Life; Halloween |
| November | Nursery Rhymes; Fall Harvest; Family and Friends; Thanksgiving |
| December | Weather and Seasons: Winter; Polar Animals; Holidays and Christmas; Winter Break |
| January | New Year; Multicultural Week; American Heroes and MLK Recognition; Community Helpers |
| February | Groundhog Day and Worms; Animal Life; Valentine’s and Love; Pets |
| March | Read Across America; Spring and St. Patrick’s Day; Gardening and Plant Life; Weather and Seasons: Spring |
| April | Dinosaurs; Forest Animals; Spring Flowers and Egg Hunt; Amphibians and Reptiles |
| May | Zoo Life; Transportation; Outer Space; Insects and Reptiles |
| June | Ocean Life; Weather and Seasons; Summer Fun and Beach; Make Believe, Super Heroes and Princesses |
| July | America the Beautiful; The Great Outdoors; Everything Sensory; Water Play |
| August | Cooking, Summer Foods and Picnics; Sports; How To at School; Making Friends |
