When visiting preschools, parents watch little children play dress up in their classrooms or build with blocks.
The children joyfully dress up as firefighters or put on police helmets. They build complex structures with blocks and pretend they are building cities. Children learn through play.
However, research indicates simply dressing up may not be enough for an enriched preschool that focuses on developing the potential of all children, especially the gifted children. When the preschool curriculum combines creative play with an exposure to rich language and vocabulary, math concepts, as well as music and art, these young children demonstrate increased critical thinking skills and enhanced cognitive gains.
An enriched early childhood curriculum prevents potential underachievement among gifted children. It maximizes the development of their potential.
When it comes to the design of a gifted program, a flexible model that allows for differences in a child’s learning style is crucial. Different programs have different strengths and weaknesses. Fortunately, none of these are mutually exclusive. The only requirements are valuing high expectations, emphasizing academic excellence and setting challenging standards must guide the gifted program (Buchanan et al., 2008).
All children have differing abilities, but this does not mean that children with excellent abilities need less. In fact, gifted children are often more disadvantaged. Only a small fraction of preschools and charter schools provide gifted programs.
It is important that the program focuses on exploration in an interactive and responsive environment. The students need to be encouraged to learn through experimental inquiry and the use of manipulatives. It also is important to provide the students with the opportunity to become independent problem solvers in a nurturing, supportive environment. By using a thematic approach, Self Development Preschool addresses the needs of the individual child. The enriched curriculum exposes children to higher-level thinking and relies not on the use of pencil and paper activities, but instead, focuses on exploration.
The curriculum at Self Development Preschool is an academically focused program. It is the delivery of this academic program that sets Self Development Preschool apart from the rest. The way in which the knowledge is shared with the students is through an age-appropriate medium that encourages critical thinking, social skills, independence and well-rounded children.
Dr. Anjum Majeed, founder of Self Development Preschool and superintendent of Self Development Academy, designed the program with the growth and self-development of the children as the primary goal. This has been accomplished by focusing on more than pencil and paper academic exercises. The focus is creating lifelong learners who reach their full potential.
“You can teach a student a lesson for a day, but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” —Clay P. Bedford
For more information, or to schedule a tour, please contact Self Development Preschool at (480) 396-3522.