About Motivated Minds ChildCare and Preschool
Motivated Minds was started because we wanted to lay an educational foundation for the children in and around our community so that they could be prepared for kindergarten and beyond, shaping their future and ensuring they develop an interest in learning.
We believe children have the rest of their lives to sit at a desk for grade school and for work, so at Motivated Minds making learning fun is our philosophy. Our children grasp and retain information and enjoy doing it!
Our Programs and Curriculum
The school year curriculum incorporates the best practices of early childhood education and promote school-readiness. Your child will create journals and portfolios that encourage communication through drawing, writing, arts and crafts, and participate in a program, which focuses on developing important character traits and life skills that promote independence.
The typical daily structure for your child might include time for:
- Morning Circle Time
- Math Basics, Language, Science and Literacy Skills
- Stories, Songs, and Poems
- Music and Movement
- Outdoor Play
- Breakfast, Morning Snack, Lunch and Nap Time
You'll receive assessments regularly through written reports, ongoing portfolio collections, quarterly reports and family/teacher conferences twice a year, so you can rest assured that your child is progressing throughout the year.
In addition, our Summer program offers nearly three months of creating, fun and sun—filled with exciting themes and activities.
All of our programs abide by state-mandated teacher-to-child ratios. For babies and toddlers, you will receive a log of your child’s feeding, sleeping, diapering and learning activities every day, so you can be confident your baby will experience a nurturing and calming environment, focused on developing positive and trusting relationships, as well as provided a range of activities designed to engage your toddler and encourage fine and gross motor skills, language development and an understanding of caring relationships.
Infant Care
The infant classroom is equipped with areas designed to stimulate your baby’s learning. In addition to providing standard care and play time, throughout the day, your infant’s teacher will engage your child through:
- Movement: Infants use their senses and bodies to learn about the world. Our highly qualified teachers interact with your baby to move and participate in teacher-guided physical development exercises. In this area you might see soft climbers, mats, balls, push and pull toys, instruments, bean bags and baskets.
- Exploration: Manipulating objects and interacting with different materials helps babies learn early math and science concepts like size, shape and texture, and practice key skills like hand-eye coordination. In the Exploration Area, your baby will play with soft blocks, big cars and trucks, knobbed puzzles, nesting cups and more.
- Relaxation: The Cozy Area is a safe place where your infant can feel rested and refreshed. In this space, infants and teachers quietly read books about people, animals and familiar objects, soft toys and other cuddly objects.
Toddler Care: Creating A Love Of Learning Through Exploration
Two-year-olds are filled with energy and curiosity about the world and are developing a sense of increasing independence—making the twos terrific, not terrible!
At Motivated Minds, our child care curriculum is designed to support and reinforce the independence your two-year-old exhibits by providing fun and challenging activities. Your child will not be restricted or immobile. The world is filled with learning experiences and we encourage exploration by providing your child with distinct, stimulating and educational learning centers which reinforce curriculum according to your child’s individual personality. By engaging your two year olds natural curiosity, our highly trained teachers help your child meet the key milestones of this important developmental stage.
Your child will be immersed in an environment that provides what they need most—safety, freedom within boundaries, individual attention, enrichment and praise.
Developing Your Toddler’s Interests through Activities
We know children learn best by having a variety of choices in a safe and organized environment. That’s why the toddler classroom is designed around activity-based Learning Centers to encourage:
- Active & Gross Motor Play: Rocking and riding toys and large climbing structures.
- Fine Motor Play: Action/reaction toys, puzzles and stacking toys.
- Imagination & Quiet Play: Items to stimulate imagination like dolls and accessories, kitchen sets and play food.
- Language Development, Music & Movement: CD players, children’s books, musical instruments and puppets.
- Creative Arts & Exploration: Art materials, sand and water table, and sensory materials.
The toddler program at Motivated Minds is designed around shared learning experiences that stimulate and challenge your child. The structure of a typical day your toddler might include:
- Group activities like singing songs or exploring books.
- Teacher-initiated activities like music or art.
- Child-directed activities in our Learning Centers.
- Lunch and naptimes to nourish and rest your child’s growing mind and body.
- Outdoor play at least twice daily to burn off energy and develop motor skills.
Preschool (3–4 years)
Preschoolers love to explore through hands-on activities. At Motivated Minds, our child care curriculum includes Math Basics, Language & Literacy with Kindergarten-readiness activities that are based on the best early-childhood standards from across the nation. Our enriched preschool curriculum is designed to develop important foundational skills like literacy, mathematical thinking and problem-solving while stimulating your child’s creativity.
At this age, children require challenges, respond to motivation and crave praise. Recognizing that your preschooler needs to be engaged and nurtured at the same time, our highly trained teachers give them both the freedom and instruction to thrive. The Preschool classroom at Motivated Minds is designed to help your child become a part of a learning community. In a community-centered environment they not only build skills vital to success in Kindergarten, but respect for others, property, and self.
Motivated Minds' Preschool Learning Centers:
- Construction & Design
- Dramatic Play
- Writing
- Creativity & Art
- Reading & Listening
- Math & Problem-solving
- Science & Sensory Awareness
A typical day’s format for your preschooler might include:
- Morning and Afternoon Circle time where the day’s themed activities are introduced and reviewed.
- Activities in the Learning Centers to bring the day’s educational theme to life.
- Math, Language & Literacy activities tied to National learning standards to progressively build important foundational skills.
- Music and movement songs, poems and rhymes to expand your child’s vocabulary and listening skills.
- Outdoor play at least twice daily to burn off energy and develop motor skills.
- Lunch and quiet time to nourish and rest your preschooler’s growing mind and body.
Community Re-enforcement
We firmly believe in our core relationships – partnering with you as a parent and co-educator who are fully invested in your child’s success and future. By creating community between home and school, your home becomes an extension of community-based conversation, expectation, and reinforcement to help ensure your child’s development is incorporated in every possible experience. From our school-community you will receive assessments regularly through written reports, ongoing portfolio collections, quarterly reports and family/teacher conferences twice a year, so you can rest assured that your preschooler is progressing throughout the year.
Pre-Kindergarten + Kindergarten Prep (4–5 years)
The Pre-K classroom is designed to help your child make significant developmental gains, like communicating successfully, and working well both independently and in groups. Our highly trained teachers will prepare your child for Kindergarten and life beyond.
The Motivated Minds curriculum and environment is specifically designed to meet the child care and learning needs of four and five year old children. Our challenging, fun and age-appropriate program engages the whole child, helping to hone thinking, reasoning and communicating.
Kindergarten readiness is so important that we've added a Math Basics, Language & Literacy Program that complies with state standards for Kindergarten.
Building on Preschool learning, your child will experience learning by:
- Strengthening Reading Skills
- Practicing Writing Letters and Words
- Developing Math Skills
- Overall School Readiness