Valley View Early Learning Center

Daily exposure to verbal and written language provides young children with the opportunities to begin acquiring understanding of the concepts of literacy and its functions. Through play and intentional activities, children learn to create meaning from language and communicate with others using verbal and non-verbal language, pictures, symbols and print.

Environments rich with print, language, storytelling, books and writing materials allow children to experience the joy and power associated with reading and writing, while mastering basic concepts about print. The preschool environment is respectful and supportive of children’s cultural heritages and home languages while encouraging English language acquisition. The abilities to listen, speak, read, and write emerge interdependently in environments designed to meet each child’s unique skills, abilities, interests, and needs. (Arizona Department of Education, Early Learning Standards, 4th ed., May 2018)

Valley View Teachers teach emergent reading and writing skills. We first strive to provide a print rich environment of books and easily accessible tools for writing. Teachers listen intently to students for topics of interest to introduce meaningful vocabulary through read alouds, songs and printed words, sometimes accompanied by pictures for students to use in their own writing. Teachers will introduce students to journal writing beginning with the drawing of ideas and messages and Scaffolded Writing, which is the introduction to sentence structure and the idea that writing has meaning. Scaffolded Writing is used every day with the question of the day. Emergent reading skills that are taught and encouraged are recognizing names, book handling skills, making connections to stories, pretending to read, using pictures as clues, and recalling sequential events in a story.

Mathematics knowledge, interests, and skills are basic to children’s success in school and later life. Mathematics is a way of thinking, knowing, problem-solving, and reasoning that is accessible to all children regardless of their prior knowledge and experiences. From a very early age, mathematics helps children to connect ideas; develop logical thinking; and question, analyze and understand the world around them.

Through their senses, children embrace mathematics as an integral part of their world. Children thrive in environments that promote thinking and curiosity, are rich in mathematical language, and nurture their natural drive to explore and experiment with numbers, shapes, measurement, and patterns. Spontaneous and planned math experiences that are developmentally appropriate encourage children’s positive attitudes towards mathematics. (Arizona Department of Education, Early Learning Standards, 4th ed., May 2018)

Students at Valley View are surrounded by numeracy concepts all day, beginning with morning circle when students help their teachers take attendance by either counting girls and boys or making a list of who is present and counting. Many times teachers will incorporate a survey or poll with morning circle providing students with an opportunity to discuss and compare results. Children can always choose to work in the block area where ideas and skills about spatial reasoning are introduced and practiced. Table choices are also provided daily where patterns, puzzles and numbers are available for play, practice and manipulation. Problem solving is encouraged daily with any situation that needs to be negotiated or resolved inside the class or out. Teachers are skilled in asking questions that lead students to use their logical reasoning and analytical skills.

Children have a natural sense of wonder and curiosity. Science, for young children, is an active and open-ended search for new knowledge. Children ask questions and seek answers in order to understand the world around them. Children learn by being actively engaged with hands-on experiences, real objects and natural, relevant occurrences.

As children seek answers, they will plan, observe, predict, and form conclusions. Children’s observations, predictions, explanations, and conclusions, correct or incorrect, should be respected and valued by caregivers. Children’s experiences with scientific inquiry form the basis for further investigation and thought. Learning through inquiry requires both the child’s curiosity and adult guidance. (Arizona Department of Education, Early Learning Standards, 4th ed., May 2018)

Science is a way of life at Valley View. All adults encourage children's curiosity by patiently answering questions to encourage more questions and by allowing any topic to be the focus of learning. No question is left without acknowledgement and students are encouraged to take notice in the world around them. Teachers do not provide answers. Instead they ask questions about how answers can be found. Teachers teach students to make observations, take a guess at a hypothesis, and then lead them through experimentation. Academic language involving the steps of scientific inquiry is used throughout the day in all situations where a hypothesis can be created or a curious mind can wonder.

The inclusion of Social Studies in early childhood environments is important in order to nurture children’s understanding of themselves and others. Social Studies includes basic skills and competencies that set the foundation for learning about concepts of social science.

At a young age, children begin to develop their social identity and think about their place in the social world. As children grow, they develop an increased awareness of their personal histories and heritage, and a sense of time and place. Through everyday interactions with children and adults, they develop an appreciation for rights and responsibility within a group, and how social rules help people in promoting safety and fairness. (Arizona Department of Education, Early Learning Standards, 4th ed., May 2018)

As you walk through Valley View classrooms, you will see some type of "Classroom Agreement" on the walls created and written by students. These agreements are classrooms norms that are agreed upon by the class with guidance from the teacher. This is the first step of learning about rights and responsibilities in preschool. Once the agreement has been made, children feel like they have ownership of the classroom and responsibility to the whole group. It also gives them freedom in knowing what is expected of them and what they can safely do in their classrooms. Children also are guided through a study about themselves with self-portraits and discussions and drawings about their families. All families are accepted and celebrated at Valley View. We believe that a family is a family whatever the circumstance. Outside of themselves, their families and their classrooms, children also study their community. Perhaps a question about a desert animal will surface or a discussion about fire trucks. When these topics arise, the teacher will take the opportunity to provide students with what they need to investigate their questions and their interests through materials, books and community experts.

It is important to recognize that children’s physical development and their health and safety has an important a place in the curriculum as other areas of development. Children develop skills necessary for future social and academic success as they explore, combine and refine their physical movements. Thoughtfully planned movement experiences with vigorous outdoor and indoor activities are a part of the daily schedule.

Children in our care deserve environments that are safe and encourage healthy living. Therefore, it is important to model healthy living practices and teach children the importance of good hygiene, a healthy diet, and the need for exercise and rest. (Arizona Department of Education, Early Learning Standards, 4th ed., May 2018)

At Valley View, we spend half of our day outside. All classrooms spend an hour outside in the mornings with their teachers and other friends from other classrooms, 45 minutes to an hour after lunch, and an hour during afternoon Care time. Our outdoor space was planned and built with early learners in mind. All equipment and materials are appropriate for preschoolers including swings, slides, a sand box, water features, a garden, and toys and tools to get our work done. We also offer tricycles and wagons to do heavy work with our arms and legs. A grassy area is available for running and playing games. Teachers often engage in play with students by either joining in their made up games, leading a dance party, or creating an obstacle course. Teachers and assistants are constantly observing children’s physical skills and help students focus on those skills by encouraging certain exercises or activities that promote development of gross motor skills.

The arts nurture the imagination and creative spirit of all children. Sensory awareness (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste) is the foundation for all imaginative activity and creative expression. For young children, the importance of the arts is in the process of creating rather than the end result.

As children are involved in the arts process, they develop independence, self-esteem, and self-expression. The arts connect all areas of learning and are fundamental to children’s development and education. The arts enable all children to discover more about who they are and gain insight into their own culture and the cultures around them. (Arizona Department of Education, Early Learning Standards, 4th ed., May 2018).

Valley View teachers understand that art is about the process not the product. We are careful not to do for the child what they can do for themselves. We do not draw for children or create models for children to copy. Instead, we provide all materials imaginable to allow them to be as creative as possible. We are open to all forms of art and expose children to different artists and styles. We may bring in a fresh vase of flowers and provide children with paint, paper and brushes to simply allow them to paint their own version of the still life without giving them any direction. This gives them complete freedom and autonomy to explore their own artistic style. Sometimes, we will teach them a certain style of art work, give them the materials and then allow them to create with their own ideas. We try to encourage all types of expression and nothing is ever “wrong” in art - just creative. As you walk the hallways of Valley View, the different expressions of art are carefully displayed, elegantly and respectfully accompanied by a description of the work with pictures of the students creating the work.

Children need to develop the capacity to experience, express, and gain self-control over their emotions and social interactions in order to mature socially and emotionally. This development is enhanced through nurturing relationships and positive early learning experiences. A consistent and predictable environment strengthens a child’s confidence in approaching new challenges. Confident children approach new tasks and situations enthusiastically. They recognize and express emotions appropriately as well as share information about themselves and others. (Arizona Department of Education, Early Learning Standards, 4th ed., May 2018)

At Valley View, social and emotional learning is a high priority in learning and development for all students. Above all other objectives, social and emotional learning is our first focus; because without this learning, other areas of learning become very difficult, if not impossible to achieve. We strive to make sure all students feel safe, secure, and at peace with our homelike, authentic environments. All classrooms were thoughtfully designed with all natural wood furniture, natural materials, and open spaces with natural light. Students are carefully and patiently taught to first learn about themselves, to label their emotions, and to self-regulate by learning strategies of coping and problem solving through play and student choice.

CFSD has long embraced the use of systems thinking and its related tools as a critical component of each student’s educational program. Systems thinking utilizes habits, tools and concepts to develop an understanding of the interdependent structures of dynamic systems. Use of visual tools, such as behavior over time graphs, causal loop diagrams, and stock and flow diagrams, help students make connections between their learning and life events, and to solve real world problems.

At Valley View, teachers are adapting systems thinking tools to the youngest learners, using them in ways that engage and invite children into the learning process. A behavior over time graph (BOTG) allows students to analyze one element that changes over time, such as a character’s feelings, friendships, or the amount of water in the environment. Our students analyze the changes as they occur. The end result is a line graph that provides visual support to engage in deep thinking and evaluate change.

Causal loop diagrams help our young learners visualize the relationships between variables within a system. For example, they can look at interdependent events – such as the growth of a seed or the effects of one’s behavior on others. One valuable aspect of this tool is that children have opportunities to ask “what if” and “I wonder” questions about elements in a system.

Stock and flow diagrams challenge children to examine an element that increases and/or decreases over time. For example, students contribute ideas about what increases or decreases a character’s emotions (e.g., what adds happy feelings to a person and what takes away from a person’s happy feelings). Students present ideas drawn directly from personal experience, pull specific language from a story, or reach beyond the text, making assertions about what might happen and how those events may affect the overall system.

A tour through our classrooms will show the use of these systems tools in action, or they can be found as a display on our walls to remind students what they have learned to use and can revisit. The academic and lifetime benefits of using systems thinking compels us to ensure that we are developing these skills in our students.