Developing a child’s imagination is the most important objective of Ayupova Family Child Care Home “Mindful Sprouts” program. As Albert Einstein once wittily put: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”
Our Waldorf and RIE inspired program pursues the educational goal of providing healthy physical, intellectual and emotional development of the children while preserving innate wonder of early childhood, and making learning a living force inside each child.
Being Waldorf and RIE teachers, we work consciously with rhythm. As rhythm is predictability that gives a child a sense of security letting her grow with confidence. It is not only daily rhythm, but also rhythms of the seasons, and rhythms of weeks.
Our daily rhythm helps to develop and strengthen children’s circadian rhythm, which is essential for healthy development of the child.
Our carefully chosen activities provide opportunities for developmentally appropriate skills. These activities are aimed for developing gross motor, fine motor, emotional, social, and cognitive skills. Moreover, our homelike atmosphere leads children to develop a sense of confidence, trust, and wellbeing so needed in today’s world.
This is the time of working on developing language skills, motor skills, the sense of rhythm and music. During circle time, we also explore nursery rhymes and movement games appropriate for young children. Verses and songs chosen for circle time reflect the seasons of the year. Circle time activities enrich children’s language experience, also allowing them to develop their imagination. These activities are very carefully selected to support children’s healthy and comfortable feeling in their growing body and orientation in three-dimensional space. Exercises encouraging horizontal and vertical midline crossing and sensory integration of somatic, proprioceptive, tactile and vestibular systems are carefully implemented in each circle time activity.
It is time for activities promoting gross and fine motor skills. Our toy library created mostly out of toys made of natural materials (wool, cotton, wood, silk, etc.) is aimed at developing healthy senses of children with the help of which they perceive the external world. Uninterrupted free play environment is designed to carefully guide each child following her / his individual potentials and pace. «Allow the child to be authentic, to move, to feel the way they move, appreciating them for what they are» (Magda Gerber).
Artistic work includes beeswax or crayon drawing, watercolor painting and beeswax modeling. On the one hand these activities develop children’s fine motor skills (three finger grip, in particular), on the other hand artistic work strengthens children’s will force and patience. Watercolor painting and drawing promote their emotional connection to various colors.
Participating in cleaning and washing up
articipation in meaningful practical work like cleaning up, sweeping, washing dishes is essential for building up children’s inner strength and self-esteem. It is the way we educate children about the dignity of labour. Cleaning up and tidying after each activity also supports children in the process of learning to value toys and tools they use.
Any mealtime is used as an opportunity to encourage healthy eating habits and gratefulness to the nature and those who prepare food.
Free play in our beautiful garden is mostly directed to promoting gross motor skills and learning our natural environment. Our mud kitchen and garden bed specifically designed for these purposes provide young children the opportunity to observe the process of growing vegetables that we put on our table. Moreover, participating in this process of taking care of the plants and vegetables and watering them empowers the children with knowledge about the Nature, strengthens their self-esteem and inculcates the feeling of responsibility.
This is time for developing self-help skills. We view it as the time to lay a solid foundation on which healthy habits can be developed.
Storytelling is an opportunity to develop artistic imagination, therefore most of our artistic activities are closely related to it. Storytelling develops memory and attention span, enhances language skills, as well as listening skills. Listening to nature stories and animal stories children start to see their connection to the world. Fairy tales help children to become aware of such human qualities as kindness, honesty, courage, etc. Listening to fairy tales promotes the development of the ability to judge and form their opinion about different things. Storytelling before naptime also helps to set the tone of quiet after outside activity.
Napping is necessary for the growing body and development of memory. / Singing, reading poems, stories to help children settle into rest. A mood of calm and soothing atmosphere is created to help children have a restful nap.
Weekly rhythm in “Mindful Sprouts” including eurythmy, drawing, play dough or beeswax modeling and watercolor painting is designed with the purpose of developing the senses of perceiving the outer world and feeling the flow of the days of the week. Our mealtime and weekly menu are also designed with the same purpose.
Our seasonal rhythm with the emphasis on the most important holidays and festivals helps children to live with seasonal moods which makes them closer to nature and the world culture.
7244, Rubio Ave,
Lake Balboa, CA, 91406
