Ashley's Garden & The Village
Preparatory Preschools for 3-5 Year Olds
Montessori-based Curriculum
Our Montessori-based preschool curriculum has been designed to encourage creative and cognitive thinking skills in children through the use of music, art and projects. Built into the curriculum are social skills, problem solving and exploration to enhance appropriate behavior in children. Children are encouraged to be independent thinkers and learners. Working on projects, responding to relevant questions, listening, using creative movements and art projects allows children to explore and discover the world of math, reading, science, and literature.
Our Montessori-based curriculum has a theme-based format with an emphasis on learning through play and the development of a positive learning attitude, which leads to the development of academic skills. All programs are research-based and continuously evaluated ensuring the needs of the student population are being met. Therefore, assessment of children’s needs is an ongoing process of collecting information from multiple sources using varied approaches and is used to plan lessons, modify curricula and address individual needs of children.
S'cool Moves & Zoo-Phonics Integration
Gym Magic was privileged to host New Mexico’s first workshops on S’cool Moves™, an integrative movement program designed to enhance the ease of learning. S’cool Moves™ was created through the collaboration of reading specialist, Dr. Deb Wilson, and occupational therapist, Margot Heiniger-White. S’cool Moves™ has become a part of each day at our preschools as music, posters, songs and movement are used to focus, change energy levels, develop gross motor skills, develop eye-hand coordination and improve auditory/visual perceptions. It’s a fun way to make sure the foundations of learning are in place!
We utilize S’cool Moves™, an integrated movement program designed to improve sensory processing. S’cool Moves™ improves the ease of learning and helps one learn to calm themselves and establish better focus. We also use Zoo-phonics™, a multi-sensory approach to phonics which adds fun, music and movement to phonics.
Years of research into child development and early learning show that educational readiness depends on seven interrelated developmental domains which are set forth in the New Mexico Early Learning Guidelines and the accompanying Essential Indicators:
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Science
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Art, music & movement
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Listening, language, reading & writing
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Counting, shapes, sorting & measuring
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Coordination, hygiene, health & well-being
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Independence, problem-solving, thinking & perseverance
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Appropriate behavior, social skills & being a part of a group
Current research has shown that movement and learning are intimately connected and that complex movement helps prepare, organize and develop the brain for what we term “higher learning”. In addition to the ‘process of learning’, complex movement has also been shown to be connected to the development of the brain’s ‘executive function’ which has been shown to be associated with academic success. Integrative movement has been shown to affect the following:
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Focus/Attention
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Language
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Concentration
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Reading
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Problem Solving
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Writing
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Speech
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Behavior
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Abstract Thought
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Math
