Early Learning Curriculum and Strategy
What Teachers Are Saying
“Teaching has taught me that flexibility, adaptability, and stability are key ingredients to see children flourish. We season it with love and kindness.”
— Sylvia Guerrero, Master Teacher at BBI
“Teaching is like gardening. We plant seeds of learning daily as we nurture to cultivate, water to refresh and nourish, and spread laughter and smiles to bring sunshine so they can produce a harvest of lifetime positive potential.”
— Carolyn Watson-Pruitt, Master Teacher at BBI
Bright Beginnings’ Center-Based Program is a year-round Head Start and Early Head Start program for children birth to five years old that supports their progress and development through comprehensive services for children and families in the area of early learning, health, and family well-being.
The overall goal of Bright Beginnings’ Head Start and Early Head Start program is to provide children with a learning environment that helps them develop socially, emotionally, physically, and cognitively so that they will not only be school-ready but kindergarten prepared. Our comprehensive, evidence-based curriculum is built on the key principles of both individualization and parents as partners. As a result, our children excel in school.
Our Curriculum in Action
Bright Beginnings believes that the earliest years are the most important time of a child’s life as they learn how to trust; find a sense of security; interact appropriately with other people; self-regulate their behaviors and emotions; develop early literacy, math and science skills; gain self-confidence; share space; and develop verbal and non-verbal communication skills. To implement its overall education approach, the Center-Based Program utilizes the HighScope curriculum for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers as the foundation for all early childhood activities.
Our HighScope Approach is a research-based curriculum
The curriculum provides a framework through which teachers plan for children based on interest and level of development using anecdotal observation and assessments within key content areas. Highscope Child Observation Record (COR) Advantage is a whole-child assessment that takes into account 36 areas proven by research to best prepare children for school success.
The children in each classroom engage in dynamic activities, including music, movement, and pretend play. Art is all about exploration in a child’s early years. Therefore, children’s creative pursuits at BBI are all about discovery, not performance. There is also a native Spanish speaker in the Pre-K classrooms, allowing children to be exposed to Spanish at this early age.
Finally, our social-emotional curriculum Sunshine Circles focuses on play-based learning for enhancing self-esteem, trust in others, and joyful engagement in activities, where the children learn about positive social interactions by engaging in them with adults intentionally every day.
Bright Beginnings utilizes LENA
(Language Environment Analysis)
Data collection devices as part of our closing the word gap initiative to track how many words children are exposed to and analyze language usage and vocal interactions between children, their parents, and their teachers. The results inform how parents, caregivers, and teachers personalize interventions for students and families in order to make sure each child is receiving targeted support.