Curriculum

Cynthia K. Franck’s Child Care is dedicated to providing a nurturing, caring and responsive environment for our children that is facilitated through both intentional concrete sensory activities and their own active exploration of the world around them.

All three Cynthia K. Franck’s Child Care Centers use a PA state approved curriculum, that is aligned with the PA Early Learning Standards, based on the Creative Curriculum, called Teaching Strategies Gold.

Our curriculum blends several different learning areas, such as math, literacy, science and social studies, around several multi-week themes. In addition, we also focus on social/emotional skills, like conflict resolution and empathy building, along with supporting emerging fine motor and gross motor skills.

Infant/Toddler Programs

Our Infant and Toddler programs are based on providing nurturing, caring and responsive classrooms in which to learn and grow. We provide developmentally appropriate learning experiences by balancing intentional activities with those “teachable moments” that happen every day. We believe in a “learning through play” approach that allows the children to actively explore the world around them while teachers encourage and model problem solving strategies to master emerging skills. Most importantly, we strive to build warm, trusting and responsive relationships with our children so they feel safe and confident enough in their environment to explore and master new skills.

In order to accomplish this, some of the strategies we use include:

1. Responsive care that allows for the flexibility to explore and follow interests
2. Trusting relationships that allow the child to feel supported and able to check back in with their trusted adults if needed while exploring
3. Reliable and predictable routines that help foster a sense of security
4. Reciprocal play that helps foster positive relationship-building skills
5. Modeling conflict resolution skills and empathy, talking about and identifying feelings
6. Concrete sensory interactions that allow children the chance to explore within intentionally planned activities in order to build thinking and reasoning skills
7. Reading and singing daily
8. Back-and-forth conversations that expand on children’s attempts to communicate.
9. Introducing and modelling the use of new words through labeling objects and feelings, expanding on children’s responses and asking both yes/no and open-ended questions
10. Exposure to written words and numbers through an environment rich with language and mathematical environmental print
11. Opportunities for children to move their bodies both freely and intentionally in order to build fine motor and large motor skills
12. Opportunities for children to engage in various tactile art opportunities to encourage early writing skills
13. Opportunities for self-expression and creativity through music, dance, art and dramatic play

Preschool Program

Our Preschool Program strives to support children as they work towards acquiring several key skills recommended for school readiness. Since each child develops at his or her own individual pace, we are dedicated to helping our children work towards these goals by building on their own individual strengths through developmentally appropriate practices. We do this by providing a nurturing, supportive and responsive environment that encourages creativity, exploration and problem solving.

Some skills we work towards include, but are not limited to:

• Child care has private academic school license for preschool
• Writing own first name and recognizing own name in print
• Recognizing and matching some letters with their sounds
• Expressing self verbally
• Answering questions from a short story and understanding one reads from left to right
• Following simple directions
• Counting to 20
• Knowing basic shape and color names
• Comparing, counting, ordering and sorting quantities
• Running, jumping, hopping, pushing/pulling, throwing
• Zipping, buttoning, handling scissors
• Increasing balance and hand/eye coordination
• Knowing basic identifying info (own name, parent/guardian’s name(s,) address, etc.)
• Performing basic self-help skills such as caring for own toileting needs, dressing self, caring for own belongings
• Maintaining self-control

School-Age Program

At Cynthia K. Franck’s Child Cares, our main purpose is to give your child a safe, fun and educational environment. We provide several options for families needing either before school care, after school care or both. Additionally, we have school age summer camps for those months that the children are out of school.

All of our programs strive to support your child’s educational and social/emotional growth by allowing the freedom to explore and engage with their surroundings and participate in both intentional and individually chosen activities and projects. We give the space for children to follow their interests, whether they be creative expression, STEM activities, working on a project that spans several categories or just reading a favorite book. We also promote social/emotional development by modeling conflict resolution, self-regulation strategies and empathy building skills while encouraging peer-to-peer interactions and mentoring.

Before and After School Programs

There are several different Before and/or After School packages to choose from, depending on your family’s individual needs. We also provide care, depending on your chosen package, for two-hour delays, school cancellations, school holidays and inservice days.*

When children arrive at our After School program, they are provided with a snack and a space to relax and/or do homework. During this time, we provide opportunities, materials and support so that they feel free to follow their interests.

Each of our centers provides before and after school care in the districts they serve.

• Forest Hills site: serves those that live in the Woodland Hills School District. We receive bussing to and from our site to the local public, charter and private schools serviced by Woodland Hills bussing
• Penn Hills site: serves those that live in the Penn Hills School District. We receive bussing to and from our site to the local public, charter and private schools serviced by Penn Hills bussing
• Verona site: serves those that live in both the Penn Hills School District and Riverview School District. Children residing in the Penn Hills School District receive bussing to and from our site to the local public, charter and private schools serviced by Penn Hills bussing. Those that reside in the Riverview School District are transported to and from their local elementary school by our staff in the Child Care’s school vans. Those from this district that choose to go to a charter or private school will need to obtain bussing to and from the center through Riverview School District bussing.

School Age Summer Camp

Cynthia K. Franck’s Child Care, Inc. provides Summer School Age care for children who have completed Kindergarten through to age 13 years. Summer care starts after your child’s last day of school and lasts until their first day of the following school year.**

Our summer camp features activities centered around weekly themes that aim to keep children busy learning and having fun through a mix of planned and child-initiated activities, field trips and swimming (if there is enough parent interest.) We plan our themes and weekly field trips/activities based on the children’s interests and follow all PA state ratios on trips outside of the center.***

Our summer camp also gives children the freedom and support to initiate projects or activities that follow their interests. In the past our children have created carnivals, complete with games and prizes, for the younger children and organized a “pajama day” for their group that involved sleep-over games, sleeping bags and movie theater style treats. They have turned school age spaces into a museum complete with their own art and tickets for entry, a campground using materials in the room and a miniature town out of blocks.

There is also plenty of time to go outside and burn off all of that energy. We plan daily gross motor times and activities to help further their physical health and wellness. We endeavor to provide activities that not only represent different gross motor areas; but also, that promote sportsmanship and give children the ability to succeed. Each center utilizes both their own outside play space and local parks (with parent's permission.)

*some packages have additional costs for full days, early dismissals or two-hour delays, please see our fees for more info
**Summer care is only open to those contracted with us for this time period. School age care ends on your child’s last day of school and opens again for your child’s first day back in the fall
*** some field trips, along with swimming, have additional costs

Inclusion

Cynthia K. Franck’s Child Care, Inc. believes in supporting the inclusion of children of all and varying abilities by promoting their participation in our regular program and activities. We believe this consists of facilitating individualized accommodations and using evidence-based services and supports to help foster each child’s physical, social-emotional, cognitive, behavioral, language and communication development. We also believe in fostering positive peer relationships between children. We will work to collaborate with families and any additional supports a parent and/or family have in place in order to accomplish these goals.

If your child has a TSS at any program, be it school, head start, etc., we do request one also, due to our ratios. This is for the safety of all of the children in the room.

If your child has an IEP/IFSP plan, the child care will also request a copy of it upon enrollment. This information will only be shared with the administrative staff and the teacher in your child’s respective classroom. These forms enable us to properly care for your child and provide quality care. When an IEP/IFSP plan is being written, please include the child care in the process so we can also work towards the goals designed for your child.

If your child has a therapist (speech, behavioral, physical, occupational, etc.,) they are more than welcome, with your prior permission, to visit and work with your child at the child care. Please be aware, though, that since your child is still in our ratios, the therapists may not take your child out of the room or away from the teacher’s supervision.