EARLY CHILDHOOD CURRICULUM
District 45 utilizes The Creative Curriculum for Preschool (5th Edition) in our Early Childhood program. This curriculum focuses on the following areas of child development: physical, cognitive, social/emotional, and language. Guidelines and standards have been developed indicating the content children should be exposed to by certain age levels.

The Creative Curriculum guides teachers in how to teach content from the following areas in ways that respect the development of preschool-age students.
Literacy – vocabulary and language, phonological awareness, letters, words, print, comprehension, books, and other texts
Mathematics – numbers, patterns and relationships, geometry and spatial awareness, measurement, and data collection, organization, and representation
Science – the physical properties of objects, living things, and the earth and the environment
Social Studies – how people live, work, get along with others, shape, and are shaped by their surroundings
The Arts – dance, music, dramatic play, drawing, and painting
Technology – tools and their basic operations and uses
Process Skills – observing and exploring; problem solving; and connecting, organizing, communicating, and representing information