Threes

School days in ECC’s 3s classrooms are full of play, exploration, and discovery – but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. Developmentally, three-year-olds also have vivid imaginations and our program promotes pretend play and storytelling. This includes costume boxes, dolls, puppets, toy animals, construction materials and props that rotate throughout the year. Teachers step in and guide pretend play to extend learning, help resolve interpersonal conflicts and build language skills.

The importance of school readiness guides the curriculum and students are challenged in all areas, including motor skills, language, and literacy, cognitive skills, math, science, social studies, and the arts. This includes everything from vocabulary building and alphabet recognition to counting and classifying, from bouncing a ball and pedaling a trike, to reciting a poem and circle time participation.

All of this happens in a “learning through play” environment, in which the children are encouraged to explore and challenged to try new things. Our classroom routines are designed to provide a safety net, minimize stress and create a familiar and supportive place to grow. Through it all, our students learn appropriate classroom behaviors and grow emotionally, socially and intellectually. Most importantly, they have a lot of fun!