Valley Forge Children's Academy has been privately owned and operated for 50 years. We have developed a strong curriculum for each age group, safety measures that surpass other facilities and a loving and nurturing staff that children are excited to see each day. We offer programs for children aged 6 weeks up till 6 years of age.
6 weeks to 12 months and 12 months to 18 months (Infants)
Your babies are treated to a warm and nurturing atmosphere with one-on-one contact and individualized care. We strive to emulate the schedule at our school that you maintain at home currently. Some of the highlights are:
– A stimulating Infant Room environment.
– Designated areas for feeding, diapering, playing, and sleeping.
– Feeding time where your baby is held and rocked by their teacher. For our older babies, we encourage self-feeding, using fingers and appropriate utensils under one on one supervision.
– Puppet and theater time where our staff stimulates their imagination along with their language skills.
– Teaching basic sign language to aid in early communication.
– Music and dance time and the use of instruments like the guitar, drums, and shakers.
– Buggy stroller walks to the nearby garden and pond to see the ducks, squirrels and other animals (weather permitting).
– Daily classes in our large indoor playroom to help develop gross motor skills.
– Water and sand play.
– Creative exploration which stimulates the imagination and helps develop fine motor skills through the use of art and crafts.
– A daily and familiar, almost comfortable, routine that is similar to the one you have at home.
18 to 24 months (Toddlers)
Your baby is now officially a toddler, and we champion your toddler’s independence in our safe environment. Some of the highlights are:
– Circle time, story time, music time and individual and group table work to develop listening skills.
– Nursery rhymes to introduce new vocabulary and to stimulate creativity and imagination.
– Introduction to the sounds different instruments make and encouraging singing, clapping and keeping in rhythm during music time.
– Learning about the world they live in during activities that include gathering, collecting and finding.
– Developing their inner artist and creative side and their fine motor skills by playing with sand, water, clay, paint and many other mediums.
– Developing hand-eye coordination and gross motor skills through our Little Sports program.
– A daily,comfortable, routine of learning which includes group circle time, letters, shapes, colors, weather, days of the week, story time and table time to name just a few things that your child explores every day at Valley Forge Children’s Academy.
2 Year Olds
Independence is the name of the game with two year olds! Their favorite words seem to be “No,” “Mine,” “I can/will do it” and “I want to do it!” We seek to foster this independence and curiosity with our 2 year olds program. Some of the highlights are:
– Developing their listening skills through story time and circle time.
– Introducing more responsibility through group circle games and table top games.
– Developing problem solving and communication skills through interactive play with the other children and teachers.
– Encouragment of the use of their rapidly developing language skills and vocabulary in their interactions with others.
– Introduction of bigger ideas such as Cause and Effect through activities like hide and seek, digging and filling, dumping and gathering.
– Use of sand, water, clay, paint and various other mediums during Arts and Craft times.
– Encouragement of self-expression through dramatic play and interactive story telling to further expand their creativity .
– Development of gross motor skill in our large playroom with toys such as blocks, jump ropes, bouncy balls and much more.
– Exploration with interactive toys such as pulling and pushing toys as well as ride-on and ride-in toys.
– Development of hand-eye coordination in our Little Sports program along with other skills.
– Introduction to what is in our environment and community.
– A daily ,comfortable, routine of learning which includes group circle time, alphabets, counting, shapes, colors, weather, days of the week, story time and table time to name just a few things that your child explores every day at Valley Forge Children’s Academy.
3 Year Olds
Now that your child has mastered walking, talking, and playing nicely, it is time to fan the flames of their curiosity. Your 3 year old is like a sponge, soaking up the world around them. We understand this natural curiosity and encourage them to learn, explore, and share in an appropriate manner. Some of the highlights are:
– Respect for their workplace, environment and their tools by organizing and tidying up.
– Learning to manage their time by assigning projects and due dates.
– Beginning simple arithmetic through tasks like counting.
– Beginning reading skills through stories and sounds.
– Introduction to a computer and being familiar with a mouse and keyboard.
– Our Little Sports program.
– Play acting, theater, art and crafts to encourage creativity and stimulate the imagination.
Some of the subject specific skills and activities that our curriculum for your 3 year old focuses on are:
Math — Grouping, simple sorting and classifying, number recognition up 20, matching and identifying numbers, equal parts, money, measurements such as longer/shorter, fat/thin, heavy/light, opposites and an introduction to a calendar.
Language Arts — Letter recognition, capitals or lower case, letter sounds, rhymes, writing their name, hand writing and correct pencil grip, days of the week, months of the year, comprehension via question and answer about the books during story time, left to right progression, visual discrimination, positions and opposites, basic sequencing, verbalizing complete thoughts, creative writing/drawing and expressing their thoughts.
Social — Understanding transition, building social skills in group settings, learning to work with others in obtaining common goals, problem solving without teacher assistance, independent work skills and completing tasks.
Science — Water, the sky above, the earth below, our 5 senses.
Social Studies — Helping their community, the world and the people around us, the United States and who lives here.
Art and Crafts — Beading, lacing, Play-Doh, coloring, painting, drawing and theater.
4 to 6 Year Olds (Pre-School and Kindergarten)
Now it is time for your child to make the big jump to elementary school. Valley Forge Children's Academy helps them with not only their intellectual development, but their social, physical and emotional development as well. Some of the highlights are:
– Journaling
– Projects which help reinforce their learning and observations
– Music
– Reading
– Writing
– Computers
– Mathematics
Some of the subject specific skills and activities that our curriculum for your 4 to 6 year old focuses on are:
Math — Counting to 100, counting by 5s, grouping, recognizing numbers, graphing, sorting, classifying, patterns and movement, money and specifically pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, matching: more/less/equal, one more/one less, measurement: longer/shorter, lengths/weights, time: first, next, last; clocks, calendar, addition and subtraction, geometry, equal parts and numbers from 0 to 30.
Language Arts — Letter recognition, letter sounds, writing their name, word recognition, understanding simple sentences, recognizing and understanding punctuation, handwriting, days of the week, rhymes, creative writing and verbalizing complete thoughts and stories, sequencing, positions and opposites, left to right, months of the year, comprehension of stories, visual discrimination
Social Studies — Helping their community, the world and the people around us, the United States and who lives here.
Science — Water, the sky above, the earth below, our 5 senses.
Social — Understanding transition, building social skills in group settings, learning to work with others in obtaining common goals, problem solving without teacher assistance, independent work skills and completing tasks.
Art and Crafts — Craft projects, painting, drawing and theater.