Creative Process

15 Shore Avenue, Oyster Bay, NY 11771

The Creative Process

Being creative is expressing one's own ideas, feelings, emotions and fantasties. This process is very personal since a teacher cannot tell a child what or how to feel.

Oyster babies focuses on the process of creating and not the finished product itself. Creative work is not limited to just painting; it could be constructing a building of blocks, singing a song, doing a dance, or telling a story a child made up.

Our teachers will not instruct a child as to where pieces go, or have pre-made pieces for children to work with. Instead, children will be given a wide variety of materials to experiment with. Therefore, children's creations will not always be recognizable.

Be sure to ask your child how they made something. Talk about the materials, color and content. Encourage your child to share with you what they've made and how they've made it.

Our Educational Philosophy

Oyster babies Early Childhood Center is dedicated to providing safe, nurturing, quality childcare in an environment that fosters physical, emotional and intellectual growth. While we are a full-time child care center, be assured that each class has a planned curriculum that is developmentally appropriate for the age of its students.

The Oyster babies approach to educating young children is based on the Developmental-Interaction Approach contrived by the Bank Street College of Education, a renowned graduate school for early childhood educators, founded by Lucy Sprague Mitchell.

The basic premise of this philosophy is divided into two parts:

To recognize that children do go through specific stages of development, as based upon Erickson and Piaget; and,
To understand that the interactions, or experiences we have as individuals, effect and shape each stage of our development.

Therefore, the Oyster babies curriculum is designed around the individual students, as well as the whole class. The children's personalities, interests and experiences are all collaborated when lessons are being planned.

Young Children Learn Best through Play... "Is this really true?" Although it may be difficult for parents to break away from the "drill and practice" teaching methods of the past, young children learn more when allowed to move at their own pace in a relaxed environment. Children playing blocks in the "block area" of the classroom are actually developing numerous skills, such as, language development, social skills, problem solving, mathematics (numbers, colors, shapes), etc.

It's the Process, Not the Product... This is the main principle of our approach to art and all forms of expression. Being creative is a way of expressing ones self feelings, ideas and emotions; therefore, it has to come from the individual and not the teacher's directive. At Oyster babies we focus on the experience of working with materials, not the finished product.

"Do You Teach Reading and Writing?"... Absolutely! Oyster babies strives to create a language-rich environment in each of our classrooms. We do not instruct the whole class to trace letters, as this is inappropriate for preschoolers; however, the children are exposed to reading and writing all day, every day. Through story-telling, dictation, experience charts, writing in journals, songs, circle time and many other activities, we foster a love for reading and writing.

Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed to OYBABY@AOL.COM.
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