SpecialMe

Parent Connection

SpecialMe Open Door Policy

At SpecialMe we encourage parents to visit us at any time of the day, join our field trips or attend any of our special events. But we do ask parents who plan to visit their children frequently to follow the daily classroom routine, to avoid disturbing classroom schedules and activities. We suggest short visits or watching from the hallway to ensure that the students are not distracted from their learning activities and classroom rules. If you wish to meet our Program Director or staff member, please make an appointment so we can make the necessary arrangements.

Watch Your Child Online Any Time

With our Daycare Security Cameras and Surveillance systems, you stay connected to your child, real-time! You have complete control and only authorized users can log in and view your child’s classroom. Each parent gets a username and password which they can use to log into the surveillance system discreetly and monitor their child from the comfort of their workplaces or home. As a parent, it gives you peace of mind knowing that your child is safe and well cared for and when you are having a rough day at work nothing is better than looking at your child playing with his or her friends and knowing that they are safe.

SpecialMe App

To keep you – the parent in the loop always we have developed SpecialMe Parent-Teacher Communication application. This will used to share ongoing important updates/information and create amazing records of all great moments of your kid at SpecialMe. You’ll receive notifications when your child checks-in/out of the facility, it also provides GPS Van Tracking, important classroom announcements, events, reminders, photos, videos and daily reports. You will know all about your child’s day at our center and we make sure you won’t miss a thing.

Letters

Provides rich opportunities for the child to develop his/her vision, hearing, speech and fine-motor skills. Through the different activities, the child becomes familiar with sounds and symbols and begins to make the transition to putting sounds together to make his/her own words. Various materials aid the child in developing the muscular control needed to write.

> Simple commands
> Identifying Pictures of Objects with usual, unusual or complex names
> Naming Pictures Starting with the Same Phonetic Sound
> Naming Objects Starting with the Same Phonetic Sound
> Looking at Alphabet Booklets
> Creating a Story from Pictures
> Becoming Familiar with Letters and Their Sounds
> Matching Letters on an Alphabet Board
> Sandpaper letter
> Tracing trays

Motor skills

Acquiring motor skills is just one part of child’s development. Mastering both fine and gross motor skills are important for child’s growth and independence. Having good motor control helps a child explore the world around him/her and helps with important tasks such as writing, feeding oneself, self-care etc.., little ones need to develop dexterity and strength.

Fine Motor
> Scooping and Transferring
> Sorting
> Clothesline activity
> Weaving
> Sewing
> Cleaning activity
> Stringing beads
> Cutting with a scissor
> Using a hole puncher

Gross Motor
> Walking on a line
> Balancing beams
> Throwing an object
> Dropping an object to a target
> Ball play
> Bean bag toss
> Large blocks
> Obstacle course
> Climbing stairs

Creative Art

Students are exposed to various styles of art, drawing, craft and painting. Students explore various art techniques and use these techniques to develop their own works of art and showcase their creativity.

> Play dough molding
> Watercolour painting
> Punches
> Prick work
> Origami
> Doodling
> Glue box
> Sand & water play
> Puppet show

Daily 5

The Daily 5 a framework designed to help students develop lifelong habits of reading, writing, and working independently. The components of Daily 5: Read to self, Read to someone, Listen to reading, Word work, Work on writing.

> Task cards
> Exploring activity
> Picture book
> Learn new words
> Follow the instructions

Science

Kids learn best when they’re involved in learning through experimenting. This means getting to ask questions and have discussions, and it also means letting their interests guide planning. Children need their senses engaged. Hands-on science activities let children do just that, giving the kids a chance to use scientific thinking helps them make sense of the world.
> Nature table
> Globe
> Celebrating a birthday
> Understanding plants and animals around us
> Exploring seasons
> Exploring Magnetism
> Exploring light and colour
> Exploring melting and evaporation

Sensory skills

Senses are gateways of knowledge, it provides an opportunity for the child to explore the relationships of color, sound, shape, form and texture. The child learns to compare, contrast, reason, classify and categorize physical properties in his/her world. This trains the senses and provides the necessary foundation for both physical and mental activities in learning.

> Experiencing Different Food Textures.
> Experiencing Different Sounds
> Experiencing Different Textures
> Gathering Objects in Nature
> Experiencing “Warm” and “Cold”
> Matching Objects by Color
> Pairing Objects According to Color and Pattern
> Discriminating between Sizes of Shapes
> Painting
> Exploring a Texture Box
> Observing Nature Close Up
> Experiencing Smell Bags

Numbers

Introducing concepts of math by manipulating concrete materials. The child learns how to develop quantity using tangible objects that represent abstract ideas. The goals of the program is to build confidence in using numbers in everyday life.

> Beginning Basic Counting
> Identification of numbers and number names
> Looking at Number Booklets
> Number and quantity matching
> Symbol and quantity matching
> Building of quantity
> Adding and Taking Away Identical Objects

Cognitive skills

Cognitive development, it’s one of the main ways that child explores the world. Through exploration and experimentation, child develops the ability to think, understand, communicate, make memories, imagine and work out what might happen next and meet certain developmental milestones.

> Group objects according to specific characteristics
> Name and identify objects and pictures
> Simple songs and stories
> Observe and imitate
> 3- or 4-piece puzzles
> Logical ordering
> Matching Pictures by Concept
> Associating Objects and Numbers
> Matching Three Basic Geometrical Shapes
> Transferring Equal Numbers of Objects

Daily life skill

This will include many of the task’s children see as part of the daily routine of their culture, such as carrying objects, pouring liquids, preparing foods, fastening clothes, washing hands, washing dishes and clothes, polishing shoes and furniture, and taking care of their environment. Through these tasks, a child refines his/her muscular coordination which enables movement and the exploration of the surroundings. She/he learns to work at a task from beginning to end and develop his/her powers of concentration.

> Unrolling and Rolling Up a Work Mat
> Wiping Up Spills
> Sweeping Up
> Self-Care
> Cutting Soft Food into Pieces
> Serving Food
> Pouring Beverages fromOne Container to Another
> Setting Places for Meals
> Unfastening and Fastening Clothes

SpecialMe Montessori Kindergarten Program

Ages: 3.5 years to about 5.5 years

Schedule: Monday through Friday, 9:30 am-12:30 am

In SpecialMe Kindergarten program children are given the structured freedom to work at their own pace and pursue their love of learning. This ensures that the child understands what they are learning rather than just memorizing information. They will gain experience in reasoning, problem-solving, and critical thinking giving them a lifelong love of learning.

Our Montessori coordinators thoughtfully prepare the classroom environment with materials and activities that meet the students’ unique interests, academic level, and developmental needs. The activities are introduced to each child sequentially, laying the foundation for independent learning.
Children at this age learn by doing and they pursue their tasks independently either in a group or alone.

Our kindergarten curriculum has four basic components, which include Practical Life, Sensory, Language, and Math. In addition to this, we also introduce our children to geography, history, botany, zoology, arts, music and movement.

At the end of the program, each child in our care will emerge with a set of skills – social, emotional,
and academic and more importantly, know how to function within a group.

SpecialMe Montessori Preschool Program

Ages: 2.5 years to about 3.5 years

Schedule: Monday through Friday, 9:30 am-12:30 am

The Special Me Montessori Primary program offers a unique, mixed-age classroom environment, for children approximately 2.5 to 3.5 years old. Here, children engage in individual learning experiences, as well as one-on-one interactions, which are integral to the Montessori Method. Children use Montessori materials to explore practical life, language, sensory perception, reading and writing and learn math. At SpecialMe we use fascinating hands-on exercises to teach geography, botany, zoology, earth and physical science.

The learning activities for preschool children include both individual and group activities.

SpecialMe Montessori Toddler Program

Ages: 18 months to about 2.5 years

Schedule: Monday through Friday, 9:30am-12:30am

At SpecialMe we have designed a learning program that will foster toddler’s independence, enhance creativity and imagination and promote good hygiene and good manners. Our Montessori coordinators work with the toddlers and help them grow and become active explorers by allowing them to select the material that interests them and use it as long as they would like. They also encourage sharing, taking turns and show them how to put the material away before working with another. This gives the toddlers an opportunity to learn social skills and manners by saying please, thank you etc.

Toddler’s work with materials that lengthen their attention span and help develop their concentration and coordination. They also learn simple ground rules and lessons in grace and courtesy, how to get along, how to control their movements, how to care for their environment and how to care for themselves. Music, storytelling, arts and crafts, practical life skills including matching, sorting and pouring, large muscle coordination, naps and individual and group games are all important parts of the daily life for your toddler at SpecialMe Montessori Toddler Program.

The learning activities for toddler’s include both individual and group activities:

* Exercises of Practical life: Includes helping children eat unassisted, clean up after themselves, washing and dressing according to each child’s individual capacity. Exercises such as pouring, sweeping, dusting, buttoning, zipping etc. are introduced early to give children an opportunity to care for themselves and their environment.

SpecialMe Montessori Infant Program

Ages: 6 months to about 1.5 years

Schedule: Monday through Friday, 9:30 am-12:30 am

Montessori Infant program at SpecialMe for age group 6 months to 1.5 years offers so much more than childcare. Each child in our care is treated as an individual to be nurtured with affection and respect. As is customary for Montessori environments, every detail is selected with the child’s whole development in mind. Our prepared infant environments are organized, clean and uncluttered with developmentally appropriate material and activities that support the child through each stage of infant growth. We use a variety of materials that are placed throughout the room that have different textures and natural colors.

Infants are encouraged to crawl as there are no highchairs or swings to hold the infant instead all the materials are placed on low shelves on the floor. We use mats, soft rugs, low chairs and tables. We also use treasure baskets filled with safe and real objects from around the house to explore. Care is taken to not overstimulate the infant. Materials are continually rotated as the infant’s interests are
observed.

Sleeping, feeding schedules and diaper changes are based on the individual needs of the infant and are recorded. We communicate with parents daily using the SpecialMe app to be sure we are meeting the needs of the constantly changing infant. After the age of 18 months, the child may begin his transition to the toddler program. Move-up ages may vary by several months.

Montessori Room

Montessori Room at SpecialMe is designed such that everything is natural, organized and beautifully displayed to create an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. This helps children feel calm and relaxed. They can move freely choosing activities that interest them or working with the coordinator individually or in small groups. Their movement is unrestricted by the coordinator unless it endangers themselves or other children or their surroundings.

Garden (Mico Layout)

Gardening is a healthy, fun activity for children. It helps children develop new skills and learn about science and nature. At SpecialMe we encourage our children to interact with nature by creating a variety of interesting activities children can be involved in such as digging, planting, watering etc.
This allows children to explore and learn in the outdoors, dig in the soil, get dirty and engage in natural experiences.

Splash Pool

Water play can help improve children’s balance, muscle strength and coordination at the same time boosting social growth as children get an opportunity to interact with one another. Playing in water is like playing in a brand-new playground where even the simplest activities, like clapping hands or jumping, are a whole new sensory experience. So, at SpecialMe we have designed a Splash Pool where children can play safely without worrying about falling or crashing into hard surfaces.

Outdoor Play Area

At SpecialMe, we encourage outdoor and nature play as it promotes physical health and social development in children. We have setup a large outdoor play area where children have the opportunity to explore, experiment, play, run, sing, dance, yell, discover and practice.

STEM Room

STEM Room at SpecialMe is set up as an activity room where students learn a multitude of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math concepts through age-appropriate activities. Through hands-on activities we encourage curiosity and investigation to find out how or why something happens, we let the kids explore, discover, observe and experiment.

Soft Playroom

At SpecialMe we have designed a soft play area for our infants and toddlers with safety in mind. Infants and toddlers experience the world as a sensory adventure, filled with things to see, hear and touch so in this room we have used soothing colors like blue to encourage relaxation, pale green to create a natural feel, a light yellow for warmth and sunshine and red to create a glowing, loving feel in the room. We have made sure that all outlets, windows, doors and sharp corners are completely covered to protect them from injury.

Yoga Room

Yoga room at SpecialMe provides a calming and relaxing environment where children can connect, learn, support and relax. We introduce yoga to children through fun games and play so they develop an awareness of body, mind and spirit and this helps them become more confident, kind and responsible.

Sensory Room

The sensory room at SpecialMe provides an environment in which children can experience special sound and visual effects, vibration, use of aromas and music in many combinations and variations. The educational activities in this room focuses on particular senses such as feel, sight, sound and smell, as well as the more abstract senses of well-being, space, time and togetherness. Sensory bottles, Projector, Treasure baskets, Music Player, Lights and Pieces of different textured material, Bubbles are some of the resources we use.

LittleMe Curriculum

These themes are incorporated into the classroom learning and focuses on the core concepts of:

Letters

Simple commands.

Identifying Pictures of Objects with usual, unusual or complex names.

Naming Pictures Starting with the Same Phonetic Sound.

Naming Objects Starting with the Same Phonetic Sound.

Looking at Alphabet Booklets.

Creating a Story from Pictures.

Becoming Familiar with Letters and Their Sounds.

Matching Letters on an Alphabet Board.

Sandpaper letter.

Tracing trays.

Numbers

Introducing concepts of math by manipulating concrete materials. The child learns how to develop quantity using tangible objects that represent abstract ideas. The goals of the program is to build confidence in using numbers in everyday life.

Beginning Basic Counting.

Identification of numbers and number names.

Looking at Number Booklets.

Number and quantity matching.

Symbol and quantity matching.

Building of quantity.

Adding and Taking Away Identical Objects.

Science

Nature table.

Globe.

Celebrating a birthday.

Understanding plants and animals around us.

Exploring seasons.

Exploring Magnetism.

Exploring light and colour.

Exploring melting and evaporation.

Cognitive skills

Cognitive development, it’s one of the main ways that child explores the world. Through exploration and experimentation, child develops the ability to think, understand, communicate, make memories, imagine and work out what might happen next and meet certain developmental milestones.

Group objects according to specific characteristics.

Name and identify objects and pictures.

Simple songs and stories.

Observe and imitate.

3- or 4-piece puzzles.

Logical ordering.

Matching Pictures by Concept.

Associating Objects and Numbers.

Matching Three Basic Geometrical Shapes.

Transferring Equal Numbers of Objects.

Motor Skills

Fine Motor

Scooping and Transferring.

Sorting.

Clothesline activity.

Weaving.

Sewing.

Cleaning activity.

Stringing beads.

Cutting with a scissor.

Using a hole puncher.

Gross Motor

Walking on a line.

Balancing beams.

Throwing an object.

Dropping an object to a target.

Ball play.

Bean bag toss.

Large blocks.

Obstacle course.

Climbing stairs.

Sensory Skills

Experiencing Different Food Textures.

Experiencing Different Sounds.

Experiencing Different Textures.

Gathering Objects in Nature.

Experiencing “Warm” and “Cold”.

Matching Objects by Color.

Pairing Objects According to Color and Pattern.

Discriminating between Sizes of Shapes.

Painting.

Exploring a Texture Box.

Observing Nature Close Up.

Experiencing Smell Bags.

Creative Art

Students are exposed to various styles of art, drawing, craft and painting. Students explore various art techniques and use these techniques to develop their own works of art and showcase their creativity.

Play dough molding.