Our Program

Commitment to Excellence

Our program is designed to nurture and develop the whole child through joyful learning experiences. Children will gain confidence and independence by playing, singing, dancing, and learning foundational skills. We will support children in all areas of learning including speaking, listening, early reading and writing, math, science, social studies, and creative arts.

Here’s what you can expect at the Early EDGE:

The Early EDGE will immerse children in engaging thematic activities to enhance their learning based on the Iowa Early Learning Standards.

Social & Emotional Development

  • Children express a positive awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

  • Show an increasing ability to regulate behavior and express emotions in appropriate ways.

  • Relate positively with significant adults.

  • Respond to and initiate appropriate interactions with other children and form positive peer relationships.

Physical Well-Being and Motor Development

  • Understand healthy and safe living practices.

  • Develop large motor skills.

  • Develop small motor skills.

Approaches to Learning

  • Express curiosity, interest, and initiative in exploring the environment, engaging in experiences, and learning new skills.

  • Purposefully choose and persist in experiences and play

  • Purposefully demonstrate strategies for reasoning and problem-solving.

  • Engage in play to learn.

Social Studies

  • Demonstrate an increasing awareness of belonging to a family and community.

  • Demonstrate an increasing awareness of culture and diversity.

  • Demonstrate an increasing awareness of the environment in which they live, especially how people (including themselves) relate to that environment.

  • Demonstrate an increasing awareness of past events and how those events relate to one’s self, family, and community.

Creative Arts

  • Participate in weekly Tinies Class with our renowned Dancer’s EDGE Faculty. Preschool students also have the option of performing in The Dancer’s EDGE Annual Recital each June.

  • Participate in a variety of art and sensory-related experiences.

  • Participate in a variety of music and creative experiences.

  • Engage in dramatic play experiences.

Communication, Language, and Literacy

  • Understand and use communication and language for a variety of purposes.

  • Engage in early reading experiences.

  • Engage in early writing experiences.

Mathematics

  • Understand counting, ways of representing numbers, and relationships between quantities and numerals.

  • Understand patterns.

  • Understand shapes and spatial relationships.

  • Understand comparisons and measurements.

  • Demonstrate the process of data analysis by sorting and classifying, asking questions, and finding answers.

Science

  • Gather information, conduct investigations to address their wonderings, and test solutions to problems.

  • Use reasoning to make sense of information and design solutions to problems in their environment

  • Share information and understanding about experiences in their environment.