Woodland Presbyterian Church :: New Orleans, LA

ELC Curriculum

The Early Learning Center offers a Christian developmental program where teachers introduce various topics during the year through reading, dramatic play, art, movement, music and other creative methods. We have dedicated and a well-trained staff who truly feels called to serve God through His children. Classroom activities are supplemented with a weekly chapel service, a musical movement class, and a variety of outside resources from time to time.

The ELC adopts the educational philosophy that play, through age appropriate activities in a child paced environment, is the best method of learning in early childhood and forms the strongest foundation for later academic achievement. This philosophy is based on sound principles regarding brain development, mastery orientation, and emotional well-being and forms the basis for the school’s curriculum. Our curriculum is teacher generated with age appropriate activities and learning experiences that foster growth and development of the whole child. The Handwriting without Tears program is used to begin to teach our three and four year old classes the fundamentals of handwriting. The Early Learning Center provides each child opportunities to learn about God and the love of Jesus, to love learning, to celebrate successes and to be prepared with the basic skills needed for elementary school. Accordingly, the school refrains from early academic training through the use of worksheets, flash cards and rote teaching tools. The school encourages parents to make every effort to read a wide variety of available literature regarding this approach to early childhood development.

The Early Learning Center’s summer program known as “Sunbuddies” is an extension of the Christian developmental program offered during the school year. The program runs on Tuesday and Thursday for seven weeks in June and July. The Sunbuddies teachers implement weekly themes through the same methods described above used throughout the standard school year.

ELC School Year Curriculum Topics