The philosophy of The Creative Curriculum® is that young children learn best by doing. The Creative Curriculum® is built on theories of development in young children, that all children learn through active exploration of their environment and therefore the environment plays a critical role in learning. The goal of the creative Curriculum is to help children become independent, self-confident, inquisitive and enthusiastic learners by actively exploring their environment.

The curriculum identifies goals in all areas of development: Social/Emotional, Cognitive, Physical and Language. The planned activities for the children, the organization of the environment, the selection of toys and material, planning the daily schedule and interacting with the children, are all designed to accomplish the goals and objectives of the curriculum and give your child a successful year in school.

The Creative Curriculum® shows teachers how to integrate learning in literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, and technology throughout the day. It also gives the teacher a wide range of teaching strategies – from child-initiated learning to teacher-directed approaches-to best respond to children's learning styles, strengths, and interests.

The staff at JCAL Academy builds the curriculum for their children around the environment using nine different interest areas or centers:

•  Dramatic Play
•  Blocks
•  Table toys
•  Art
•  Sensory Table (Sand and Water play)
•  Library
•  Computers
•  Outdoors
•  Science