ENSURING BRIGHT FUTURES
Now Enrolling for the 2024 – 2025 School Year
Where education meets fun
Each day at the Y, we nurture the potential of every child. Because the early years are so important to a child’s life, we are dedicated to making them the most enriching. At the Y, we provide a fun, safe, and structured hands-on learning experience where children can discover their full learning potential in a home away from home.
Our Early Education Center offers a wide variety of experiences that help children to learn, grow, and thrive. Not only are these years the most precious, they are the most formative when it comes to cognitive, physical, linguistic, and social development. Our goal is to stimulate the children’s academic abilities and creativity while fostering the development of their social skills and individuality.
We strive to bring out the best in each and every child that comes through our Center’s doors. The Y’s core values of caring, respect, honesty, and responsibility are woven throughout our Center’s program to create a warm, nurturing environment for children; a home away from home, where they feel secure and confident to discover their potential.
Our program curriculum is designed to consider the general patterns of growth and to recognize and accept individual differences among children. Our nurturing and well-qualified staff focuses on six content areas within The Creative Curriculum®: literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, arts & technology, all while making sure your children have fun and express their individuality while learning.
WHY CHOOSE THE Y
Age-Appropriate Curriculum
Understanding how children develop and learn is vital to a quality early childhood program. Our program is designed to consider the general patterns of growth, as well as to recognize and accept individual differences among children.
At the Y, we use The Creative Curriculum® to enhance the children’s social, emotional, physical, cognitive and linguistic development. The Creative Curriculum is a comprehensive, research-based, research-proven, whole-child approach to education—one where children develop not only math and literacy skills but also social-emotional, physical, and cognitive skills.
The Curriculum features exploration and discovery as a way of learning, focused in six content areas: literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, arts, and technology. It includes developmentally appropriate goals and objectives for children within four main categories of interest: social-emotional, physical, cognitive, and language.
The Creative Curriculum organizes the learning environment into a variety of interest areas including blocks, dramatic play, toys & games, art, discovery and more! Children are immersed in learning through purposeful play-based experiences on topics they’re familiar with from their everyday lives. These experiences help foster children’s social competence, support learning through play, create rich environments for learning, and forge strong home-school connections.
Further enrichment opportunities are included within the Preschool I and Preschool II weekly schedule. These offerings include gross motor instruction and music that help develop the whole child.
Social-Emotional Development
Sanford Harmony™ is a social-emotional learning program designed to foster communication, connection and community both in and outside the classroom through an environment of acceptance and inclusion that celebrates strengths and differences. This PreK-6 evidence-based program helps children develop into compassionate and caring adults. Aligned with the Y’s four core values, Harmony-based stories, games, songs, and a variety of age-appropriate lessons are seamlessly integrated into our YMCA Early Education Center’s Pre-K and Kindergarten experience. Intentional activities help children develop self-confidence, control, and respect for the feelings and rights of others.
Quality Staff
Our staff is comprised of caring, nurturing individuals who are trained in early childhood education. All staff are required to complete a minimum of twelve hours of on-going training on an annual basis and are certified in First Aid and CPR.
Committed to Your Child’s Safety
In an effort to continually improve the safety and security of our YMCA, we utilize a system called Raptor which instantly screens visitors against registered sex offender databases in all 50 states. This is in addition to sex offender screenings the Y regularly conducts on all members, participants, and staff. All authorized pick-ups must present a state or government issued photo ID every time when picking up a child.
Family Involvement
Home and school are a child’s two most important worlds. Our goal is to connect these two worlds in a positive, respectful way so the children feel secure and confident. Activities throughout the year offer opportunities for families to share in the school experience.
Enrichment Options
At Greater Somerset County YMCA, we encourage self-discovery and exploration, and we know part of that comes with trying new things. To learn more, please contact your branch child care director.
Y For All
We believe that everyone—no matter who they are or where they’re from—deserves the opportunity and the resources necessary to reach their full potential. In addition to any community subsidies families may qualify for, the Y also provides direct financial assistance to qualifying families enrolled in our child care programs—made possible through the generosity of our Y’s Annual Campaign donors and proceeds from special fundraising events. Visit gscymca.org/fa to learn more.
THE Y: WHERE MEMBERSHIP MEANS MORE
The Y isn’t a building. It’s people from all backgrounds and walks of life who come together to improve their lives, nurture their families and strengthen their community, together.