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The Rhema Childcare Center Great Start Readiness Program provides high quality preschool for four- & five-year-old children (but not five by September 1) who meets qualifying factors that may put them at risk for low educational attainment in kindergarten and beyond. The program is funded by the Michigan Department of Education and overseen by Wayne RESA. Developed under a grant awarded by the Michigan Department of Education. 

Philosophy: The goal of the GSRP program is to provide every preschooler with the best educational opportunities through child centered, hands-on HighScope curriculum set in a rich learning environment which is created through our families, community, and professional staff.  

Our Curriculum 

Our curriculum is based on the HighScope Curriculum, “which is based on more than 50 years of research on early childhood development and has been validated by direct evaluation of the curriculum. Our framework for understanding and supporting children’s learning from ages 2 1/2–5 years is based on 42/58 key developmental indicators (KDIs), which are aligned with national and state early learning standards, Common Core State Standards, and the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework”. 

In the HighScope Preschool Curriculum, learning is focused on the following eight content areas: 

Approaches to learning 

Mathematics 

Social & Emotional Development 

Creative Arts 

Physical Development & Health 

Science & Technology 

Language, Literacy & Communication 

Social Studies 

Preschool Curriculum Content 

Learning in these eight areas is guided by 58 key developmental indicators (KDIs). Each KDI identifies an important learning goal for young children. We recognize that the normal pace of children’s development and learning varies widely across these eight categories and the KDIs reflect that continuum of widely held expectations. Our curriculum is designed to help teachers appropriately scaffold learning for every child across all areas. 

The Highscope curriculum includes the following daily activities: Message Board, Large Group, Small Group, Planning, worktime, Clean-Up, Recall and Outdoor Time. 

The HighScope key developmental indicators 

• Provide teachers with a child development “filter” for observing and choosing appropriate interactions and activities 
• Help teachers interpret what young children say and do along a developmental continuum 
• Enable teachers to maintain reasonable expectations for young children 
• Reinforce children’s play as the primary mechanism for learning 
• Allow teachers to be more knowledgeable and intentional in their daily planning for individual children and the class. 

All content in this handbook regarding Highscope is from the Highscope website, and you can refer to it at www.highscope.org