Higher Standards for a Higher Calling
Realife STEAM Academy is a child care ministry for children ages 6 weeks through Pre-k.
Our goal is to provide opportunities for children to learn, grow, and develop socially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
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We believe that each child should be provided with a safe and nurturing environment that promotes their natural curiosity and excitement for learning. We also believe that each child learns at their own pace and when provided with a variety of developmentally appropriate opportunities to play, discover, experiment, investigate, and explore that they become lifelong learners.
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Our early learning curriculum starts with our infants through prekindergarten and is based on developmental needs. Our carefully designed curriculum is STEAM and faith-based. STEAM is the acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Our program integrates each of these topics into the early childhood classroom in a fun and interactive way.
Our curriculum encourages movement, both small and large motor, literacy, (both numbers and letters), and problem-solving which nurtures kindergarten readiness & success. During our morning circle-time students will learn & discuss the weather, calendar, STEAM theme, & bible story & lesson. Our curriculum is used in alignment with the Foundations to the Indiana Academic Standards for Young Children from birth to age five. ​
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Our STEAM lab will feature developmentally appropriate lab activities. Children in our Two’s & Three’s rooms will have lab time 2-3 times per week, while our Preschool and Pre-kindergarten students will have a daily lab time. Our STEAM curriculum will incorporate each letter of STEAM throughout our week! Monday is Science Day, Tuesday is Technology Day, Wednesday is Engineering, Thursday is Art Day (music, painting, drawing, & sculpture), and Friday is Math Day. We are preparing our future scientists, engineers, IT professionals, researchers, artists, and problem-solvers!
Our STEAM program is five (5) days a week and is a little different from other preschools as we are utilizing more of the full day approach. Our instructional time starts at 8:30 and continues throughout the day for preschool and prekindergarten students. We do incorporate a rest time after lunch but consider both nap and lunch part of the instructional day as rest is important for self-care and lunch is a great time to learn social skills & manners.
Infants and toddlers will have age-appropriate STEAM activities as well.
Planned instructional time will begin at 8:30 each day. Preschool and Pre-kindergarten students will continue throughout the day while our 2’s and 3’s will have slightly less time to better suit their attention spans. Infants' and toddlers' curriculum & instruction will vary as needed. Our preschool and prekindergarten classes will follow the semester dates which follows the Southern Hancock School calendar. Fall semester starts in August and ends in May. During school breaks, we will do different theme weeks and camp style atmosphere. During the summer breaks, we will offer STEAM Summer Camp for children in preschool through 6th grade.
At this time, we will only offer full-time care but you are welcome to choose the hours your child attends. We are open from 7AM to 6PM Monday through Friday. We are closed on major holidays. We are also closed on the day after thanksgiving and the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Paths to QUALITY
Research overwhelmingly demonstrates that high-quality early childhood programs prepare children for future success in school, work, and life. In the first five years of life, children’s brains undergo exponential brain development. The brain develops in reaction to the environment, and experiences in a child care program can contribute to that brain development. Quality rating and improvement systems measure performance in early childhood programs to ensure quality care for children.
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REALIFE STEAM Academy is currently working toward Level Three out of the four levels on the Paths to QUALITY rating system by the state of Indiana. States across the nation use quality rating and improvement systems, and Paths to QUALITY is Indiana’s Child Care Quality Rating and Improvement System. Reaching Level Three is a lofty goal for new programs but the effort put forth by our teachers to ensure that your child receives quality care, including a healthy and safe environment, planned curriculum, and an environment that supports children’s learning is very important to us.
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Each of the four levels of Paths to QUALITY addresses higher standards of care in early learning.
1. Level One: Health and safety needs of children are met
a. Meets basic health and safety requirements
b. Staff are trained in First Aid, CPR, Child Development, Nutrition, and Health
and Safety
c. Classrooms are monitored annually to ensure compliance with licensing
regulations
2. Level Two: Environment supports children’s learning 4 Updated January 2022
a. Provide a consistent daily schedule
b. Plan activities for children
c. Provide relevant program information for families
3. Level Three: Planned curriculum guides child development and school readiness
a. Implement a planned curriculum to guide learning
b. Provides professional development for staff to increase the quality of care
and learning
c. Incorporate family and staff input into their program
4. Level Four: National accreditation (the highest indicator of quality) is achieved
a. The program seeks and achieves accreditation by a nationally recognized
body of accreditation, such as NAEYC (The National Association for the
Education of Young Children)
b. The ten standards of accreditation with NAEYC include Relationships,
Curriculum, Teaching, Assessment of Child Progress, Health, Staff
Competencies, Preparation, and Support, Families, Community Relationships,
Physical Environment, and Leadership and Management.
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