STARBRIGHT APPROACH
Combining the best of European and American methods, Starbright School created its own academic approach.
The Starbright Approach empowers each child to develop cognitively, artistically, physically and socially. Our curriculum includes time for learning and time for free play, music appreciation and art projects, relaxing naps and outdoor activities.
Cognitive Development
Early childhood is an incredible time of insatiable curiosity about the world and about oneself, a stage where everything is fresh, new and exciting in one’s daily quest of discovery. Every child is naturally curious. Nurturing this innate curiosity at an early age through guided learning and encouragement helps children retain that desire to learn, understand and explore throughout their lives. The Starbright Approach supports the needs and interests of a child through each stage of development, building on their natural inquisitiveness to develop a true love of learning. Our program is designed to be age appropriate, teaching and inspiring children, never overwhelming them. All lessons are conducted in a fun, interactive atmosphere. Our low student to teacher ratio, allows teachers to attend to each child personally, making sure the child is comfortable with the material and give help when help is needed. In our lessons we place a strong emphasis on teaching children logic, and developing their ability to analyze and process information. During class, learning is active, engaging and social. Teachers present each new task in an inventive manner, always captivating not just a student’s mind, but also imagination. Students are encouraged to meet new academic challenges creatively, reflecting, questioning and applying critical thinking skills. Adjusted to fit a child’s natural attention span, each lesson lasts 20-30 minutes.
Artistic Development
Starbright believes that daily exposure to arts and culture plays a great role in a child’s development and affects them for life. Children who are exposed to visual arts, music and dance at an early age are able to truly appreciate and understand them at a deeper level, developing awareness and sensitivity to the stimulating world around them. Their innate artistic creativity and imagination ignite and they become more sensory aware. Exposure to arts also affects a child’s cognitive and social development. Improved reading skills and understanding of math, greater ability to focus, higher self esteem and better social skills are just some of the benefits of artistic education. At Starbright, we integrate arts, music and dance throughout our daily curriculum. Every day during Music Appreciation time, children sing and dance to the sounds of a live piano. During Arts and Crafts they color and draw, create collages, paper flowers, character masks. These and many other creative class projects allow artistic expression and enhance our students’ spatial reasoning, sequencing abilities, visualization and self-discipline.
Social Development
Character development and social skills are essential to the Starbright Approach. Starbright students grow up happy, self-confident, kind, compassionate and generous. Through storytelling, character play and class discussions, we teach the importance of understanding and empathy, fostering in our students a desire and willingness to help each other. During indoor and outdoor playtime, children learn the importance of sharing and team work, learn about fair play, friendship and taking responsibility for their actions. They become sociable, outgoing, and more confident. With gentle encouragement we teach children how to be polite and patient, how to listen and pay attention. All these favorable traits and behaviors learned during the most impressionable stage of a person’s social character development will have positive life-long effects.
Physical Development
Physical activities are included throughout the day, keeping Starbright students healthy and happy, in a safe and supportive environment. Through games and lessons, teachers provide age appropriate activities for developing manual dexterity, improving coordination and gross motor skills. Various class projects – including arts and crafts, puzzles and bead mazes – are aimed at advancing fine motor skills. Starbright menu is carefully planned to provide enjoyable and balanced nutrition to help kids grow healthy and strong. Our spacious outdoor playgrounds are equipped with child-safe gym sets, playhouses, slides, bikes, play cars, and a variety of other toys that promote gross motor development and physical activity. Just as important to physical development is Nap Time – which allows children to rest and recharge, giving them enough energy for the rest of the day. Physical activity, healthy eating and plentiful rest improve our students academic performance, concentration, behavior, and motivation.
The major goal of the Starbright Approach is to help children develop a rich, interconnected knowledge base about the world around them, to teach them how to learn and never stop learning. In addition to our standard daily activities, we also offer an incredible array of onsite Enrichment Programs that parents can choose for their children to enhance skills and understanding in specific subjects. By tending to the child’s academic, artistic, social and physical development, we provide a learning environment that fosters well rounded children. The four aspects of our approach are all interrelated. Advances in one aspect positively affect the other three. The Starbright Approach allows children to develop at a faster pace. Graduating from the Starbright Preschool and Kindergarten Program, our students score highest on any placement exam, entering first grade with confidence, ability and desire to learn.
