At Smart Start Academy, various learning strategies are used to develop a special skill set that every child needs. This includes building a child’s social, emotional and cognitive development. Below are a few of the strategies used to enhance every child’s learning experience.

• Dramatic Play – Young children learn by imagining and doing. Have you ever watched a child pick up a stone and pretend it is a zooming car, or hop a Lego across the table as if it were a person or a bunny? That child is using an object to represent something else while giving it action and motion. But this pretend play is not as simple as it may seem. The process of pretending builds skills in many essential developmental areas. Dramatic play is an integral part of a child’s social, emotional and cognitive development. [Read More]
• Block Play – Building toys provide one of the most valuable learning experiences available for young children. Building with blocks and other building material stimulates learning in all domains of development, intellectual, physical, and social-emotional and language. [Read More]
• Puzzle Play – Puzzles are essential for cognitive development. Besides developing the following skills, children learn patience and develop concentration as well as focusing skills. [Read More]
• Sensory Play – Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates your young child’s senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing. Sensory activities facilitate exploration and naturally encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore. [Read More]
• Story Time – One of the best ways to help children learn to sit quietly for a longer period of time is with an entertaining book. To begin with, hearing a story can be an interactive event. Children need to sit quietly while they listen, but there may be times when they can share an idea or respond to what is being read. [Read More]