Imagination is the most important thing to nourish in young children’s minds. Children should be given the freedom to speculate and develop their own theories about the world around them. If we want to raise the next generation of thinkers, problem-solvers, entrepreneurs, and inventors, we need to foster our children’s imagination and creativity. The Dr. Sarah K. Jandrucko Academy for Early Learners has focused on this very aspect by creating learning environments that are grouped into four main thematic pods, with each pod containing four classroom experiences. The Imagination Pod is centered around the power of food and family, building dreams of future generations, prehistoric exploration, and communal civic responsibility.

SAVVY’S MARKET

THE POWER OF FOOD AND FAMILY

Many children do not understand where our food comes from. Savvy’s Market focuses on food education. Knowing where fruits and veggies come from help form healthy eating habits. The adventure begins with the planting furrows where children learn how to identify what vegetables are currently planted in the garden and harvest them, pick apples from the tree or ground, or collect eggs from the chicken coop. From there they can snuggle up in the Barn Reading Nook for a good read. They can drive their harvest to the market and sort the food for hungry shoppers. Children investigate the various colors and flavors of healthy food, even dressing up as a chef to take food orders! With grocery lists in hand, they can do some grocery shopping, learning about quantity using scales and checking out with the correct amount of change. Learning about different foods and where they come from now becomes an educational adventure.

CONSTRUCTION

BUILDING DREAMS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS

The future is ours to build. That belief and vision drives our company values. This experience teaches children about the construction of the human landscape and making your own mark as you grow and build your dreams. This may involve all sorts of different construction methods – stacking, assembling, disassembling, sorting or molding. Budding drivers can practice coordination with the manual crane and the Sit-in Dozer, or build a magical city on the magnetic walls. As the kids learn to work together in the Job Box training area, they are also building their confidence in what they can accomplish.

JOURNEY IN TIME

PREHISTORIC EXPLORATION

ROAR! Dinosaurs have always held a special place in the imaginations of children. Once kids learn a little about dinosaurs, they have a strong tendency to become fascinated by them and curious to learn more. Dinosaurs become a topic of play and animated conversation. The Journey in Time experience allows them prehistoric exploration into the past as they become Paleontologists and uncover dinosaur bones in the dig site and construct their own 3D skeletons. They can stomp around with Dino feet while they learn about scale and estimation or curl up in dinosaur eggs for a cozy read. Dinosaurs offer a wonderful opportunity for kids to start learning how to sort, categorize, memorize and synthesize massive amounts of information.

COMMUNITY

COMMUNAL AND CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY

The community experience offers children a chance to learn about communal and civic responsibility. It is the beginning of a journey towards becoming proud adults making a difference in their communities and the world. Caring for your fellow neighbor can help weave a stronger communal bond, and these kids are learning that the people are the heart of a community. Taking care of our planet is one of the most important issues today, and by teaching our children at a very young age to recycle, they will become a huge part of the solution. Starting out at either the recycling and sorting activity space or the build a vehicle toy shelving, children can follow the inset city track around the room to various job lockers where they begin to understand different cultures and develop a sense of pride in their community.