The Creative Way: Early Childhood Education is a progressive program that utilizes children’s innate predisposition for learning. The curriculum focuses on readying children for success in school and in life by instilling a thirst for knowledge, respect, independence, responsibility, motivation and decision-making. This Toolkit is designed to provide managers, teachers and even parents all the information needed to set up and implement the program in their school.

Charito Kruvant, Creative’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, has been an unwavering champion for children’s education worldwide and has demonstrated this commitment many times over through the education programs Creative supports. For nearly four decades Creative Associates International, Inc. (Creative) has been helping countries seize opportunities to educate children and improve lives.

Creative began its work bolstering Head Start programs in the United States. The Head Start Program is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that promotes school preparation by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services. Eventually Creative’s domestic focus turned to international educational development. The entrepreneurial spirit of Creative’s founders helped to build its reputation for innovation, initiative, flexibility, and quality.

Creative currently provides education and community building services in 20 countries—providing children, youth, and adults with accelerated learning and non-formal education; supporting communities and ministries with school reform and development; teacher training, capacity building, school health and nutrition, and enabling and access to education. Second only to her commitment to giving all children a chance at quality education has been Charito Kruvant’s commitment to instill in all who work for Creative, in its myriad offices around the world, a shared passion for education and an appreciation for a culture of learning.

Creative Associates International and Early Learning Express are pleased to offer this Early Childhood program, The Creative Way, to the projects/programs Creative implements throughout the world.

OUR STRATEGY

The Creative Way: Early Childhood Education (The Creative Way) program has been developed for use in Creative’s project offices worldwide. It is part of a larger strategy and commitment to recognize local staff through increased workplace support and innovative opportunities to attract more women to the work force, inculcate a culture of learning, and demonstrate the value of preschool education. The Creative Way is a stand-alone program to be offered within a project office site for children ages 3-5 years old of project staff. It is a year-round program that operates during regular office hours—typically 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, daily. It is run by a certified teaching professional and an assistant, and is independent of project goals and deliverables. The Creative Way utilizes a well-established curriculum philosophy and framework that is customized to the culture and social norms of the country in which it is being offered.

The Creative Way will have a designated space within Creative’s project office compound. It will be designed, equipped, and supported through overhead/fringe benefits funds. Creative headquarters’ staff will provide oversight support.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Providing children with early learning opportunities increases their likelihood of success in school, increases their self-confidence, and provides opportunities for parents to understand the developmental progress their children are making as they approach the age of formal schooling. The Creative Way provides a stimulating and nurturing classroom environment that promotes hands-on experimentation, age-appropriate reading and math skills acquisition, and freedom of organic exploration. Children participate in a wide variety of activities that maximize their natural abilities and encourage their intellectual development.