Our Curriculum here at Odyssey French English Nursery is based on the WASHINGTON STATE DOMAINS AND DEVELOPMENTAL BENCHMARKS. These standards and benchmarks help us as educators and parents identify children’s knowledge about the real world and more importantly how they encounter new situations, concepts, and challenges. In a few words it is what and how they are learning. Our job in that sense is to provoke, stimulate and help them to make sense of what they are encountering.

It is not about teaching; it is about learning, and they are definitely not the same.

Our nurseries in Dubai and Abu Dhabi believe in a real “Child-Centered Curriculum” since we follow the interest and learning style of the children. We listen, observe and follow them. This is why we take photos, videos and notes about what they do during the day. It is not about creating a photo album of souvenirs. It is about interpreting the exploration, the search for answers, and the wonder of learning.

Real learning is about the experience, the social and situational context according to the famous psychologists like Vygotsky. This is what we call a holistic approach to education. It is not about learning an abstract color or shape, a number, a letter as a pure sign or learning only music or art. It is about a context where those concepts are applied.
“What is the color of the apple? How many chairs do we need for lunch time?” “Which placemat has your name?” Each child might be at a different developmental stage and what seems to be obvious to our eyes is a completely new discovery for them.