Where care meets curriculum: EmBe enhances unique approach to education

Feb. 5, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by EmBe.

It’s a good sign when your child wakes up and can’t wait to get to school before it starts.

That’s what the Sajdak family experiences with 6-year-old Alayna, who is eager to arrive at EmBe’s before-school care and asks to stay a few extra minutes when it’s time to pick her up from after-school care.

“The after-school care is very structured with various activities and learning opportunities for the kids,” Alayna’s dad, Dan Sajdak said. “She is a social butterfly, and we enjoy that she gets to know kids outside of her classroom through EmBe.”

Alayna’s experience beginning as a kindergartner with EmBe’s before- and after-school care led the family to bring their other two children, age 4 and 1, to EmBe for child care programs.

“Our daughter had so much fun with the teachers that we looked at moving our other two kids to their day care center to have all three of them in the same care system,” Sajdak said.

The experience of their younger children already is proving to be just as impactful.

Four-year-old Henrik, now in EmBe’s KinderCollege program, “had previously been a very quiet kid who wasn’t very keen on day care,” his dad said.

“Since we made the switch to EmBe, he’s almost like a new kid – telling us at the end of the day how many exciting things he’s doing and all of his friends that he plays with.”

One-year-old Ashlyn “seems to love her teachers and being at day care,” he continued. “She’s usually all smiles.”

All three children – and every child who goes through EmBe programming – benefits from an intentional and ongoing approach to curriculum development. 

EmBe has a dedicated director of curriculum and licensing, Sarah Meagher, who moved back to the Sioux Falls area from New York, where she worked in education and nonprofits. Since joining the EmBe team in 2022, she has helped guide an even more enhanced progression from birth through school-age that exposes kids to the skills they need to succeed and grow.

“What we want to make sure is that wherever you are at EmBe, whichever classroom, you are experiencing the same core curriculum,” she said. “Teachers, of course, have their own personality and style, but as far as what the learning minutes look like, they’re going to be the same across the board, so we can guarantee that standard of learning.”

That extends to after-school and summer care.

“We’re structuring a curriculum all the way through,” Meagher said. “After school can account for another three hours, so that’s an opportunity for enrichment and furthering children’s exposure to what they learn.”

Sajdak said his kids definitely are learning.

In KinderCollege, “Henrik seems to be doing really well with his learning experience,” he said. “We get serenaded to and from day care with some of the songs he’s learning, and he tells us about how they’re learning about the letters of the alphabet. He was very excited when they were learning about ‘H.’”

He also has learned to write his name and his letters, “and we feel that this will really help him when it comes to kindergarten next year,” Sajdak said. “He talks about various learning centers that use toys to help assist the learning process. It’s great that they can use play to help him learn — especially when he doesn’t think he’s learning.”

Time in the gym and outside helps burn off energy, he added.

Just like with Henrik, the Sajdaks receive a weekly lesson plan from EmBe for Ashlyn.

“She is in her second week in a new room   they focus on four areas: cognitive, language, movement and social/self-help,” he said. “We are excited to see how she will improve in these areas as she spends more time in the room.”

Ensuring EmBe’s consistency of curriculum is supported by two instructional coaches, Sarah Gaster and Sara Tirrel, who work with teachers to implement curriculum and use their feedback to continue to evolve it.

“Our role is to help educators learn, grow and encourage them to deliver a quality program, whether it’s discussing curriculum, behaviors or setting up the environment,” Tirrel said. “We’re able to work with each site and individualize the curriculum to meet the needs of the school and the children who attend it, while maintaining consistency and alignment.”

Sarah Meagher, Sara Tirrel and Sarah Gaster

Tirrel and Gaster are a continual presence in the classrooms.

“We can check in and make sure everyone knows the curriculum and knows the level of quality we’re trying to achieve to make sure everyone is connected,” Gaster said. “And we’re able to facilitate collaboration between teachers from one site to another, so they can share ideas and plans and get to know each other, so that’s really important.”

The role includes both observing and meeting one-on-one with teachers.

“We’re working together to write this curriculum,” said Gaster, a former teacher. “I think it’s unique to be able to be this intentional with kids this young.”

Core instructional time often goes from 9 a.m. to noon, with a mix of work on numbers, literacy opportunities, dramatic play, writing activities and other progressively challenging work. Afternoons allow time for fine motor and gross motor skills and art projects, with plenty of physical activity throughout the day.

In addition to traditional preschool, EmBe offers a rigorous KinderCollege program and the Amigos Spanish immersion program.

“We’re consistently evaluating our curriculum, deeply delving into it, revising things and doing assessments,” Meagher said. “Even though we’re with the kids all day, the parent relationship is sacred and comes first. So helping parents learn about their kids and make decisions together is very important.”

For parents like Sajdak, the difference with care and education at EmBe is significant.

“The teachers have been very intentional about being focused on the kids and their learning experience. They do it so well that the kids just think they’re playing,” he said. “I appreciate the communication and intentional focus on education because it gives us a sense of calm knowing that our kids will be well taken care of. We love that EmBe challenges and enriches our kids in a way that prepares them for the next room at their center and beyond.”

To take a closer look at EmBe’s options for preschool and school-age care opportunities, click below.

The years before kindergarten: Your guide to finding the right preschool fit for your family