Child Development Center

Welcome to the Child Development Center (CDC). We are located on the beautiful 83-acre campus of Currey Ingram Academy at 6544 Murray Lane in Brentwood, Tenn.

Our center is open to public and serves children ages six weeks through Pre-K. The Infants, Ones and Twos classrooms are housed in a modernized Farmhouse at the front of our campus, and our Threes/Fours and Pre-K classrooms are on the main campus in John Rivers Ingram Hall, the school's Lower School building.

How is the CDC Different Than Other Area Childcare and Pre-K Programs?
We are situated among horses, chickens, woods and beautiful Beech Creek, and we use our surroundings to provide a true indoor/outdoor education for our students. Our students plant everything from pumpkins to flowers and learn about everything from the ABCs to honeybees. We also take our outdoor experiences inside, where we cook, create, read, draw and otherwise explore the many lessons that nature has to teach.

Our students also have access to indoor and outdoor playspaces and experience age-appropriate, hands-on activities in a full scope of subjects, from literacy and math activities to technology (ages 2+), music, art and cooking. We use Frog Street Press as our guiding curriculum. It covers all subject areas as well as character education and conscious behavior support.
 
Seeing is understanding. Please schedule a tour today. It would be our pleasure to facilitate and guide your child's growth and development during such critical years in his/her life. If you would like more information or to schedule a tour, please feel free to contact CDC Director Terri Mills at terri.mills@curreyingram.org or by calling (615) 507-3196.
 
Thank you for your interest in the Child Development Center.

Parent Testimonials

  • A lovely place that allows children to play outdoors as much as possible, integrates cooking, music, and prepares for Kindergarten.

  • A safe and caring environment for children to learn and grow together.

  • CDC intentionally works with my children every day to enrich their lives all around.

  • CDC intentionally works with my children every day to enrich their lives all around.

  • Helps children develop and learn in a fun, academically appropriate, compassionate environment.

  • The CDC nurtures children expertly through all of the stages of early childhood development through love, care, kindness, and fun.

  • The CDC provides my child with the best care from the most caring staff you can imagine.

  • The teachers care about my kiddos. I love that they come home tired and dirty each day from learning and exploring. The enrichment activities are wonderful and been an encouragement to me as well.

  • They love my child. Even though he is very young, they take the time to teach him a set curriculum and provide him with a well scheduled day. He is happy and smiling every day that I pick him up!

Our Curriculum

List of 4 items.

  • Infants

    The Child Development Center's primary goal for our Infant classroom is to create a calm, nurturing, loving environment where our youngest children will thrive. We seek to nurture the whole child through age-appropriate activities and exposure to nature, language, literacy, cooperation, fine and gross-motor skils, early math skills, music and more. Due to the frequent schedule changes that occur with infants, our teachers work closely with parents to craft a schedule that best fits their infant's needs. Our goal is always to maintain the most loving, safe, optimal environment for that child's well-being and development.

  • Ones and Twos Classrooms

    Research shows that repetitive positive interactions strengthen the wiring in the brain, even at the youngest ages. This is our focus in our Ones and Twos classrooms. Specifically, the Frog Street Press curriculum focuses on intentional instruction in the four developmental domains: social, emotional, physical and cognitive. Through these domains, activities are designed around language, social interactions, self-control, motor control and critical thinking. It is our goal to provide through curriculum a calm environment where students can connect with one another and experience a learning environment that is safe and fun for everyone.

  • Threes/Fours Classroom

    This class is a bridge between the toddler age and PreK. Children who are ages three and four are moving from parallel play to cooperative play. Children at this age also start to show emotions and feelings for their peers. Early brain development research shows children at this age are ready for introductions to more formal concrete instruction with in the areas of literacy, math, science and even social studies. The Threes/Fours students participate in whole-group activities as well as in small literacy centers. The Frog Street Press curriculum also focuses on maintaining and teaching pro-social skills through Conscious Discipline. Starting each day, the students and teacher come together during morning meeting to Unite, Calm, Connect and Commit to the classroom community which creates an environment to optimize learning and make for a successful day. This is a routine that they carry through to their Pre-K year.

  • Pre-K Classroom

    The Pre-K specific curriculum through Frog Street Press covers 10 areas of learning: Social and Emotional Development, Language and Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Physical Development and Technology.
     
    Our Pre-K students are encouraged to cooperate and collaborate with their teachers and peers. They also experience a language-rich environment with multisensory approaches to learning. In Language and Literacy, children learn through read-aloud stories, whole-group activities, and small-group student-guided activities that center around phonological awareness, concepts of print, language, alphabet knowledge and much more. In Math, teachers focus on teaching number operations, geometry and measurement. Students are also taught to count, compare and classify. Science and Social Studies are experienced through visual and hands-on activities. These lessons are theme-based and cross-curricular. Please see our Enrichment section below for details related to Fine Arts, Physical Development and Technology. 
     
    At this age, we continue our emphasis on Conscious Discipline, teaching children about pro-social skills and emotional control. Starting each day, the students and teacher come together during morning meeting to Unite, Calm, Connect and Commit to the classroom community which creates an environment to optimize learning and make for a successful day.

Enrichment Opportunities (Included)

List of 6 items.

  • Art

    Art enhances fine-motor and hand-eye coordination, visual-spatial perception, and self-expression. All of our children are exposed to art activities in our classrooms. The Pre-K class also enjoys a set-aside art enrichment class weekly. During this art class, the children express themselves through many different modalities. They also work in groups and practice communication skills.

  • Cooking

    This year-round enrichment is for ages one through Pre-K. The activity encompasses preparing seasonal foods that address healthy food choices and promotes basic math, verbal and fine-motor skills, an adventurous palate, sensory exploration and confidence.  During the growing season, many of the recipes utilize vegetables grown in our school garden. Our youngest children also experience a weekly cooking activity that is used in conjunction with our weekly snack preparation. Recipes are shared with families to facilitate and reinforce skills learned at school.

  • Gardening

    Children ages one to Pre-K participate in the gardening program. Activities include soil preparation and exploration, planting seeds and seedlings, watering, and harvesting, with all activities supervised by a master gardener. Inspired by the Early Sprouts program, our children help to grow vegetables that we eat and share with our community. Some of the vegetables grown in our gardens are: snow peas, kale, carrots, butternut squash, yellow squash, green beans, tomatoes, corn, swiss chard, lettuce, zucchini and blueberries. Through these experiences, we help boost student confidence and lay a foundation for lifelong healthy eating habits.

  • Library

    The Threes/Fours and Pre-K classes enjoy time at the Currey Ingram Academy library each week. Library time helps build relationships with other members of our community and often reiterates what we are working on in the classroom such as learning about authors and illustrators and book titles. The stories that are read and told to us center around the theme, season or curricular topic that we are learning about in class. Students also learn appropriate library behaviors. Checking out books and taking care of them is something they enjoy and take great pride in. Teachers read the books students check out throughout the week to share in the individual choices each student makes.

  • Music

    All classes at the CDC receive music enrichment, from the babies learning a song of the week, to the Pre-K learning how to write notes and rhythms. All music classes aim to immerse the children in music experiences by dancing, singing, playing instruments, and listening. Music creates opportunities to work together, teaches how to use “listening ears,” encourages language development, and helps students use their creative energy in positive ways. Music also helps with memory and teaches concepts in a way that the children can understand. The kids love it so much that they go home singing the songs they learned in music class!

  • Technology

    Technology is interspersed throughout the classes in age-appropriate ways that support our curriculum. Software and tech tools play an important role allowing the students to interact with our curriculum as a group. The Threes/Fours and Pre-K teachers and students use their Promethean “smart” board to make learning more interactive and exciting. The Threes/Fours and Pre-K classes also use educational apps on iPads for personalized academic experiences.

Curricular Spotlight: Pre-K Video Using Green-Screen Technology

    • PreK Alphabet 2016

Early Childhood Professional Development Sessions
 
The Early Childhood Professional Development sessions hosted by the Child Development Center (CDC) at Currey Ingram Academy are free PD sessions designed to bring together early childhood educators to gain knowledge and skills to apply in the classroom and to advance professional development hours. All sessions are held at Currey Ingram Academy’s Frist Hall, 6544 Murray Lane, Brentwood. Please register on the links below:
 
Sensory Processing, Fine Motor and Handwriting Development for Early Childhood:  An Occupational Therapy Perspective
Date: November 8
Time: 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Presenter: Courtney Gallaher, MS, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist at Currey Ingram Academy
 
Success in School Begins with the Early Childhood Educator
Date: January 31, 2019
Time: 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Presenter:  Kathy Boles, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
 
Reading Development in Early Childhood:  Research, Application and Red Flags
Date: February 28, 2019
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Presenter: Danielle Barton, Ed.D.
 

CDC Calendar and Rates

Currey Ingram Academy

6544 Murray Lane
Brentwood TN 37027
Main Office: (615) 507-3242
Admission Office: (615) 507-3173
Lower School Office: (615) 507-3200
Middle School Office: (615) 507-3185
Upper School Office: (615) 620-6256
Diagnostic Center: (615) 507-3171
School Nurse: (615) 507-3177
Other Important Numbers CLICK HERE

About Us

Currey Ingram Academy is an exemplary K-12 day school that empowers students with learning differences to reach their fullest potential. Since 2002, the school has been located on an 83-acre campus in Brentwood, Tenn., just miles from Nashville and Franklin. Families from 33 states and eight countries cite the school as their primary reason for moving to Middle Tennessee.

Currey Ingram Academy is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) and AdvancEd/Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).