Educational Framework

Philosophy

An individual's life is a journey toward self-discovery and world-understanding and an opportunity to leave a positive footprint on the planet.  Meaningful understanding enables individuals to effectively add value to their own lives and the lives of those around them. Early childhood is the opportunity to explore a breadth of experiences and knowledge, dream of new possibilities, and practice bringing new ideas to life.  This opportunity instills an appreciation of the complexity, diversity, opportunity, and beauty that exists in the world, and they will be able to absorb the greater complexity in the topics that they were introduced to early on throughout the rest of their schooling, focus on the right path for themselves in their life by knowing the breadth of opportunities that is out there, and take a leadership role in teams by leading the brainstorming and creative process.

Mission

Discovery World Early Education Center is dedicated to whole-child development and the highest quality of childcare. We have designed our stimulating curriculum and environment to carry out our philosophy, providing unique experiences for our young explorers to learn about the world around them and develop their minds and bodies. Our newly renovated facilities were designed to latest standards in child safety and cleanliness with our educational objectives in mind. Graduates are equipped with skills, understanding, and experiences that extend far beyond normal preschool curricula.  A child's early experiences have a great impacted their personality, confidence, and understanding of the world before they enter elementary school. By excelling in early childhood experiences, academics, safety, cleanliness, and nurturing care, we continuously bring you the cutting-edge in early childhood education.

Methodology

Our method places an emphasis on the learners' deep and meaningful understanding and their ability to create value for themselves and the world around them. We pride ourselves in being able to design, implement, and improve our innovative education system that does not have to uphold past centuries' methodologies, as is such with the once cutting-edge Montessori and Waldorf methodologies. We have thoroughly studied such methodologies and incorporated the aspects that have withstood more recent scientific scrutiny by child development experts, leaving the aspects that have not. The educational process takes the format of discover-imagine-create, where the students discover what exists, imagine what could be, and create something new. This format can be seen on every level - within each day, unit, year, and through the years. Building on the Discovery Method and Creative Problem Solving Process that are used in higher education, Discovery World has created a unique methodology and curriculum to teach children about the world around them and inspire them to innovate, bringing new concepts, artifacts, and experiences to the world.  The Discovery World Method develops one's breadth of knowledge, confidence, and abilities through discovery-driven exploration and creation so that they can discover what is, imagine what could be, and do what they choose to put their mind to.

Curriculum

The Discovery World Curriculum consists of 24 units that teach students about advanced academic, social, and cognitive concepts, while equipping them with critical developmental, self-help, and self-starter skills to excel in the world.  Before Kindergarten, our graduates have built a Rube Goldberg machine, started a business, "visited" countries around the world, designed their own country, invented a species, and have incredible self-help skills.  In addition to their invaluable experiences, our graduates excel in academics as well; they can read, write, add, subtract, and they understand advanced quantitative, scientific, and social concepts like less/greater than and sets, buoyancy, the different roles and systems in a community, and how the cultures they study are similar and different.

Meet Our Founder & Director

Sheryl Austin

Sheryl Austin holds a Bachelors Degree in Child Development, Masters Degree in Special Education, Teaching Credential in Special Education, and Teaching Credential in Multiple Subjects. Prior to founding Discovery World, Sheryl worked as a Special Education Teacher and Home & Hospital Teacher for the Los Angeles County Schools for 10 years. After giving birth to her first child, Sheryl visited many preschools in the South Bay, only to find that they were overcrowded with high ratios, lacking in curriculum, and dirty.  When she and her husband sat down to discuss what to do, they decided to open up their own early education center, focusing on her concerns as a mother - providing a clean environment where children can grow in all areas of development.  A year later in 1988, Discovery World opened up the doors to its first school in Palos Verdes Estates.  Discovery World's focus on providing a curriculum with stimulating activities and a clean environment was very successful, and they soon opened a second school in the Miraleste area of Rancho Palos Verdes.  Without much notice, the school district ended their leases in 2000, and Discovery World quickly had to find a location.  After three years in Lomita, an excellent opportunity opened up in the Promenade on the Peninsula Shopping Mall, and Discovery World worked hard to design and construct a brand new facility centered around the needs of the children and concerns of the parents.  As a result, the current location is a brand new, state of the art, clean, and stimulating facility that enables Discovery World to exceed the highest standards of quality in nurturing care and high quality early education.

For more information about giving your child these valuable experiences and a head start in academics; click here.