Iman Early Learning Center

Iman’s Early Learning Institute purposeful learning in harmony with your child’s natural development. Most behavioral patterns and learned habits are established before a child is six years old. When it’s time for your child to first venture forth, come visit Iman’s.

Our program was developed in response to a clear need for early childhood teacher training that reflected the highest international standards and was adapted to the Jordanian cultural context. Based on the text “Working with Young Children,” by Dr. Judy Herr of the University of Wisconsin-Stout, our program’s design and content is a joint effort between our IELC team and two experts from the United States, Dr. Karen Zimmerman, an expert on adult learning, and Dr. Herr, an authority on early childhood.

Our team adapted the text to the Middle Eastern context and translated it into Arabic. Along the way, we consulted regularly with our colleagues in the U.S. to ensure that all changes were not only culturally appropriate but also developmentally so. The resulting text was then pilot tested with 100 teachers in five different locations in Jordan, ensuring exposure to all sectors of the Jordanian community.

Since that time, our trainings have been delivered to almost 500 teachers at early childhood centers across the Middle East, including in Jordan, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. The teachers at Iman’s Early Learning Center, one of Jordan’s premiere early childhood centers, receive regular trainings each year and consistently rate this program as key to their professional development and success. In addition, our training has been implemented for teachers at the Jordan Ministry of Education, the Greater Amman Municipality, and the Amman Academy School, Ahliyyeh School for Girls - KG Teachers, among others.

At Iman’s Early Learning Institute, we believe that early childhood education provides a lifelong benefit to children and families by enhancing children’s learning during a critical period in their development. We also know that these benefits can only be achieved if early childhood programs are delivered by well-trained, high-quality educators. We train Jordanian and other Middle Eastern early childhood teachers to follow effective, proven strategies for enhancing children’s development in a safe and supportive environment. Our training is based on the most current knowledge of child development and classroom teaching, and our trainers have studied with internationally recognized early childhood professionals.

Iman’s Early Learning Center (IELC) is child-centered and life-oriented. We believe that the purpose of early childhood education is to help children learn to be at ease with themselves and others, to master and express their feelings, to love life, and to experience the richness and joy of learning. IELC fosters children’s academic and emotional competence and sets the foundation for their life’s journey. Together with parents, IELC staff works to provide a positive and supportive learning environment where each child is respected, safe, and nurtured. The IELC community gently and purposefully encourages each child to grow – physically, personally, socially, emotionally, cognitively, creatively, and morally – in harmony with the child’s own natural development and the world around him. Drawing upon a wealth of knowledge, professional staff selects and uses the best strategies that researchers and educators have established for early childhood education. The overall aim at IELC is to lay the foundation for Jordanian children to become successful adults and citizens in the world. Our program and activities reflect Jordan’s society and culture, while maintaining the highest international standards. IELC meaningfully empowers children, provides learning experiences, awakens curiosity, develops abilities and talents, and serves as a bridge point from home and into a learning experience for the future.

IELC student programs are planned to develop children's gross and fine motor skills in indoor and outdoor activities. Learning to control and balance their bodies is an important part of muscle and neurological development. Students also learn to use each of their senses, and to discriminate by taste, smell, and sound. Field trips to explore nature offer students a variety of firsthand experiences to complement their learning from books and media.

Being attune with one’s own emotions and being able to express one’s needs and vocalize responses are important aspects of being a young child – and a mature adult. To foster good personal behaviors, IELC helps students learn self-help skills such as using the toilet independently, acting independently, and putting their playthings away. We promote each child’s self-esteem and positive self-image. Students learn to be positively assertive and to express satisfaction for their own accomplishments and benchmarks.

Successful human interaction linked to behavioral norms marks the harmony of one’s place within society and the environment. IELC students are encouraged to interact with their fellow students and to respect the feelings and emotions of others in the wider context. The place of man in the cycle of nature is also stressed, with an emphasis on environmental education, while responsibility of self is also seen as key in respecting the study area and the property of others.