Philosophy:

Children learn best when their self-image is enhanced through play and planned group experiences in a supportive atmosphere.  They need patient and understanding adults who encourage them to try new things and to do their best.  Rules and guidelines help to create a secure and positive learning experience.

Why Our Emphasis on Play:

It is our goal to provide a safe environment where each child has the opportunity to learn.  Children need clear structure within which they can make choices.  They need stimulating opportunities to entice them to take these steps, and support and guidance to assist in making good decisions.  Children can learn to be responsible for their behaviour and thus learn self-discipline.  A child displaying inappropriate behaviour will be re-directed, with an opportunity to try again later.  Children will have their rights respected as they learn to respect others.  With this basic social structure in place, children can learn through play.

Through play, children learn about themselves and about others.  They learn to think, make decisions, discriminate, analyze, imagine, and formulate ideas.  They learn how to create and share.  They learn how to learn.  This feeling of self-confidence will begin a quest for learning that will be self-perpetuating.

Children must also learn to accept routine and order in a warm and consistent environment.  Specific skills in language, mathematics, science, art, and physical education can be acquired by children who are ready to learn.

Family/School Partnership

A supportive partnership between the family and the school will ensure the best possible experience for each child.  We encourage parents and children to visit the school before registration.  All aspects of the programme are discussed with the parents.  Our teaching philosophy and methods are explained in detail.  The adjustment of the child is observed and plans are made t facilitate a smooth transition to school.

The following opportunities for communication are provided:

1. An individual interview at registration, including a classroom visit
2. Written material outlining our programme, philosophy, policies, and goals
3. A communication board, including our monthly programme.
4. An evening Open House with programme information and parent/teacher interview time
5. Newsletters regarding special events or for information-gathering
6. An invitation to parents to share with our classes their special talents or expertise (We have had visits for a veterinarian, a firefighter, a paramedic, among others).
7. An invitation to parents to:

• Share information at arrival or departure
• Call over the noon hour too address individual concerns
• Attend meetings where special concerns arise (eg. Speech Development).
• Develop individual communication strategies where necessary (eg. Communication Books).

Programme Description

From the moment the children arrive, we encourage them to do for themselves, where possible.  The teachers are ready and willing to help when needed.  After saying goodbye to Mom and Dad, the children hang up their bags and coats, then proceed into the room.  The first task is to make a choice: where will they begin?  Making choices is a very important part of our programme.  Children are all different, and come to us with different abilities.  The size of the problem or decision can be adjusted to accommodate the child’s ability and experience.  By beginning this way, we also allow children to start their day in a way that is comfortable for them.  Perhaps they love trucks or baby dolls.  Perhaps they would like to go to the art table where the teacher is, or find a quiet toy or puzzle, or maybe just look around.  However they begin, we do expect a certain amount to be accomplished during this first hour of the programme.  Each child is encouraged to take part in the art programme, science programme, physical education programme, and bathroom routine.  Also available at this time are the trucks and blocks, dress up centre, sand, water or other tactile materials, large toys, table toys and puzzles, puppets and books.  Children choose to go to these activities when they are ready.  The staff make sure that the art, science, physical education and bathroom routines are completed before circle time.  The children flow from centre to centre without group instructions being necessary.  There are no set groups.  This way, the children have the opportunity to get to know all of the other children.

We encourage children to spend time with activities, but only to their individual ability.  We change the activities on a weekly basis, which keeps their interest high.  Children are more likely to stay involved with an activity that is new, or one which they haven’t seen for a while.  Our centres, routines, schedule, and staff are all consistent, giving the children a sense of comfort and familiarity.

Mutual respect is a necessary component of our programme.  When children make choices, they learn that others will respect their decisions.  Sometimes they need guidance in thinking through a problem and making a good choice.  They also need to take responsibility for the toys and for their behaviour.  Putting a toy away is part of completing a task.  Waiting for their turn is part of their responsibility.  Using their own words to express their feelings in social situations is encouraged.  Behaving properly at each activity is expected and necessary, if they are to continue playing in that area.  Inappropriate behaviour is a choice, but leads to redirection to another area, and the inability to return to the problem area until later, or until the next day.

The art programme is especially significant.  Art is an expression of thoughts and feelings, just as language is.  Our art programme is a balance of painting, stringing, cutting, and pasting.  We easel paint and table paint.  We use many different materials and tools for painting.  We do however, always encourage the child’s input.  We don’t necessarily always finish with a lovely product, but when asked, ”Tell me bout your picture”, the child will tell your far more story than you are able to see.  Here, we begin the development of ideas that they will use as part of the creative writing process in school.

The second part of the programme is a group-teaching time.  After a general tidy-up, the children form a large circle on the floor.  We start with juice and cookies, which we provide. Each day one of the children has the special job of being the “cookie person”, who passes the basket of cookies around the circle for us.  This is a social time.  We are eating together, and we expect nice manners, encouraging a thank you from each child.

The teaching circle is planned around our weekly topic.  We share information that we learned earlier at other centres.  We sing songs about the topic and learn more about the topic through our songs.  Many action songs are planned as well as role-play songs.

Here, as in other areas, the teacher’s observation skills are very important.  We want to ask of each child something that is challenging, but not intimidating.  Children are at different levels in different areas of development.  For some, their social skills come more easily than their understanding of math concepts.  For some, group social skills are challenging, but their language development is exceptional.  Whatever their level of development, we try to challenge the children individually.  We want every experience to be positive and successful so that they will want to try again.  We have many songs that we can adapt to help children progress in this area.

 

Each day we learn a new French word that relates to the topic we are studying.  A special “weather person” helps us record the weather.  We look at the calendar as well, learning about the months of the year, and the days of the week.  The concept of time is a difficult one, but with many repetitions, it begins to make sense.  We also sing a goodbye song when we go home and sing about the day that we will come back to school.  They soon learn what days of the week are school days.

The play period after circle time is math and language oriented. While the children are singing in the circle, the activities and centres are changed.  These activities include visual discrimination, sorting, matching, sequencing tasks, and listening centre, among others.  Children again are free to choose activities that appeal to them.  Some will prefer to sit at a table with a toy, some may prefer paper and pencil tasks, while others may need to play on the floor or do other activities that allow them to move around.  We provide a variety of activities accommodating these different learning styles, but all have a math and language component.  Teachers are available for individual help or group activities. 

We finish each day with story time.  Two teachers read the stories.  This is the one time that teachers assign the children to a group.  Children vary in their ability to sit through a story.  The children who can deal with more language will have a longer story, while the others enjoy a picture book or puppet story.

The last task each day is to prepare for home.  The children will be dressed in their outside clothes, with their artwork in their bags, when we open the door for dismissal.

Positive self-esteem comes from making decisions and having others respect those decisions.  It comes from expressing ideas through art and language and sharing those ideas with others who are interested.  It also comes from discovering that you are a unique and interesting person, and that you know how to learn.  Positive self-esteem is the most valuable asset a child can have entering school, and is a very positive indicator of academic success ahead.