Curriculum Statement for Preschool
Welcome to Busy Nest Day Care and Kids on the Corner! There are masterpieces on the walls, but no 2 pieces look alike, excited screeches from children as they explore a woven basket of “loose parts” brought out by an ECE, children in the library discussing the colourful pictures in a book, children “creating” at the art table….the children are playing. This play is guided by ECE’s who ask open-ended questions and use teachable moments like bringing out the life cycle puzzles when children see butterflies and caterpillars in the playground to expand their imaginations. The ECE’s also provide support by being close to the children when they play and by using active listening.
Play is an important part of a child’s day because they learn from play. We encourage play based learning at our centres for all age groups by providing space and time for the children to explore the various materials we provide. By observing the children, recording these observations and talking to parents, the ECE’s get to know what they are interested in and supply them with the time and the materials they need to make their play meaningful and positive making the most of learning opportunities. Through play and discovery, along with guidance from the ECEs, they will learn many things: how to interact with their peers and other adults, how to make sense of the world around them, and about the virtues of helpfulness, kindness and respect.
By observing and listening to the children we get to know some of the things they like. Another way we get to know the children in our groups is by talking with them throughout the day during all our routines and play experiences. We greet them every morning when they arrive and build friendly and trusting relationships with them during the time they spend at our centres. We also encourage them to build these same types of relationships with their peers. We have small group sizes at our centres and have many different play areas in the rooms to encourage small group play. We provide support and encouragement to all the children by helping them enter and exit play situations when they need it. Through this they will learn kindness, respect and how to build meaningful relationships.
Talking to parents is an important part of getting to know the families at our centres. We encourage parents to talk to us any time about situations or activities going on. We have a monthly newsletter that goes home with each family and also a whiteboard at the front door where we communicate important dates and information. When we greet the children every morning we also greet their parents. Talking to parents can happen in the mornings or at pick up at the end of the day. Information about the child’s day, including your child’s learning and development, is shared; along with maybe a funny story about some artwork or a kind deed their child did for a friend. This can be done verbally or in the form of a happy gram taped to their locker. If a child is hurt, we fill out an incident report about what happened and it is also attached to their locker.
Another reason for getting to know the families at our centres is to learn about their cultures and traditions. If we know more about the children’s culture’s in our care, we can help the children learn respect for each other, too. We have pictures of people and children of varying races and abilities on the walls or in pictures in books. We also take many trips to the local library (which is right next door!) to learn more about our world or to get information about something a child had an interest in. Some of our toys are in colourful woven baskets and we provide dress up clothes for both genders of different cultures or abilities. Our dolls are of different races and our food is from various cultures. We are located centrally in town so we have the library, fire hall and gas stations all in view from our playground. It’s always exciting to see and hear the fire trucks go out and talk about where they may be going! This is a great opportunity to take out the fire station box and be heroes!
Our rooms provide children with space and material for all kinds of play and learning. We have areas for loud, busy play and areas for quiet, relaxation. Our toys and materials are changed or left out according to the children’s interests and how long they are interested in them, usually weekly. Our daily schedule is predictable, as far as the snack, lunch and outdoor times, but also have the flexibility to change depending on how the day is going. Activities may be planned based on something seasonal or something the children have talked about, but spontaneous trips to the local bakery or a spur of the moment science experiment are always enjoyed, too! As long as the activities are something the children are excited about, play and learning will happen.
We feel that every moment is a time for learning. An argument on the playground can be a time to learn empathy and problem solving, cleaning up toys will teach sorting and helpfulness, creating something at the art table may teach them creativity and having a conversation at the snack table may teach them social development and respect for others.
Play is an important part of a child’s day because they learn from play. We encourage play based learning at our centres for all age groups by providing space and time for the children to explore the various materials we provide. By observing the children, recording these observations and talking to parents, the ECE’s get to know what they are interested in and supply them with the time and the materials they need to make their play meaningful and positive making the most of learning opportunities. Through play and discovery, along with guidance from the ECEs, they will learn many things: how to interact with their peers and other adults, how to make sense of the world around them, and about the virtues of helpfulness, kindness and respect.
By observing and listening to the children we get to know some of the things they like. Another way we get to know the children in our groups is by talking with them throughout the day during all our routines and play experiences. We greet them every morning when they arrive and build friendly and trusting relationships with them during the time they spend at our centres. We also encourage them to build these same types of relationships with their peers. We have small group sizes at our centres and have many different play areas in the rooms to encourage small group play. We provide support and encouragement to all the children by helping them enter and exit play situations when they need it. Through this they will learn kindness, respect and how to build meaningful relationships.
Talking to parents is an important part of getting to know the families at our centres. We encourage parents to talk to us any time about situations or activities going on. We have a monthly newsletter that goes home with each family and also a whiteboard at the front door where we communicate important dates and information. When we greet the children every morning we also greet their parents. Talking to parents can happen in the mornings or at pick up at the end of the day. Information about the child’s day, including your child’s learning and development, is shared; along with maybe a funny story about some artwork or a kind deed their child did for a friend. This can be done verbally or in the form of a happy gram taped to their locker. If a child is hurt, we fill out an incident report about what happened and it is also attached to their locker.
Another reason for getting to know the families at our centres is to learn about their cultures and traditions. If we know more about the children’s culture’s in our care, we can help the children learn respect for each other, too. We have pictures of people and children of varying races and abilities on the walls or in pictures in books. We also take many trips to the local library (which is right next door!) to learn more about our world or to get information about something a child had an interest in. Some of our toys are in colourful woven baskets and we provide dress up clothes for both genders of different cultures or abilities. Our dolls are of different races and our food is from various cultures. We are located centrally in town so we have the library, fire hall and gas stations all in view from our playground. It’s always exciting to see and hear the fire trucks go out and talk about where they may be going! This is a great opportunity to take out the fire station box and be heroes!
Our rooms provide children with space and material for all kinds of play and learning. We have areas for loud, busy play and areas for quiet, relaxation. Our toys and materials are changed or left out according to the children’s interests and how long they are interested in them, usually weekly. Our daily schedule is predictable, as far as the snack, lunch and outdoor times, but also have the flexibility to change depending on how the day is going. Activities may be planned based on something seasonal or something the children have talked about, but spontaneous trips to the local bakery or a spur of the moment science experiment are always enjoyed, too! As long as the activities are something the children are excited about, play and learning will happen.
We feel that every moment is a time for learning. An argument on the playground can be a time to learn empathy and problem solving, cleaning up toys will teach sorting and helpfulness, creating something at the art table may teach them creativity and having a conversation at the snack table may teach them social development and respect for others.