At our preschool/kindergarten, children learn to develop positive learning habits through play-based learning that is designed to promote creativity and critical thinking. Children are encouraged to learn through exploration and experimentation while also introducing children to the more formal learning approach they will experience in school.

Play and learning go hand in hand and allow each child to develop at their own rate.

 

Our 4YO kinder program includes:

• Individual and Whole Group Learning program

• Partnerships with families

• Small and large group experiences.

• Group discussions.

• Periods of uninterrupted play

• Borrowing Library

• Partnerships with local schools

• Focus on Community and Environmental awareness.

• Incursions to extend children's interests and support children’s wellbeing and safety

 

THE POWER OF PLAY

Evidence-based research shows that pre-schoolers learn best through play, so learning is woven into every experience they participate in, through both structured and unstructured learning. With play-based learning, every day includes consistent learning opportunities that are a balance of guided spontaneous play and adult led learning. These experiences are deliberately planned in response to the child’s knowledge and experiences to challenge and support higher level thinking skills. Children have the opportunity to lead their learning through exploring, imagining, experimenting, investigating and being creative in ways that they control and is fun at the same time.

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Learning and development occurs as the children are engaged in their play at a wide range of experiences. While playing alongside others, your child is learning complex social and emotional skills – taking turns, sharing ideas, expressing needs and feelings, coping with disappointment and success, and making sense of the world by acting out experiences. They will develop the abilities to make choices, think, reason, solve problems, ask questions, explore and create in order to understand. In all of these experiences your child is strengthening and extending their understanding and use of language. They are listening, communicating, expanding and developing vocabulary and sentence structure.

 

DEVELOPING IMPORTANT SKILLS

Communication, collaboration, conflict resolution and respecting others’ rights are very important skills, not just for now or school, but also for life. Research shows that successful learning is closely linked to the ability to display confident social skills. In all of these experiences we place strong emphasis on building a strong positive self esteem. Each child’s ideas are valued and respected. We encourage them to express themselves and take responsibility for their own work and ideas. A child who feels good about themselves is not afraid to make mistakes or have a go at something new, different, or challenging.

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Our emphasis is on process – the process of choosing, handling, shaping and manipulating materials, discovering, creating, persevering and completing. We want children to adapt to situations when things don’t go as planned and we want them to experience satisfaction in what they have accomplished. We encourage children to try a range of experiences and develop confidence in areas they may not readily choose.

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The benefits of combining play and learning include:

• Supporting growth of communication and oral language skills

• Developing early literacy and numeracy awareness.

• Boosting confidence and social skills.

• Encouraging children’s curiosity to learn and explore.

• Supporting a successful transition to school

• Nurturing children’s emotional skills.

• Supporting children’s creativity and imagination

 

A complete copy of the “Victorian Early Years Learning and Development framework”, can be read on the Dept. Education and Training (DET) website.

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We hope this will assist you in understanding the wide range of skills and development we aim to foster within each child through our program and the support we provide to each individual child to help them learn and develop at their own individual rate and in their own individual way.