Kinder Program Ages 4-5

We value and are influenced by the inherent interests of the children and their most innate inclination, which is play. It is our belief that children learn through play. It is through these experiences that they will grow and develop. Working on this belief, our Early Childhood Educators enhance children’s experiences and learning on a daily basis through careful observation, collaboration, planning, documentation and sharing of information.

We use our center values that guide us in our work with children. We provide a caring environment to our Kinders, giving different learning opportunities to each child as we respond to their learning styles. We understand that each of these groups of children have different learning styles and may require adaptations to our programming.

To assist us in our work, our Early Childhood Educators focus on building relationships, the environment and planned experiences.

Diversity and Inclusion

We at Stanley Knowles Children’s Centre strongly believe that our centre should be a reflection of the diverse country we live in. Children, families, and staff should be able to see pieces of themselves in our environment and our programming. The families at our Centre come from many different backgrounds and reflect a wide variety of cultures, languages, lifestyles, and life experiences. We continuously work to educate one another and provide experiences that will help children celebrate and appreciate the similarities and differences of their peers. Our intention is to provide an environment where children feel seen and accepted for who they are and what they look like. We encourage families to be open in sharing traditions and cultural practices that are important to them. By embracing one another the bond between families, children, and educators are strengthened.

Inclusion Policy: All children and their families are welcome at SKCC regardless of ability, need, background, religion, gender, or economic circumstances. We aim to provide an inclusive environment in which all feel a sense of security and belonging and where our differences can be shared and celebrated. We work together with parents/guardians and professionals to create developmentally appropriate goals for children with additional support needs. An inclusion Specialist is on staff to provide support and knowledge to both staff and families. We welcome all families to share their way of life with us and we value the authentic exposure to diversity that this provides for our centre.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

We understand that building positive relationship between the children, early childhood educators, and their families is very important. The center is the children’s home away from home so we make sure that we develop good communication and trust as we get to know the children and their families.

Our early childhood educators create a warm and caring environment as we build relationships with the children. We are very responsive to children’s needs and very observant to their learning styles. Our early childhood educators interacts with children during play opportunities as we carefully take note and get to know the children’s interests and needs, by engaging in questions that open discussions and help them enhance their cognitive and problem-solving skills. Our early childhood educators are good role models for the children.

We ensure open communication with parents. We take every opportunity to talk with families about their child’s day in the center and other information that are essential for the families to know. Through observation of children and documenting play experiences, our early childhood educators will share reflective documentations in learning stories, notes, and documentation board displays which are all readily available for the families. We believe that we can be more effective with our goal in helping each child’s development when we have great partnerships with families.

ENVIRONMENT

Our program uses the Thinking Lens approach to provide reflective teaching methods, as a way to closely observe, document and plan meaningful experiences. This approach allows us to set up materials to investigate and invite each child to explore at their own individual pace. Indoor and outdoor play spaces are kept current and interesting, there is always something new to explore and learn about. Materials consist of loose parts, natural materials and STEAM – (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) to promote spontaneous play opportunities among children, promoting thinking skills, independence and continuous learning for all.

Outdoor space is very important for us and we encourage children to spend as much time as possible enjoying and exploring nature.

PLANNED EXPERIENCES

We reflect on our values, examine the environment, focus on the child’s interests and strengths, collaboration among our early childhood educators and families, and develop new opportunities for learning. The center implements Emergent Curriculum where our early childhood educators are guided by the children’s interests. All early childhood educators are trained to carefully observe and reflect on children’s ideas and build on their curiosity. This helps us to create meaningful spontaneous learning opportunities. Our early childhood educators provides invitations to learning, observe the children, and develop play experiences based on their reflections and on what they have observed.

We support different experiences by providing flexible routines and transitions that will help in the children’s learning and development. Schedules for the day are merely guidelines since the Kinder schedule is being determined by their interests and may be adjusted to best suit the children themselves. With regards to transitions, we make sure that every minute is a learning opportunity and so we make sure that there are no idle times by playing games and singing songs, making every moment a special one.

Our early childhood educators and children go for regular walks in the neighborhood and trips to different parks. Here is where children can be exposed and learn about their community, safety and the environment, while enhancing their physical development through walking, running, balance among others. Our center strives to create a home away from home while focusing on each child’s holistic development as they explore and grow. Our early childhood educators provides experiences, for children to enhance skills in arts, science, mathematics, language, and motor, opportunities for the children to interact with one another as they improve their emotional and social skills throughout their day.

Our center values guide us in our work as we observe and document children in their environment. We set up invitations to play ensuring that it represents children’s developing interests. We make our learning areas accessible to everyone because we believe that children learn at their own pace. With regards to our indoor and outdoor spaces we make sure that there will always be something new to explore and learn.

As a Kinder Program we believe that children learn most through play and exploration, so we make every learning opportunity very interactive. We plan and implement a developmentally appropriate curriculum that responds to the needs and interests of the children focusing on the advancement of every child in all areas of development.