Early Learning Curriculum
A day in Early Learning is enriched with new experiences and opportunities for both challenge and success. The goal of our program is to provide a happy, safe, and stimulating environment where each child feels welcome and secure. Children are encouraged to take initiative, challenge themselves and discover their own remarkably creative selves.
The curriculum is made up of the following areas:
Personal, Social, and Emotional Development
In Early Learning we spend a lot of time working on each child’s personal, social and emotional development. The aim is to:
- Develop a positive sense of self
- Form positive relationships
- Learn to respect others
- Develop confidence
- Learning to handle unfamiliar situations
- Manage own feelings
- Understanding appropriate group behaviour
- Develop self-help skills such as unaided dressing and undressing
Physical Development
A small child’s physical development is very important, and our staff provide many opportunities for the children to be active and interactive. There are plenty of planned learning experiences that help them develop their coordination, balance, control and movement. They are taught to understand the importance of life-long physical activity, as part of a person’s all-round wellbeing, along with making healthy food choices, and keeping safe and healthy.
Language Development
In Early Learning, children are encouraged to link sounds and letters together, helping them take the first steps towards reading and writing. All children develop at their own pace and so the staff are careful to ensure that those who are ready for reading and writing at an early age are given every opportunity to develop these important skills. Other children who need more time to grasp the foundations of reading and who need to spend longer mastering the basics are given time, support and lots of encouragement to succeed.
Cognitive Development
Helping children to make sense of their physical world and their community through the opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment is a key aspect of learning for young children. The staff plan the curriculum to include a range of exciting topics that fire up children’s natural curiosity, interest and imagination.
Children enjoy solving problems and the learning we invite them to take part in. There are many opportunities to develop and improve their thinking and reasoning skills. This is done through counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems, identifying shapes and calculating spaces and measurements in a very practical and visual way.
Creative Development
Exploring and playing with a range of media and materials is a wonderful way for young children to discover their artistic flair. This area of the curriculum provides children with opportunities to share their own ideas, thoughts and feelings, through exciting activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play and design and technology.