Cognitive Development:
Children are facilitated in their cognitive development and encouraged in their love of learning. We work to enrich and extend children’s acquisition and use of language and other thought processes as children come to a greater understanding of the world around them. Children are daily read to from quality children’s literature to enable them to expand their vocabulary base and develop a love of the written word. The Animated Literacy curriculum and Handwriting Without Tears curriculum support what we do in the classroom as we enhance the children’s listening, speaking, and pre-reading skills development.
We strive to expand each child’s experience beyond the four walls of their home and take their first small steps out into a multicultural neighbourhood. Since English is the one language where each class member has exposure, as a community we will expand our shared vocabulary. Children may be in the role of both learner and teacher as they communicate with each other during our 2.75 hour class time. Children in this age range learn a second language by hearing it and speaking it, just as they learned their first language. We are all English language learners in the classroom, starting at different levels of capability. Some may know a few English words, others are fluent and growing their vocabulary, and still others are beginning to sight read words in their environment. We provide opportunities for all to progress, as well as facilitating phonemic awareness, letter recognition, and phonics. For children with more than one language, our goal is not to replace their first language, which would be detrimental to their family connection, but to enhance educational experience by facilitating learning English as a second language and preparing each child for kindergarten.
Children are nurtured in the development of pre-math skills and introduced to a range of science topics. Children are exposed to basic geometric shapes, ordering, number recognition and number value concepts. Whether it be experimenting with gravity and structure through playing with various types of blocks or mixing color at the paint easel or water table, children learn by pushing, pulling and experiencing their world through enquiry-based learning.