Curriculum
Having a proper curriculum in place for childcare and in preschool is paramount to their learning and development. A preschool curriculum covers a broad range of subjects including academic, social, physical and emotional development. What your child will learn will also be largely down to the childcare centre. They attend and what teaching practices, methods and philosophies the preschool follows.
Creative Arts:
Creative play and activities have a central role in a child’s overall learning and development. It is during these early years that a child’s imagination is rapidly increasing. Creative arts are activities that actively engage children’s imagination through art, dance, dramatic play, puppetry and music. These activities stimulate all areas of the brain including vision, balance, hearing speech, behaviour, sensation, cognition, movement and emotion.
At Kids Castle we encourage and support children in their creative arts and give them the tools they need to express themselves without the fear of failing all while practising the following important skills:
- Fostering creativity
- Expressing feelings and learning
- Communication skills
- Developing, practising and improving coordination and motor skills
- Trying out problem-solving and thinking skills
- Socialising with peers
Environment:
Everything around us is connected to nature. At Kids Castle we value that nature inspires, refreshes and nurtures us. When experiences with nature are embedded in the curriculum and daily routine, children benefit physically, emotionally and intellectually. Our outdoor environment offers many areas where children can investigate and share a sense of wonder as they enjoy plants, gardens, natural rocker and sandpit areas. We pride our services on using sustainable practices as we discover new ways of caring for our environment as a team. Our children own and care for our gardens and are involved in implementing our sustainable practices.
Literacy:
Literacy is most commonly thought of as reading and writing but it is so much more than that. It is the ability to speak, listen, understand, follow instructions, form symbols and draw. It becomes the foundation for many aspects of our lives from doing well in schooling to socialising with others, developing independence to communicating our needs. The earlier we start building this foundation the stronger each child’s literacy skills will become.
At Kids Castle our children are immersed in literacy every day through stories, puppet shows, songs, rhyming games, listening activities, drawing and writing activities and are learning many skills including:
- Learning the rules of language including turn-taking in conversations and maintaining eye contact
- Increasing vocabulary
- Learning how a book works including reading from left to right, front to back
- Recognition of letters and sounds
- Articulation of sounds and words
- Writing letters and words
- Comprehension skills including retelling a familiar story
- Singing familiar songs and nursery rhymes
- Recognising and beginning to read familiar logos and signs in the environment (e.g. McDonald’s, restroom, hospital)
- Recognising and reading familiar words (name on cubby, personal information, lunch menu)
Technology:
Kids Castle values the role of technology in our community and early childhood education. Our service offers a range of multimedia tools and educational resources that are embedded in our learning program and enable the children to learn the essential skills required in everyday life. The relationship between technology and education has strengthened as the years go by and more technological advances are developed and introduced into the early childhood sector. Interactive projectors and computers are used to offer a variety of different learning experiences from yoga and dancing to stories and picture drawing.
School Readiness:
Starting “big school” can be a little daunting for both parents and their children. At Kids Castle we understand this and aim to make the transition a little bit easier on everyone. School readiness activities are the foundation of our program and begin from the day you start at our service, beginning with social skills and working towards writing and reading skills. Some of the activities may include number and maths games, name writing, reading and phonics, sequencing, scissor skills and turn-taking games.
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