Each child needs program designed to help him achieve his maximum potential.

respect The Kindergarten Program as the open document to provide specific expectations for children’s learning in Kindergarten.

The document outlines the educational policies that shape education for all children in Kindergarten as well as the expectations for these children – the knowledge and skills that children should develop by the end of Kindergarten. These, along with the positive attitudes to learning that children develop in these early years, form the basis of effective learning in the later years of school.

Teachers will adapt programs for children with special needs. If necessary they will discuss appropriate adaptations with parents, and make sure that parents understand how these adaptations may affect the assessment and evaluation of the child’s achievement.

Parents should also share with teachers any special adjustments and arrangements that have been helpful for their children in the past.

Teachers, early childhood educators, members of the community, and families must work together to provide constructive and consistent learning experiences that will build childs’ confidence, encourage them to continue to see learning as both enjoyable and useful, and provide a strong foundation for their future intellectual, physical, and social development.

Children’s early learning experiences have a profound effect on their development. In Kindergarten, children’s receptivity to new influences and capacity to learn are at their peak. During this period, they acquire a variety of important skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will affect their ability to learn, their personal development, their relationships with others, and their future participation in society.

Young children today begin to develop their skills, knowledge, and attitudes in a variety of environments – in their homes, in childcare and community settings, and in Kindergarten programs. Positive early experiences with school are of paramount importance to young children.

The learning we do in BABYLAND provides the basis for the acquisition of literacy skills (including technological and computer literacy), mathematics skills, and science skills, and prepares them for successful learning experiences in later grades.

Learning opportunities must promote the growth of childrens’ reasoning, creative thinking, and inquiry skills. Experiences that require problem solving and critical thinking are central to the development of these skills, as are hands-on experiences with concrete materials, which prepare children for learning abstract concepts. Planned activities should enable and encourage children to explore, create, question, predict, attempt, analyse, and reflect.

In each child, the intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and creative dimensions are interrelated. In order to address all dimensions of the child, the Kindergarten program will also include opportunities for self-expression and self-discovery through music, drama, and language activities, as well as for co-operative activities with peers.

Young children learn best through activities that are relevant to their lives and varied enough to be stimulating. Learning opportunities should build upon children’s past experiences and the learning they have already acquired, and should be planned to accommodate the children’s changing needs, interests, and circumstances, as well as the exploration of significant occurrences in their lives.

Integrated Learning

Children grasp ideas more easily and more effectively and maintain their interest in school when they have an educational program that is integrated – one that enables them to connect their learning to their own lives and the world around them, and that helps them to see how knowledge and skills in one area are relevant for other areas. Kindergarten programs should emphasize the interconnected learning that occurs when children are exposed to real-life situations and activities in the classroom, home, school, and neighbourhood.

Learning Through Inquiry

Most young children are naturally curious and ask many questions about the things that catch their attention. Kindergarten programs should capitalize on this natural desire to learn and absorb information. Young children should have many opportunities to manipulate materials, to observe, listen, investigate, experiment, and ask questions, as well as draw conclusions. To encourage children to make full use of opportunities for inquiry and experimentation, the learning environment needs to be safe, secure, and inviting.

As children pursue their inquiries, teachers need to help them make connections between what they already know and what they are discovering and learning.

Learning Through Play

It has long been acknowledged that there is a strong link between play and learning for young children, especially in the areas of problem solving, literacy, and social skills. Play, therefore, has a legitimate and important role to play in Kindergarten and can be used to further children’s learning in all areas of the Kindergarten program.

Play provides opportunities for learning in a context in which children are at their most receptive. During play with others and with materials and equipment in their environment, children become immersed in activities through which they learn about themselves and explore their world.