Welcome to our Daycare
Entering Daycare is an exciting time for every child. Moving from the home environment to the Daycare environment is a rite of passage. Both parents and teachers want this transition to be as smooth as possible. The teachers welcome the children into the program and gently introduces them to the Daycare environment. Orientations help everyone feel at ease. The children are given time to become acquainted with each other and with classroom activities and materials. Gradually, children gain a sense of belonging because they know the routines and Daycare layout.
What are young children like?
Young children are developing socially, physically, intellectually, creatively, and emotionally. All these areas are related to and dependent on one another. Early childhood is a time of rapid intellectual growth and development. The development of the intellect is influenced by social, physical, creative, and emotional growth. Our Daycare program provides learning experiences that meet the developmental needs of all children. Children move through similar stages, but with their own pattern and at their own rate of development and learning. When children enter the Daycare program, there may be as much as a year's difference in age between the oldest and the youngest.
The following descriptions of developmental characteristics are typical of most children in Daycare.
Social Development
Daycare children are becoming more socially oriented and are making friends with children of their own age, although these friendships may change frequently. They are learning to share, cooperate and play in groups. They are increasing their awareness of a variety of social behaviors and situations, such as being friends, taking turns, being fair, and having conflicts. Adults, especially family, are still very important; their support and approval help children adjust to unfamiliar situations.
Physical Development
Children are moving into a time of slower growth after the rapid growth of the early years. They have better control of their large muscles than of their small muscles and continue to develop abilities, such as running, hopping, climbing, balancing, and jumping. They may have some difficulty with small materials, such as writing tools, scissors, and shoelaces. They are increasing their ability to control and coordinate movements, such as throwing, kicking, and catching a ball. They are learning to use all of their senses, but their vision and hearing are not yet fully developed.
Intellectual Development
Our children are gaining knowledge of objects, relationships, and events in their immediate experience by doing, observing, imitating, and exploring. They are developing fundamental thinking skills related to their direct experiences, but their reasoning, memory, and problem-solving skills are still limited. They are beginning to plan and think ahead but often think and act in the here-and-now. They still view things mainly from their own perspective but are becoming more able to understand the views of others. They are developing the ability to pay attention for longer periods of time, and their memory is increasing. Young children's hearing and speaking vocabularies increase rapidly, and they love to talk. They develop their ability to stay on topic, take turns and tell stories. They ask many questions about the world around them. They experiment with the sounds of language and begin to express their ideas in pictures and writing. They develop a "sense of story" through listening, reading, and viewing.
Creative Development
Children want to express their personal ideas and feelings, and they need people to listen and respond to them. They explore, experiment, and create, using a variety of materials. Their work becomes more detailed, and they talk about what they have created. They often take part—spontaneously and imaginatively—in music, dancing, and movement. In dramatic play, young children experiment with different roles and discover new solutions to problems. The process of creating is often more important to them than the end product.
What do children learn in Daycare?
Early childhood is a significant period in human development. It is the time when children begin to develop independence, initiative, decision-making ability, creativity, early literacy, and numeracy skills, the ability to learn, the ability to relate to others, verbal communication skills, and feelings of self-worth! What young children learn at this stage will have a major impact on successful learning experiences in school, on personal development, and on future participation in society. Young children begin all this important learning in a variety of environments—in their homes, in daycare programs, and in the community.
The Daycare Program Statement describes clear expectations in seven learning areas:
• Early Literacy
• Early Numeracy
• Citizenship and Identity
• Environment and Community Awareness
• Personal and Social Responsibility
• Physical Skills and Well-being
• Creative Expression. The learning areas focus on the early learnings in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, health, and the fine arts. Early learning in information and communication technology is included in instructional activities.
Early Literacy Language is the basis of all communication. Language learning is an active process that begins at birth and continues throughout life. Children learn the language as they use it to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and experiences; establish relationships with family members and friends, and strive to make sense and order of their world.
Early literacy focuses on children being actively engaged in acquiring language and constructing their own understandings of how oral and written language works. They experiment with these understandings, testing them in verbal interactions with their peers, parents, and other adults
They share stories, using rhymes, rhythms, symbols, pictures, and drama to celebrate individual and class accomplishments. Children draw, record, and tell about their own ideas and experiences and participate in class and group language activities. Children begin to use language prediction skills when stories are read aloud and to ask questions and make comments during listening, viewing, and reading activities.
Children categorize objects and pictures, and represent and share ideas and information about topics of interest. They form recognizable letters.
Early Numeracy Children are curious, active learners who have individual interests, abilities, and needs.
Early mathematical thinking is intuitive and constructivist in nature and develops as children experience the world around them.
In our Daycare, children explore numbers, patterns, shapes, and spaces, by working with appropriate materials, tools and contexts. They count and compare objects. They identify and create patterns.
Citizenship and identity focus on the development of a strong sense of identity, self-esteem, and belonging by Daycare children. In Daycare, children will explore who they are in relation to others in their world. They will be given opportunities to become aware of who they are as unique individuals and to express themselves by sharing their personal stories. Students will discover how they are connected to other people and to their communities and will be encouraged to express interest, sensitivity, and responsibility in their interactions with others.
Children explore familiar places and things in the environment and community. They role-play familiar home and community situations and activities. They identify familiar shapes, symbols, and sounds and recognize seasonal changes in their environment and community. They recognize familiar animals in their surroundings.
It takes time to develop personal and social skills. This development occurs at different rates as a result of each child's experiences. In our Daycare program, children begin to develop and practice skills that they will continue to enhance throughout their lives. By participating actively in learning tasks, trying new things, and taking risks, children begin to see themselves as capable of learning. Children of this age are curious and are learning to adapt to new situations. They begin to accept rules and deal with routines in their daycare environment. They become more independent. Kindergarten helps children learn how to work and play with others.
Most children are not used to being in a room with many other children of the same age and sharing the attention of only one or two adults. This requires the development of many social skills. With us, children learn much about friendship, cooperation, and appropriate behavior. Children need to learn to express their feelings in socially acceptable ways and show respect and a positive caring attitude toward others. They do so by taking turns in activities and discussions, working cooperatively, giving and receiving help, and taking part in small and large group activities.
Early childhood is the time to begin the development of active, healthy lifestyles. Children need assistance to develop the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes that lead to continual involvement in physical activity. Health and life skills involve learning about the habits, behaviors, interactions, and decisions related to healthy daily living and well-being.
Through movement, games, and activities, using such equipment as balls, bean bags, and hoops, children develop coordinated movement, balance, and stability. Their fine motor skills also improve. They learn to hold a writing implement and control its movements. Eye-hand coordination increases as children work with small materials, such as buttons, cubes, blocks, and beads.
Children explore and express their thoughts and feelings through visual arts, music, drama, and movement. They become aware of their own imagination and creativity and that of others as they interact with a variety of materials and respond to various forms of expression. They begin to develop an appreciation of the fine arts, as they become aware of why and how ideas and feelings are communicated in many ways. By viewing and responding to natural forms, everyday objects, and artworks they begin to learn about how we see and interpret visual images.
Children express themselves through movement and individual and group musical activities, songs, and games. They listen to and begin to appreciate a variety of musical instruments and different kinds of music. Through dramatic play and movement, children grow in self-awareness and self-confidence and develop their imaginative and creative thought. Children use past experiences to develop new ideas. They experiment with using familiar materials in new ways and choose media, tools, and materials to represent their ideas and experiences. They begin to connect their own experiences with forms of artistic expression in the world around them.
How do young children learn?
Young children see the world differently than older students and adults, and they learn best through direct, sensory experience. They need to manipulate, explore and experiment with real objects. They learn by doing, moving, and talking. Young children are naturally curious and eager to learn. They are active learners who learn through a variety of means. Purposeful play is an important way that children learn.
As children play, they are clarifying information, integrating ideas from previous experiences, and exploring and experimenting with their environment. Play gives children opportunities to add to their knowledge, learn new skills and practice familiar ones. Through play, children learn to deal with their feelings, interact with others and resolve conflicts. They develop their imagination, creativity, and ability to solve problems. Play is a valuable and important way for children to develop.
