At Greenwood Park Kindergarten we believe that children learn most effectively in a safe, secure and responsive environment. Our approach is facilitated through interactions between the teachers and children and to assist children with their interactions between each other. The teacher’s role model positive social interactions between their peers and children, clearly communicating own feeling to others in a socially acceptable manner.
Learning is a social process. We believe that the children learn through interacting with their environment and with others to enhance their development. The teachers plan experiences that engage the children’s interests as effective learning occurs when context is meaningful and interesting to the children. The kindergarten environment encourages children to be active in their learning by problem solving, taking risks, reflecting upon their learning and participating in higher order thinking.
The children are provided with open ended experiences to enhance their creativity, self expression, imagination and their knowledge of the world around them. We offer children a variety of materials and experiences to foster their creativity.
The program covers all domains of the children’s development this includes fine motor, gross motor, language, social, emotional, cognitive. The children’s needs, wants and interests are closely observed through regular observations. Goals and objectives are developed for each child to support their learning.
Play is vital to the children’s learning. Children learn most effectively through actions rather than instructions. Play is resource for children to construct their own knowledge through touching, manipulating, exploring and testing children find out about themselves and their relationships with others. We provide different size play spaces to encourage individuals, small groups and large groups of children to interact.
Play:
• Enables children to make sense of their world.
• Develop social and cultural understandings.
• Allows children to express their thoughts and feelings.
• Encourages flexible and divergent thinking.
• Provides opportunities to meet and solve real problems.
• Develops language and literacy skills.
• Develops numeracy skills and mathematical concepts.
We believe that children are capable and should be given every opportunity to learn. Inclusion is a right for all children regardless of their diverse needs. The inclusion of children with diverse needs models and promotes acceptance to their peers. Through an inclusive program we emphasis children’s similarities rather than differences. We incorporate a culturally inclusive environment on a daily basis with books, pictures, toys, songs, photos and artifacts.
Greenwood Park Kindergarten values the importance of relationships with children, families, staff, the committee of management and the wider community. We believe relationships are built on mutual trust and respect. For quality interactions to take place educators need to be aware of each family’s values, beliefs and culture as well as their child’s strengths and interests. Open and honest two way communication between the parents and the educators allow for decisions to be made in the best interest of the children. Each person needs to feel that his/her contributions are valued so information is exchanged.
