LEARNING
What We Do
LEARNING PROGRAMS TO accomplish to their fullest potential
We are inspired by many educational philosophies and theories, including the Reggio Emilia approach and view children as strong, capable and resilient. We strive to nurture their unique perspectives and support their ability for complex thinking.
Bush Kinder
Bush Kinder our preschool classes enjoy spending time exploring the natural environment within our local community through weekly visits to the reserve near our centre. During these visit the children are encouraged to observe nature, enjoy being in an outdoor environment and develop a sense of belonging within their community. Bush Kinder programs have been found to increase children’s wellbeing and support their social, emotional, cognitive and physical development. We have found that our Bush Kinder program has helped our preschool children develop their respect for the environment and develop their understanding of and respect for shared spaces within their community.
Incursions
Our programs include a range of incursions throughout the year. We have visitors that cover topics including; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture, science, sustainability, animals, child protection and safety.
We also plan incursion that link with current interests and projects as these interests develop, ensuring that they are meaningful and timely.
Connecting With Our Community
We believe in having reciprocal relationships with our community. We enjoy relationships with a number of local businesses, organisations and groups and these relationships are an invaluable part of our program and contribute to the learning and development opportunities we provide our children.
Soccer
Our preschool children are offered the opportunity to take part in soccer coaching with Socca Joeys. Socca Joeys is a weekly program and we utilise the sporting fields across the road from the centre during this time.
For those preschool children, who are not interested in soccer also visit the sporting fields during this time each week and take part in games and activities that develop their Fundamental Movement Skills.
preschool program
All children, who attend Sunshine Kids during the year prior to commencing school, take part in our preschool program to help them develop useful skills for staring school. The preschool program is not a separate part of our daily routine, rather woven through all aspects of our day enabling us to constantly support the development of these important skills. Our aim is to support children to become confident and capable learners so that they are ready for the next stage of their education. Our educational program is project based, linking with the Reggio Emilia philosophy and is designed to use the children’s’ interests to create learning opportunities that encompass all areas of development. A recent project completed in our preschool room was the designing and building of a working ocean cleaning machine. This project encompassed all areas of learning and development and was entirely the children’s own vision. We believe in supporting children to become active learners who ask questions, hypothesis and begin to develop the skills needed to become lifelong learners.
Social, emotional and self-help skills are important aspects of being ready for primary school and are also interwoven throughout the day. Opportunities to support these developmental areas include: group times, choice at meal times, group negotiations during projects and play.
We liaise closely with local primary schools to ensure that our program is in line with their expectations for children commencing Kindergarten.
During the preschool year, we offer families the opportunity to take part in information evenings and events that will help them work alongside us to prepare their child for school and we support children and their families to create links with others who will be attending the same primary school.
We complete the Transition to School Statement for all children commencing school the following year, this allows us and families to share individualised information about each child with the school they will be attending, creating a smoother transition.
Atelier
At Sunshine Kids, we have an atelier, this dedicated space within the centre offers children materials and experiences for expression, exploration of artistic processes and to introduce them to new aesthetic dimensions. The atelier is operated by an early childhood trained artist who offers experiences that link to children’s interests and current explorations.
