YOUNG NURSERY
The ‘Young Nursery’ level of our centre program is for children who are at least 18 months old by September 1st and the youngest level that we offer for children to attend from three mornings up to five full days per week, independent of their parent.

The absolute priority for this level of ‘schooling’ is to give the child a full sense of SECURITY and SAFETY. This means lots of loving care and individual attention within an environment and daily routine that are consistent and comfortable.

We are firm believers in the concept of the ‘terrific twos’ stage of development: a wonderful period in a child’s life whereby the child is keen to explore EVERYTHING, to assert themselves and their independence, and to truly discover the meaning of ‘me’.

The Young Nursery program is therefore not only ‘comfortable and secure’, but also full of exciting and fun things to do. It is through the appealing presentation of age-appropriate play materials and activities that we provide each child with a sense of belonging and importance, of true adventure mixed with comforting familiarity. This is what a two-turning-three year old needs most of all!

The weekly schedule at the Young Nursery level provides as much play time as possible, with a familiar structure to each day of the week. Teachers present themselves firstly as good playmates for the children, and also spend much time reading stories and rhymes; singing songs; presenting puppet shows and leading daily exercises/dancing, either with individuals or with the group as a whole.

Group times at this level are kept short and are theoretically optional, although our experience is that the ‘action’ usually proves just too exciting to miss out on, so participation is generally 100%! In addition to this, each day brings a variety of other planned classroom activities for the children to explore independently or with support, and also daily time to explore the adventures that are to be found in our playground.

Young Nursery is also the age/stage of development where ‘care routines’ play a significant part in each child’s life: toileting and other bathroom routines; eating and other mealtime behaviors; dressing and undressing skills; and all kinds of other ‘self-help’ skills are being learnt, developed, and explored: the teachers play a hugely important role in guiding each child through these routines and social requirements, at a level of expectation appropriate for the individual child (we do not require children to be toilet-trained to join our centre!).

After an initial ‘settling’ period at the start of the school year, the Young Nursery class also has a weekly opportunity for scheduled time in our Gym and our Art Room, led by their regular classroom teachers – these little ‘adventures’ are a definite highlight for the children and a safe way to explore new surroundings within our centre. Children also have a weekly visit to the centre Library to choose a book to borrow and take home.

As the group develops a sense of unity and togetherness, they will also enjoy some short excursions or walks – often with some parental participation and support. Maybe even a fieldtrip on the school bus towards the end of the school year.