The curriculum for A-Z International Centre for Children has been developed with reference to national curricula from Australia, Britain, Hungary and the USA. The purpose of this Guide is to provide parents with a concise overview of our Centre Curriculum.
The major GOALS of our curriculum are:
- to maximise each child's development in all areas of learning.
- to adapt to reflect current theories of care and education.
- to bring each child to the next step in their development.
- to lead each child smoothly in to their next level of schooling, wherever this may be.
In each classroom the planning will be primarily based on the developmental needs and interests of the particular children within the class. Children are encouraged in all developmental areas. Because every child is unique in her/his needs and abilities, the teachers assess each one individually and set developmental goals specific to each child. This assessment is formally communicated to parents in the form of progress reports which are formally sent out three times a year. Each class has a program that is developed based on the individual needs of members of the class group and the needs of the group as a whole.
At A-Z, each class group integrates their developmental objectives into theme-based topics. These topics are shared with the children in the way of projects that are conducted in smaller groups within the class group as well as the class group as a whole. This allows the children opportunities to learn and develop according to their individual needs and abilities but within the broader framework of a larger class group.
There are 'normal' developmental expectations for children that allow us to plan which experiences to offer, and which issues to prepare for, at each level of our Centre. Each classroom team develops its own program of care with reference to individual child observations, developmental expectations, regularly updated room goals, the Centre Philosophy, Centre Policies, and these Curriculum Guidelines + child and family info.
Academics
All rooms in our Centre aim to promote a child's 'academic' interest and development ('academic' refers to early reading, writing and mathematical skills).
- Each room provides a high level of exposure to various forms of literature (eg books, alphabet posters, stories) and play materials that develop mathematical and other cognitive skills (eg beads, blocks, jigsaws).
- Pre-writing skills will be developed through daily opportunities to draw/paint/paste/manipulate…
- When assessing the appropriate level of 'academic' planning for each child, staff will consider firstly the child's developmental readiness.
- As a child (of any age) shows interest in letter recognition/writing and basic mathematical operations (eg sorting, sequencing, counting…), staff will respond with experiences/games that focus on these skills.
- We teach pre-literacy in all class groups and literacy in our Kindergarten group.
- At our Kindergarten level, consideration will be given to the next stage of a child's schooling. Information will be requested regarding the expectations of the child's next school, in order to help each child to be prepared.
Behaviour Guidance and Management
Children's behaviour is a reaction to their environment. Therefore the first stage of behaviour management is to provide an environment and routine that is safe, secure, and well planned to meet individual needs and maintain children's interests. We actively seek opportunities to acknowledge each child's 'positive' actions, as we believe that this is the most effective way to promote such behaviour. Staff will maintain clear and consistent expectations of, and consequences for, children's behaviour.
When a child behaves 'inappropriately', it is to be considered as a communication of their needs and emotions. Therefore staff will:
- acknowledge (to the child) the child's emotions
- make it clear that it is the behaviour, not the child, that is the problem
- discuss with children alternative ways to communicate their needs and emotions
- redirect the child to alternative experiences IF the child is not able to return to the original situation 'appropriately'.
International and Cultural Awareness
Our Centre has children and families from all over the world - it is therefore imperative that awareness of and respect for other nationalities and cultures is a focus of our program. The diversity within our Centre is acknowledged and CELEBRATED in many ways:
- special celebration days from various cultures are part of our Centre Calendar
- each room will highlight the particular languages/flags/nationalities/cultures of the children in the class
- parents are encouraged to bring food/clothing/artefacts etc of their home country to share with the children
DEVELOPMENTAL FIELDS
Social and Emotional Development
A child's Social/Emotional development is what our Centre considers to be the most important field of a child's development. It relates to a child's personal awareness, self-esteem and sense of autonomy. We consider these to be the most influential factors in a child's 'success' in further schooling and adult life. We actively promote development in this field by:
- maintaining high staff/child ratios
- encouraging child EFFORT
- encouraging 'self-help' skills (e.g. dressing self, cleaning up, helping out…)
- providing experiences that encourage social interactions and require social skills (eg. playdough => sharing; dress ups => co-operative play…)
- modelling respect for others and other positive interpersonal skills
Cognitive Development
Cognitive development relates to the varied mental operations that children are capable of. Our program promotes each child's cognitive development by:
- providing varied play materials specially designed to promote thinking
- asking the child many questions
- encouraging exploratory/experimental play
- including 'scientific' experiences/experiments
- problem solving
Creative/Aesthetic Development
This field of development refers to any form of creative expression/communication used by the child. It includes artistic, physical, verbal and dramatic creativity, which we promote by:
- providing 'multi-purpose' toys (e.g. blocks)
- daily opportunities for 'creative art' experiences (eg drawing/painting/playdough…)
- providing materials that encourage imaginative/dramatic play (e.g. 'dress up clothes')
- opportunities for free movement/creative dance to music
- daily exposure to stories/books
- aesthetic surrounding
Linguistic Development
Linguistic development includes receptive (eg listening, reading) and expressive (e.g. verbal, written) language skills. It can be observed in almost everything that a child does and is most actively promoted at our Centre with:
- a program focus on allowing children the time to talk/communicate with each other
- an environment containing a high level of printed media
- daily opportunities to 'read' books/other forms of literature
- daily exposure to stories/rhymes/songs
- daily opportunities for painting/drawing…(pre-writing skills)
- a children's library (borrow a book for a week)
Physical Development
A child's physical development includes Gross Motor (Large Muscle) and Fine Motor (Small Muscle) development. It also includes awareness of maintaining personal health. We advance each child's overall physical development by providing:
- a large garden and a children's gymnasium containing varied equipment designed to promote physical skills
- daily opportunities to run/climb/jump/hop…..
- everyday gym, feet exercises, yoga
- materials and experiences that encourage fine motor manipulation (e.g. playdough, construction toys, paintbrushes/pencils/crayons…)
- information relating to personal care relevant to the child's understanding
This is a brief overview of some of the ways we promote children's progress in each development field. It is acknowledged that the following developmental fields do not 'stand alone', but are strongly inter-connected and combine to create 'the whole child'. |
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