Kindergarten at Community Kids Haven
At Community Kids Haven we believe starting your child’s educational journey through early childhood learning services will give them the best start in life. Studies have shown children who attend early childcare aid them in their transition to primary school.
Our Kindergarten curriculum is designed to promote children’s learning and school readiness. Our qualified Kindergarten teacher delivers a high-quality Kindergarten Program underpinned by the National Quality Framework, The Early Years Learning Framework and The Victorian Early Years Learning Framework.
Our Kindergarten curriculum is a play-based program that strongly values the importance of child led play. Our inquiry based learning guides children to investigate, think critically, make plans, and follow through on their ideas. This helps children to not only learn academic content, but importantly, they begin to better understand themselves and the world around them as confident learners.
The curriculum holistic approach follows the children’s emerging interests, spontaneous intentional teaching, and scaffolding to help build the child’s knowledge by providing a wide range of real-world experiences that set them up for lifelong learning. Our curriculum promotes literacy, numeracy, science, music, art, sensory play, throughout the Kindergarten Program. Our approach encompasses a wide range of teaching goals and disposition of learning for children that helps them to have a smooth and positive transition to school.
We believe a natural outdoor environment provides children with strong connections to nature. Our thoughtfully culturally diverse environment promotes choices, independence, inquiry, self-esteem, communication, and peer interaction in a nurturing and supportive manner. The materials and resources found in our rooms are derived from the natural world and the environment is looked upon as the third teacher.
We encourage environmental awareness through sustainable practices within the centre and throughout the development and implementation of the program. Our curriculum promotes sustainable practices and make children think like a responsible citizen. Educators and children critically reflect on their sustainable thinking, their ways of being, and their ways of acting to protect the environment around them.
Funded Kindergarten
Our Kindergarten program at Community Kids Haven is government funded and guided by the National Quality Frameworks. Our Program is delivered by a qualified and registered Early Childhood Teacher and qualified assistants. In Victoria, preschool or kindergarten is the year before school entry according to the eligibility guidelines set out by the Department of Education and Training (DET). Children are eligible to attend kindergarten if they turn four years of age on or before 30 April in the year of attendance. If your child’s birthday falls before 30 April in the calendar year, you may request to hold your child’s Kindergarten start date until the following year.
Eligible children are entitled to 15 hours of funded kindergarten per week in the year before they attend school. Our Kindergarten Program allows flexibility for children to attend up to 5 days per week. To be eligible as a funded Kindergarten child a minimum of 2 days (600 hours during the year) of attendance during the times our qualified early childhood teacher (ECT) is in attendance is required.
Our Kindergarten program is evidence based and provides a structured and stimulating learning environment. The program focuses on play-based learning that develops children’s social and emotional wellbeing and prepares them for a smooth transition to school.
School Readiness Program
Our School Readiness Program is focused on developing children’s social and emotional skills. These attributes are strong foundation for child’s lifelong learning and play a vital role in settling child in early years of school.
Kindergarten Program will start at 9:30am commencing with a group time acknowledging each child presence. Group time allows children to get ready for learning in a setting which is familiar to school. Group times are very well thought and focus on developing important skills such as ‘whole body listening’, increased concentration and active listening. We engage children during group time by encouraging them to participate in show & tell, singing songs, and reading stories.
Excursions and incursions are part of the School Readiness Program. Children become involved learners and gain knowledge of the broader community around them and how it functions. We encourage children to participate in experiences and activities to further develop a child’s knowledge and understanding through first-hand experiences where children are taken to see a local school’s environment where activities are planned to allow time for children to interact with school children. The school tour provides opportunities for children to experience the new environment and reduces their anxiety and stress.
A child’s transition learning and development statement (TLDS) summarizes abilities of all Kindergarten children as they start school and identifies their individual approaches to learning. The information in the TLDS helps teachers get to know the children entering their classes, and to 10 “Play is the highest form of research.” Albert Einstein plan appropriate learning and teaching programs. A TLDS will be completed for all children enrolled in our funded Kindergarten Program.
In term 4, we encourage children to bring their empty lunch boxes from home and children will be given opportunity to prepare their own lunches from a selection of healthy choices provided by the centre. Stay Healthy – lunchbox not only promotes healthy eating but also learn to make nutritious food choices. Children gain an understanding of the difference between ‘recess’ and ‘lunchtime’. Children learn importance of independence, responsibility, and dietary restriction of other children by not sharing food.