The curriculum, or course of study, is emergent and originates from the children's ideas and interests. For example, if children in our preschool were interested in learning about pets – teachers observed children pointing to pictures and listened to their questions about the different animals. We would walk to our in-house pet zoo to play with the animals first hand, draw pictures, click pictures and have fun as we learn. The drawings and photographs sparked discussions related to hygiene and safety while dealing with animals in our classroom, and words such as "jungle and zoo" were uncovered, not taught.

Projects or topics of study can be short or long-term, evolving as children learn and/or ask new questions, and discover new problems to solve. Inquiry and problem-solving are a major focus of our program.

What can you expect?

Our learning goals provide children with a good foundation for their early childhood education, enabling them to become more confident and able and ready to learn much more as the years go by. The next section details a brief synopsis of what you can expect from our unique program and how most of our children perform with respect to our early learning goals:

Personal, social and emotional development

By the end of our unique program, most children will:

• Continue to be interested, excited and motivated to learn;
• Be confident to try new activities, maintain attention, concentrate, and sit quietly when appropriate;
• Dress and undress independently and manage their own personal hygiene;
• Select and use activities and resources independently;
• Consider the consequences of their words and actions for themselves and others;

Communication, Language and literacy

• Explore and experiment with sounds, words and texts;
• Use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences;
• Link sounds to letters, naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet;
• Read a range of familiar and common words and simple sentences independently;
• Use a pencil and hold it effectively to form recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.

Problem solving, Reasoning and Numeracy

• Say and use number names in order in familiar contexts;
• Use language such as 'more' or 'less' to compare two numbers;
• Use language such as 'greater', 'smaller', 'heavier' or 'lighter', to compare quantities;
• Talk about, recognise and recreate simple patterns;
• Use everyday words to describe position;

Knowledge and understanding of the world

• Investigate objects and materials by using all of their senses as appropriate;
• Look closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change;
• Ask questions about why things happen and how things work;
• Find out about their environment, and talk about those features they like and dislike;
• Start talking about plants and animals, name common plants, flowers, vegetables and animals

Physical development

• Move with confidence, imagination and in safety;
• Move with control and coordination;
• Recognise the importance of keeping healthy and those things which contribute to this;
• Use a range of small and large equipment;
• Travel around, under, over and through balancing and climbing equipment;

Creative development

• Explore colour, texture, shape, form and space in two and three dimensions;
• Recognise and explore how sounds can be changed, sing simple songs from memory, recognise repeated sounds and sound patterns and match movements to music;
• Respond in a variety of ways to what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel;
• Use their imagination in art and design, music, dance, imaginative and role play and stories;
• Express and communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings by using a widening range of materials, suitable tools, imaginative and role play, movement, designing and making, and a variety of songs and musical instruments.