The Lifelong Learning Curriculum offers an abundance of research-based practices that ensure continuous learning during the holiday season. As a parent, you may wonder what development your child is progressing with during this time. Throughout the holiday season, your child is able to engage in our play-based School Readiness Intensive program that encourages shared sustained thinking with peers. The program allows children to develop social and emotional confidence and interact positively with others. Developing social and emotional confidence when transitioning into a new environment such as 'Big School' allows for more resilience when navigating such a significant change in their routine. Continuing care during the holiday period can support this.
School Readiness Intensive Program
The School Readiness Intensive Program has been specifically designed to assist educators and teachers in Affinity centres with various simple, age-appropriate, and intentional learning experiences to provide during December and January. This program was developed in collaboration with Education Advisors and Early Childhood Teachers from all over Australia, focusing on implementing school-ready activities to achieve the best outcomes in a short time frame. We have decided to run this program during the end-of-year period to make it fun, exciting and fresh in the children's minds as they prepare to enter big school. The program includes large projects with an added intensity and focus on shared sustained thinking processes through inquiry-based learning. Through opportunities like these, children continue to build relationships with their peers and develop their skills of building and maintaining connections with others, which is an integral part of transitioning successfully into a big school.
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Social-Emotional Confidence:
As we all know, the end of the year and transition to big school can be overwhelming for children and some families. It is the time of year with a mixture of big emotions for big buckets to fill, such as trying to organize the following year, getting ready for Christmas, attending orientations, getting to know new adults and children, and so on. Our centres have experienced these emotions and have ensured that we critically reflect and find various strategies to assist children and families with a smooth process.
Affinity Education Centres uses the Positive Living Skills online platform to support our children in social-emotional confidence. This new program was brought into Affinity early this year and has shown significant development in our children's social-emotional confidence.
Encouraging Growth Mindset:
Our educators will take this holiday period as an opportunity to explore and implement this program more deeply. Through this program, Educators will be extending growth mindset learning experiences, sharing age-appropriate social stories, using audio relaxation stories, songs, and posters to support various emotional needs in the room, and also sharing valuable tips and resources with parents that are suitable for this transition period to school.
Maintaining Wellbeing:
Positive Living Skills is an inclusive, preventative, evidence-based initiative designed to support children to learn skills for maintaining mental well-being and to support educators and early childhood teachers to promote positive behaviour within the Centre community while supporting Educators and families.
Healthy Beginnings
Babies aged 0-1 years
Your baby will start their lifelong learning journey in a safe, nurturing environment. Educators will:
- Develop strong, positive bonds;
- Encourage confidence to explore new surroundings;
- Spark curiosity through sensory experiences; and
- Establish helpful routines that support health and wellbeing.
Early Experiences
Toddlers aged 1-3 years
Your toddler will enjoy an exciting environment in which to explore and experiment as their confidence and social skills emerge. Educators will:
- Introduce literacy and numeracy through learning games;
- Support self expression through language skills; and
- Develop social and friendship skills in group settings.
School Readiness
Children aged 3-5 years
Your child will be given the very best start before they begin Primary School where they will delve into enquiry based project work, and literacy and numeracy programs. Educators will:
- Guide self-awareness, self-help skills and socialisation;
- Investigate literacy, mathematics, science, technology and the arts;
- Stimulate creativity, deeper thinking and problem solving; and
- Prepare children for classroom environments through play-based preschool and kindergarten programs.