A nurturing creative world that inspires their passion for learning
Teaching and Learning
The traditional approach to teaching and learning is to create the curriculum and make the child fit into what is offered.
At Leap Start Early Learning Child Care and Kindy we believe children learn through experience, through what and how they explore, through getting their hands dirty and taking safe risks, through creating, and through music, all in a safe environment.
To this end our curriculum is open-ended: instead of making the child fit the curriculum, we base what we do every day on the child and their needs, and extending them based on the here and now, not some educational goal in the future. For example, if a child shows an interest in art, we will adjust what we do to suit that interest, not make the child fit into what we’ve got planned for that day.
Here are four more areas where Leap Start Early Learning Child Care and Kindy is a leader:
Art – art is everywhere at Leap Start, we and the children proudly display their work and self-expression
Yoga – is practised in all rooms every day based on age-appropriate exercises (for example in “Paradise” room 15 months to 2 years) we help children with individual stretching exercises whereas in the older rooms such as Kindy (4 to 5 years) they do poses such as stretching like a cat).
Meditation – is an important part of daily routines as well, from relaxation music for sleep times in the younger rooms to more directed relaxation techniques at rest time in the older rooms.
Real World – we believe keeping children in cotton wool does not prepare them fully for the real world so we make every effort to ensure each day aligns to this vision within age appropriate levels.
Great care has been taken to create this “safe risk” environment which encourages children to step outside their boundaries.
Here are 3 examples:
Care for self and care for the environment – children are taught to set the table at meal times, to wash up dishes, to pack up after activities, ironing/sweeping/raking (with age-appropriate equipment)
Service of others – under supervision some morning, afternoon teas and even lunches are prepared and consumed by the children; there is much learning and joy in kneading dough, mixing a cake, or shaping biscuits, watching them cook and then sharing and eating them!
Sustainability – our worm farm where the day’s food scraps and waste water are deposited helps children learn about composting and reducing their environmental footprint.
Community involvement – via excursions to local seed suppliers (for pre-kindy and kindy age children); seasonal produce is then planted, cared for, harvested and cooked and eaten by the children; includes care of and picking from our herb garden and fruit trees; we believe it’s important children understand they are part of a community and its desirable to utilise others’ talents and give back by inviting others (eg seniors) in.
We go that extra little bit to ensure your child, as they move from infancy to toddler to kindy is given the best chance to reach developmental milestones.