West Island Daycare Curriculum
Garderie Éducative DDO is committed to providing an excellent education that meets the interests, abilities and needs of every child. Our main goals are intellectual development, independence, creativity, curiosity, and a sense of responsibility to others, both in daycare and in life in general.
Infant & Toddler (6-24 months)
From six to twenty-four months, infants and toddlers begin to display a spurt in growth and curiosity. The class is uniquely designed to promote this spirit of inquiry. Mobile toddlers are shifting from feeling secure to exploring their environment and eventually to developing an identity. We understand the natural developmental of children and develop our curriculum according to their needs.
Fine Motor Skills
Children have many opportunities to play with different textures: water, playdough, fingerprint and more. They will have activities with art materials such as painting and brushes, pencils and paper, etc.. Children are introduced to simple and variable levels of puzzles in shape (some with knobs on pieces) and to build towers with blocks. Transportation toys as well as figurines and animals are important materials for promoting the child’s imagination and developing spatial and mathematical relationships.
Active Physical Play
Children participate in crawling through tunnels, balancing, climbing, throwing ball, and more. Carts and cars are provided, riding toys for children to push, pull and roll.
Music and Movement
Musical toys, instruments, and genres of music are introduced to children from the very beginning. Children start dancing, clapping or waddling to the rhythm of songs, or even singing.
Dramatic Play and language development
Dramatic play is part of our routine, children have the right to free play during which they interact with peers. Pretend to play with real and / or imaginary objects such as pots and pans, typewriters, telephones or dolls.
(2 – 3 years old)
Two-year-old is a child trying out new ideas, exploring his or her surroundings, and finding possible solutions to problems, but all awhile staying close to a parent or teacher as the child needs base of support and trust. Our two-year program provides many opportunities that teaches a child on how to manage conflicting feelings of separation—the “push-pull” between the pleasures of oneness with the parent along with the exhilaration of growing independent. By understanding the cognitive, social/emotional, and physical developments of this age group, our educators are equipped to instill positive attitudes and motivation, to teach strong basic learning skills, to introduce a wide variety of disciplines, to foster early social skills and to inspire children the love of learning.
Learning through play is the basis for a child to flourish socially and emotionally. Play enables a child to feel good about him or herself and supports a child’s willingness to persist at a task. Kids will engage in cognitive activities, such as figuring out how to make a block structure, deciding which items to paste on a collage, selecting colors for a painting, making a grocery list, seeing “what happens when…,” working out the rules to a game, looking in a mirror, playing with dolls or toy animals, talking on the telephone, and many more.
While most 2-year old are interested in other children, parallel play (side-by-side, solitary play within the same space as another child) is common for this age group. Being focused on their own needs rather than the needs of others are exactly where 2-year-old are supposed to be in their development of social and emotional skills. Kids are given multiple activities to exercise their assertiveness and independence; at the same time our educators impart kindness, sharing, and fairness into the daily curriculum. A child’s social development will be enhanced by play experiences that include opportunities to take turns, cooperate together, and work out problems without adult interference.
★ Play gives children opportunities to learn to do things together.
★ Play sets the stage for social problem solving, sharing and resolving disagreements by talking.
★ Play helps a child develop respect for others.
★ Play helps a child to learn to see things from another person’s point of view.
Potty training is another popular question that parents ask when their child is anywhere from eighteen to thirty-two months. The perfect age to begin potty training is different for every child. Our program uniquely designs ways to help children with potty training. Once our parents and educators discover signs of readiness, such as showing interest in using the potty, can communicate his or her needs with basic words, the frequency of diaper change, and the child is able to pull off and put on pants, then we encourage the child to start potty training.
(3 – 4 years old)
Three-year old spend a lot of time watching, observing, and imitating. Their imagination is working at all times. They are particularly interested in improving their fine motor skills, they love pouring, mixing, mashing and squeezing. At this age, he will learn to hold his or her crayon better. For the development of gross motor skills in this age group, he starts throwing and catching a big ball, jumping and climbing. Three years want to know what is causing the events around them. They will also learn to listen to others’ explanations with interest.
The following are skills for this age group:
Fine Motor Skills/Art
Children have many opportunities to play with different textures: water, playdough, fingerprint and more. They will have activities with art materials such as painting and brushes, pencils and paper, etc.. Children are introduced to simple and variable levels of puzzles in shape and materials are rotated to provide variety. Stacking blocks, doing puzzles, pouring, drawing, pasting, and swinging. Play enables a child’s small-muscle coordination to develop.
Active Physical Play
Running, jumping, climbing, lifting, pulling, pedaling, reaching, hopping, dancing, skipping, rolling, bending. Outdoor play is required on a daily basis (weather permitting).
Blocks
Daily use of block manipulation (including transportation toys, people, and animals) help to develop spatial and mathematical relationships and most importantly imagination.
Pre-School (4-5 years old)
Story time is particularly important for this age group. The child’s imagination and the increased ability to remember the past make the child an interesting storyteller. Educators give kids opportunities to recite familiar stories that they have read. Children learn that reading is about playing with words and sounds through rhymes, songs and stories.
The curriculum for the pre-school classes has been structured to foster the development of lifetime cognitive skills. We encourage our children to become accomplished readers and writers, skilled in mathematics and practiced in the arts of observation, creative thinking, and problem solving. The learning process is as important as the educational content. We provide opportunities for children to question and express their curiosity, which results in developing confidence, independence, and high self-esteem. The classrooms provide nurturing, child-centered settings for children to master their language, math, science, social, and sensorial skills. Through our thematic based curriculum, high academic standards, and a strong focus on social development, Garderie Éducative DDO students will aspire to become lifelong learners.
Pre-school Abilities:
★ Capable of nonstop mental and physical gymnastics.
★ Respond joyfully to dance, creative movement, outdoor play and drama.
★ Learn best through their own play, by being read to, by acting out stories and fairy tales, by manipulating a play dough, paint brushes, finger paints, building blocks, math materials.
★ Outdoor play is essential. This is an age where much learning is transmitted through the large muscles.
★ Learning goes from the hand to the head, not the other way around.
★ Teachers need to focus on observing and redirecting behavior and asking questions that lead children toward the next level of cognitive exploration and understanding.
★ Learning is at its best for this age group when it is both structured and exploratory.