OUR STANDARD IS HIGH
OUR PASSION IS CHILDREN
OUR COMITTMENT IS TOWARDS OUR FAMILIES
space
Program Mission Statement/Guidelines
At Denlow Community Child Care, we believe that every child should have every opportunity to develop to their fullest potential through a child-initiated and adult-supported environment that embraces and focuses on 5 areas of development in a holistic way.
- Physical (Gross and Fine Motor)
- Social/Emotional (Awareness, Respect, Ability to Share and Cooperate)
- Communication/Language (Verbal and Non-Verbal)
- Self-Esteem (Self-Awareness and Positive Self-Image)
- Cognitive (Comprehension, Problem-Solving, and Skill Acquisition)
We value children as individuals and as active and capable contributors, with their own interests and perspectives. Children are competent, capable of complex thinking, curious, and rich in potential. Our program values and builds on their strengths and abilities, and ensures that every child will feel that they belong, are a valuable contributor to their surroundings, and deserve the opportunity to succeed.
Our strategies to achieve our Program Mission Statement are guided by the work done on Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years (How Does Learning Happen?). We understand and value that learning and development happen within relationships among children, families, educators, and their environments. In order for children to grow and flourish, the following four foundational conditions need to exist:
The Foundations of Our Program
- Belonging: Every child has a sense of belonging when he or she is connected to others and contributes to their world.
- Well-Being: Every child is developing a sense of self, health, and well-being.
- Engagement: Every child is an active and engaged learner who explores the world with body, mind, and senses.
- Expression: Every child is a capable communicator who expresses himself or herself in many ways.
In order to successfully achieve these foundations, we follow strategies that:
– Promote an environment which is healthy, safe, and supports general well being
– Promote an environment which ensures good nutrition and safe food preparation
– Support positive and responsive interactions
– Encourage the children to interact and communicate
– Foster exploration, play and inquiry
– Provide child-initiated and adult-supported experiences
– Plan for and create positive learning environments and experiences
– Incorporate indoor and outdoor play, active play and quiet time
– Foster the engagement of and communications with parents
– Involve local community partners
– Support others in relation to continuous professional learning
Play Inspires You to Think Differently
Denlow Community Child Care values and promotes “PLAY” as an essential medium for learning. The Ministry of Educations HDLH (How Does Learning Happen) and ELECT (Early Learning for Every Child Today) is the continuum which supports our play-based learning environment. Through play, each child is encouraged to participate in a variety of hands-on activities, including structure building, arts and crafts, language development, math, dramatic play, music, cooking, sand, sensory, and science experimentation.
Our staff participates with children as co-investigators, co-learners and co-planners. Every child is given the opportunity daily to:
Develop a curiosity regarding the world around him/her through environments and experiences that engage children in active, creative, and meaningful exploration, play, and inquiry. This is accomplished through;
Providing children with a variety of small indoor and outdoor group activities that encourage ENGAGEMENT and INQUIRY – learning through questioning and testing theories in their play, discussing and sharing ideas.
These activities include:
– Creative art activities and projects
– Science experiments and inquisition
– Cognitive and problem solving activities
– Cooking and nutrition activities
– Educational computer activities
– Sensory activities
– Block building and construction
– Drama, pretending and role playing
– Literacy activities – stories, poems, finger plays, chants
– Activities that are at times structured to provide for guidance and are at times unstructured to allow for free individual expression and creativity
– Special Enrichment Activities and Workshops – Super Science, Applefun Puppetry, Ten Ten Sports, Safari Magic, Artistic Way, Travelling Critters, Scrapbooking
We balance indoor/outdoor activities, active/quiet play and rest within each of our program daily schedules and objectives. All activities emphasize skills in self-esteem, self-respect, self-regulation and respect for others.