Our Educational Program

Play is the work of a child – Maria Montessori

At WillowBee we are continually striving to provide children with the best possible start in life through our educational program.

We believe in developing a program that is co-constructed by the children and our educators to implement meaningful and purposeful learning. Our program is a balance of both structured and planned experiences, with opportunities for open ended play.

We focus strongly on the children’s interests, family input and the social possibilities within all experiences. These develop into investigations in small or large groups that aim to promote the children’s thinking skills, together with their literacy and numeracy knowledge.

Alongside these investigations we focus on each individual child’s development and work closely with families to create goals for the children, drawing on their professional knowledge to implement ways to achieve certain milestones or a specific learning outcome.

How you'll be kept involved and up to date

The educators at our centres work in collaboration with parents to provide a developmentally appropriate program. This combines knowledge of child development with the children’s individual and group needs, interests and strengths.

Documentation about the program and children’s learning is shared with families through a variety of avenues including:

  • Online documentation, discussions with educators, portfolios, room displays, newsletters and email communication.
  • Our educators communicate daily with parents about the child’s day, activities and general developmental progress.
  • Information is also shared through Parent Teacher Interviews, reports, online documentation, newsletters and Parent Information Evenings.

Preparing children for school

From an early age, children are developing skills that will enhance their later learning at school. Our curriculum is aimed at giving each child the social, emotional, physical and intellectual skills needed for success.

Manipulative play with activities such as threading and puzzles assists with the fine motor grip that is required for writing skills at school.

Literacy and numeracy also play a large part of school readiness and although not always intentionally planned for, these activities play a large part in the daily program for children of all ages.

  • As part of our curriculum we concentrate on child-centred learning and on developing essential skills that the children will need to transition to school with ease.
  • We recognise the importance of early literacy, numeracy and social and emotional development.
  • We believe that independence is a vital skill from an early age, aiding resilience, persistence and maturity and we embed this throughout our daily routine and planned experiences.
  • We encourage children to engage positively with one another and provide them with strategies to draw upon during challenging social encounters.
  • We celebrate children’s uniqueness and encourage children to express their emotions and develop self-awareness.

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