Montessori
The aim of Teach Leanbh is to provide a high quality, comprehensive childcare facility for the local community. Respecting every child as an individual.
- To promote pre-school development of children in compliance with Childcare Regulations and in accordance with parents wishes.
- To promote a safe and happy environment where the children in our care may develop through play, interaction and stimulation, their use of language, cognitive skills, social skills and to develop emotionally.
- Encouraging stimulation of children in a safe and secure environment under the supervision of suitably trained staff.
- To develop communication skills, co-operation, sharing and self-concept in children.
- To develop agility, attention span, balance, hand/eye co-ordination, dexterity and strength of children.
- To provide an opportunity for children to interact with other children and peers.
- To provide first class care and educational opportunities with qualified and experience personnel.
- To disseminate information on childcare issues.
- Provision of a play based, quality-learning environment for all children.
- Partnership with parents and other agencies.
- Support for families and other agencies.
- Enabling the children to grow personally, socially, intellectually and emotionally through play.
- High quality, on going training for all staff.
Programme/Curriculum for Children
Teach Leanbh is committed to developing a curriculum that creates a child centred, play based environment, which empowers young children to actively pursue their own learning. Adults who will provide appropriate, timely balanced intervention as well as support, continuity and progression to encourage positive attitudes towards learning will facilitate this process.
Teach Leanbh ethos of our programme is based on developmentally appropriate practice, which focuses on the following:
- A balance between children's self-initiated learning and staff guidance.
- Opportunities for children to make meaningful choices between activities offered.
- Scope to explore through active involvement.
- A mix of small group, whole group and independent activities.
- Play as a primary (but not exclusive) medium for learning.
- Adults, who demonstrate, question, model, suggest alternatives and prompt reflection.
- Systematic observation of children's learning and behaviour.
Curriculum
Policy Statement
Teach Leanbh is committed to developing a curriculum that creates a child centred, play based environment, which empowers young children to actively pursue their own learning. Adults who will provide appropriate, timely balanced intervention as well as support, continuity and progression to encourage positive attitudes towards learning will facilitate this process.
Issues to Consider
In developing the curriculum, the issues to reflect are:
The child
The context
The content
While reflecting on the child Teach Leanbh should consider:
The individuality of the child
The need to encourage independence, self-discipline and concentration.
While reflecting on the context:
A safe, secure, comfortable and stimulating environment. Facilities that are suitable to age, needs and capabilities of the child. Collaboration of appropriately qualified and experienced staff in partnership with parents.
While reflecting on the content:
The need for a balanced, developmentally appropriate curriculum to take account of the holistic development of the child. The need for a process of observation and evaluation to assist in the planning of the curriculum.
While considering all of the above, it is important to remember that there should be a shape to the day. However, it should be flexible enough to allow children to seize opportunities for learning that are not always adult directed.
Physical Development
In order to provide for physical development, the pre-school service should have a range of suitable equipment both small and large, indoor and outdoor to allow children to develop both growth and fine motor skills, physical control, mobility and co-ordination. To facilitate this development, access to supervised, safe suitable open spaces, where children can run, skip, jump etc. is essential. For the development of fine motor skills, children must have access to a wide range of equipment, e.g. crayons, scissors, brushes, construction materials, pegs and boards etc.
Social Development
Adults should provide opportunities for children to play together in settings, which encourage them to learn to share, negotiate and co-operate, make concessions, assets themselves and fit in as part of the group. All aspects of the curriculum help children to develop their social skills but some particularly relevant ones are make-believe play, poems, stories, music and outings.
Emotional Development
Successful learning depends on healthy emotional development and this can only take place in a relaxed yet secure environment. Children need help to identify, name and explore their feelings, both positive and negative. They will need opportunities to express their feelings and by working through them gain more self-esteem. This should lead to a growing sensitivity to the feeling of others and a greater awareness of responsibility for their actions. As children develop emotionally, they will grow in self-esteem and self-confidence, which will enhance their relationships with both children and adults.
Language Development
Adults must be aware that children's language develops at different rates and their experiences vary, therefore the variety of activities, experience and opportunities for language must be as wide as possible. The adult plays a vital role in fostering language development by engaging in meaningful exchanges, giving children the opportunity to practice listening and speaking. Using non-verbal to prompt continued speech. Providing a variety of props e.g. puppets, books provide an environment rich in symbols. Encouraging conversation in groups of various sizes, from small groups to the whole group. Providing a quiet time to help children refine their listening skills. Using rhymes, songs jokes to allow children play with words.
Intellectual Development
To develop intellectually, a child must be helped in understanding how to learn. A variety of safe, well maintained equipment will enable children to extend their understanding of concepts, while encouraging problem solving and improving memory and concentration skills.
Children need to be helped to reflect on their experiences and encouraged to learn from them. While obvious equipment such as sand, water, bricks, etc. develop concepts such as weight, volume, quality, space size, etc. less obvious areas such as make believe play are vital for the development of less tangible concepts such as time. Children's curiosity is enhanced by engaging with a variety of natural and other materials, leading them gradually into an appreciation of science, technology and maths.
Aesthetic and Creative Development
The role of the adult is to stimulate the imagination and encourage experimentation and appreciation of the world around us by providing a wide range of materials and opportunities which allow children to express themselves through music, mime, dance, painting, etc. Develop a vocabulary, which allows the child to express relevant concepts. Develop the capacity of all the senses. Children who have opportunities to experiment and express their ideas through a variety of materials become more aware of the world around them. Supportive adults who provide access to a wide range of media e.g. dough, clay, crayons and junk reinforce this awareness.
Items and activities should encourage the use of all senses and aid self-expression while building on previous experience, e.g. music, mime and cooking. A variety of natural materials as well as a range of equipment made from these will encourage appreciation of texture, form etc. For children, the process is more important than the end product so becoming involved in a group activity may give children freedom to express themselves without undue pressure.
