Drayton Valley
Our Programs and Approach
Alberta’s Early Learning and Care Framework is intended to
awaken the image of a strong, resourceful, capable child—a mighty learner and citizen.
Our program is divided into 4 rooms
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Little Explorers Room is for Toddlers (12 months to 19 months old)
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Artistic Hands Room is for Junior Preschool (19 months to 3 years old)
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Creative Minds Room is for our Preschool (3 to 4 years old)
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Eager Learners Room is for our Pre-Kindergarten (4-5 years of age
At this age, our toddlers are egocentric – they think that the world exists for them. We strive to foster taking turns and modeling acceptable behaviors. We aim to develop their body and space awareness by learning about body parts, beginning to pretend play, initiating activities, and learning about object permanence. They will develop social skills by being surrounded by children their own age and begin to learn the concepts of others. The daily routine is a bit structured as they begin to be more aware of their surroundings. There’s plenty of room for them to practice walking without falling indoors and outdoors. Music and dancing will be encouraged. We will develop their feeding independence by encouraging them to hold their own cups and utensils.
Our Junior Preschool Room has bright windows for natural light. This group is the biggest class in the center with 2 educators to set them up for success. Some are still in the ego-centric stage, and some are in the pre-operational stage of cognitive development and continue to be until they are 7 years of age. They are beginning to be more independent and understand some time away from their families wouldn’t hurt. They will start to understand today, soon, but not yesterday. They begin to name parts of their body, learn to count to 5, match familiar objects, group things by size and form, etc. As they develop these skills, it is important for them to have lots of room for discovery and play. Our program supports playing and learning to play.
This group is in the pre-operational stage of cognitive development. They start to sort, classify, name colors, numbers, count to 10, understand time intervals and so on. This stage learns by doing and by giving them ample amount of time to play, they are learning about the bigger world around them. More structured play, group play, different learning materials are in place. They are learning to follow simple instructions and there’s a lot of pretend play in this room! They’ll develop certain skills, like sorting more by color, shapes, and sizes. Showing empathy, turn-taking, and self-regulation are encouraged. They are learning to be more independent in dressing and taking off their own jackets, boots, etc.
Heading towards operational cognitive development, this group can be seen independently playing alone or in groups. As interests vary, they start to form their own identity and preferences. The first cozy and warm room you will see as you walk into our center. Lots of building, creating, reading and meaningful conversations happen in this room. They are getting ready for the even bigger world ahead of them, Kindergaten!
Our Approach
Our weekly programming is child-led, based on recent or current children’s interests and development. The program will provide younger mighty learners with independence and social skills. Our older mighty learners will be provided with school readiness skills embedded in their daily activities, planned and unplanned. Daily activities are based on the Flight – Alberta Early Learning and Care Curriculum Framework and based on the Reggio Emilia Approach combined with intentional teaching as they name, notice, and nurture each child’s learning. Our educators provide programming according to the needs and interests of the mighty learners, allowing them to be actively engaged with objects and experiences in their everyday environment. Interactions are positive and respectful. They are actively engaged with children as co-learners, co- researchers, and co-imaginers of possibilities with high regard for children’s potential. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) is embedded in their daily activities. Classroom toys and room rooms change on a bi-weekly schedule to ensure mighty learners have a variety of toys and learning experiences. Our program believes that a healthy mind comes from a healthy body and daily outdoor experiences, whether from neighborhood walks or playground play times, are necessary. Routines are in place as a guide but are flexible depending on the needs of each child. We aim to be outdoors at least once or twice a day, weather permitting.