Exciting educational programs to encourage a child’s development
Our Centre plans and runs exciting educational programs to encourage a child’s development. The program provides a balance between indoor and outdoor play, as well as times for relaxation. The national curriculum framework that is followed is called the Early Years Learning Framework. It was established to ensure that all children in an early childhood setting receive a high quality education program.
Central to this framework is the idea that childhood can be described as a time of Belonging, Being and Becoming.
-
Belonging – is the basis for living a fulfilling life. Children feel they belong because of the relationship they have with their family, community, culture and place.
-
Being – is about living in the here and now. Childhood is a very special time of life that ends far too quickly. Children need the opportunity to just be – time to play, explore and have fun.
-
Becoming – is about the learning and development that take place during this time.
The framework outlines five learning goals and educators will assist children in achieving these goals:
– Children have a strong sense of identity
– Children are connected with and contribute to the world.
– Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
– Children are confident and involved learners
– Children are effective communicators
At Cressy Road Early Learning, our program is deeply rooted in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). We align our daily practices with the outcomes, principles, and practices of the EYLF to ensure that each child’s learning journey is nurtured and enriched.
Our holistic, play-based program is designed to be responsive to the interests and needs of the children. It draws inspiration from a variety of educational modalities, theorists, and contemporary research, including the latest findings in neuroscience. This approach allows us to create a dynamic learning environment where children can explore, discover, and grow.
Our educators play a pivotal role in guiding and establishing the program. While our Educational Leader oversees the overall program and learning development, it is our educators who bring the program to life each day. They observe the children’s interests and plan play and learning experiences that scaffold and extend these interests, fostering deeper learning.
Documentation of the children’s learning is an integral part of our process. Each week, our educators document the children’s experiences in the form of observations. These observations capture the essence of your child’s development through their engagement in various activities: What did they do? What did they say? What did they learn? What role did the educator play? Was it an individual or group experience?
This information, along with photographs, is carefully documented and uploaded to OWNA on a weekly basis. Educators reflect on the children’s learning, analysing their development, and linking it to the Early Years Learning Framework. The final section of each observation outlines the next steps in your child’s learning journey—how educators plan to extend on the experience and what they hope to achieve.
Over time, these observations build into project documentation that chronicles the ongoing interests and development of the children. These projects, which can span days, weeks, or even months, are available for parents and families to view, offering insight into the learning and growth happening within our centre. Read More
How We Offer Early Learning with Nature-Based Play
Too many childcare facilities have artificial lawns and focus heavily on indoor play. Playing inside with plastic toys built for childhood development has its place, but should always be combined with time outside enjoying our beautiful environment. At Cressy Road Early Learning, we have a purpose-built centre. This allowed us to create what’s important from day one. This included a large garden with real grass, plants, and even chickens. We find the children in our diverse daycare are always excited to go and play in our interesting, gorgeous outdoor space.
When we feel they can benefit from other environments, we take them on excursions to the park and creek in the local area. This gets them used to exploring new environments and keeps them curious and playful around nature. We also regularly go to local shops, other schools and generally get out and about often, our little ones are active citizens and involved in our community.
How Nature Will Help Your Child Grow
Children have a sense of freedom once they go outside and run around, but there’s more to it than that. In our garden and on excursions, children will always find something to climb or jump over. This helps build motor skills and physical strength. It teaches them about wise risk taking, and how to interact with others in broader social settings. Encouraging active instead of sedentary play can be the foundation for healthy habits for a lifetime. It’s not just physical strength that’s enhanced through outdoor play. When we’re feeling low as adults, we’re often told by others to take a walk outside and spend time in nature to boost our spirits. It’s no different for children, as research has proven that time in nature improves mood and reduces negative emotions like stress in children, too. Nature-based play with early learning has also been shown to improve emotional resilience because it encourages exploration and risk-taking within a controlled, safe setting. This allows children to work through negative feelings within a safety net.
We will encourage certain activities, but playing outside is naturally more flexible. Based on the children’s interest we set up ‘provocations’ in the environment – things to entice them, invite them to participate in certain learning activities. Play with no end goals is something we foster inside, too, but it’s easier in nature with its endless, ever changing, opportunities. This style of play builds creativity and imagination, valuable skills in your child, especially when they start school. Spending time in nature from a young age has also been shown to create a healthy relationship with our natural environment and make people more aware of our responsibilities for caring for it. Nature, especially our garden with its variety of plants, trees and chickens, provides a lot of sensory stimulation. This has been shown to lead to greater cognitive function.
With all these benefits, it’s no wonder parents and caregivers like you are searching for ‘early learning with nature-based play Ryde’.
We’ve Got the Sun Protection Covered
Sunscreen is included in our costs, so you don’t have to worry about adding anything else to your full bag in the mornings. We have plenty of trees and plants in our grounds, so your child can find shade if they want to, and we won’t have them outside if it’s too hot. After time outside, they’ll be back in our air-conditioned centre with water to cool down. Nature play is beneficial, and at Cressy Road Early Learning, we always do it safely. Read Less
Other specialised programs at Cressy Road Early Learning:
Munch and Move Program
Munch and Move is an initiative from the NSW Health Department and encourages the healthy development of young children through fun and play-based experiences. The six key messages that form the basis of Munch and Move are:
-
Encourage and support breastfeeding
-
Choose water as a drink
-
Eat more fruit and vegetables
-
Choose healthier snacks
-
Get active each day
-
Turn off the screen and get active
The principles are incorporated into our daily routine as well as specialised activities, such as sports and games at the oval at Holy Cross Ryde and our monthly sports days.
Creative Arts Program
Learning and having opportunities to be creative and expressive is an essential part of our program at Cressy Road Early Learning. We believe that child-initiated activities provide the space for children to be creative, and learn to express themselves in creative ways. Art allows children to develop cognitive, language, social and emotional and physical skills and all our educators go on regular in-services so they can support each other in artistic and creative endeavours.
Please feel free to call the centre for further information, or better still, come down and have a look around yourself.
Get in touch
Cressy Road Early Learning is a privately owned, family run centre, with a strong commitment to participative, consultative and collaborative management.