Our Approach

Ours is a play-based program, built around the belief that children learn naturally through their play. We offer a diverse and exciting curriculum with many stimulating activities in an environment that has a variety of learning centres and opportunities for free play. These include:

• housekeeping area/doll corner
• block corner
• book corner
• art area
• music materials
• table toys (puzzles, peg boards, beads, etc.)
• science centre
• sand and water play
• small and large climbing apparatus

These centres and activities provide unlimited creative opportunities for discovery, challenge and exploration as well as a safe environment for building self-confidence, self-awareness and supportive relationships with peers.

* As our program involves play in sand, clay, paint, water and other messy activities, families are asked to send their children in play clothes which can get dirty as well as providing three spare changes of clothes to be kept in the cubby. A large part of our day includes outdoor play in all weather, rain or shine, so we ask families to make sure that children have appropriate outdoor wear for the weather.

As well as free play opportunities, we offer daily structured learning activities for larger groups, such as circle time and story time in which we explore music, drama, movement, language and literature.

We also work individually and in small groups with children to help them attain skills and achieve specific learning goals identified by families, day care staff, and therapists.

We have a resource room, away from the distractions of the classroom, in which we can work with individual children and small groups. This also gives therapists and other professionals a quiet place to meet with children, families and staff.

We also provide educational support to families through a variety of learning opportunities. Information of interest to families may be posted on the bulletin board, included in family notices or made available in the family library. We can access literature, videos and speakers through the college and community.

We have two well-equipped outdoor playgrounds, one for our toddlers and one for our pre-schoolers. We also use the rest of the college for walks and nature trips. We go on field trips away from the college occasionally. We sometimes use the college gymnasium, library and audio-visual services to extend our program.

As part of a holistic and play-based approach in which all areas of their development are supported and nurtured, we believe that children require good amounts of active play during the day. Active play promotes children’s healthy physical development as well as contributing to all other areas of their development including social, emotional and cognitive. The children spend well over two hours per day engaged in various types of active play.The following activities are examples of our active play programming.

• Music and Movement, adult guided dance and movement activities and free open dance and self-expression, both indoors and in the playground, occurs daily during free play and as a component of circle time
• Gym time once a week using the college gym and a variety of gym equipment, eg balls, hoops, ropes, bowling equipment, bean bags, parachute, balance beams obstacle courses
• Playground time each morning and afternoon, active and physical play, eg climbing, biking, balancing, swinging from monkey bars  
• Nature walks in small groups each morning and afternoon
• Walks in the college and neighborhood for small groups
• Bicycle walks for small groups
• Sports experiences such as soccer, hockey, basketball, T-Ball, running, jumping, skipping, skipping rope, ball play, for small groups during outdoor time
• Sports day, annual morning event held every spring

In their early years, children are fully and actively engaged in the world and the relationships around them. Whether through active or reflective play, through social interactions or when playing on their own, children are busy with their work of exploring, discovering, learning, and being challenged. In our centre we believe that screen time can interfere with this natural process of growth. Being in front of a screen, whether IPad, TV, computer or other electronic device, is usually a passive experience that we believe should be limited. For this reason, we do not include regular screen time in our programming. The American Pediatric Society recommends no screen time before the age of 2 years and limited time thereafter.

Exceptions to this rule are:

• when a child with extra support needs uses a device as a communicative aid
• when a teacher uses the computer as a supplemental tool to teach children about special events or to complement the children’s learning of a specific topic

When a child starts day care it is often the first time that he or she has been taken out of the sheltered home environment for an extended period. Day care is a large group experience and as such carries some risks as well as benefits. While we like to focus on the positive aspects, such as the countless opportunities for learning, the stimulation and the friendships made, families need to be aware of some of day care's more harsh realities.

While we nurture and care for the children in our program, we cannot provide a home environment. It can be difficult for families when their children are not cared for as they would be at home. For instance, after a hard play at day care, children are often covered in paint, mud and grime. Water play, sand play and other messy activities are daily occurrences and while they add to the richness of the day care experience, families can find it difficult to accept a grimy child and soiled clothing at the end of the day.

Toddlers and pre-schoolers are in the process of developing their social and language skills. It can be very difficult at this age to do the sharing, turn-taking and negotiating that is required to prevent conflicts. It is normal for children to become frustrated and angry and engage in aggressive behaviours such as hitting, scratching, pushing and biting. day care staff work with the children to help them find more appropriate ways of solving their problems, but some aggressive behaviours are bound to happen. If a child has persistent behavioural problems, staff and families will meet to discuss them and develop strategies to help the child. In the end the process of working through these conflicts results in the development of better social skills in all children.

Toddlers and pre-schoolers are also in the process of developing their motor skills. Their motor planning can be poor and, combined with their impulsiveness and desire to challenge themselves physically, the risk for falls, bumps, scrapes and bruises and more serious accidents is increased. The large group triggers rambunctious behaviours in some children. Some children are cautious physically, but others tend to take more risks. While the children are always supervised, the ratio -- unlike the supervisory situation in a home -- is one adult to four children in the toddler centre and one adult to eight children in the three-to-five centres. Some incidents are bound to happen.

Another challenging issue for families relates to the high incidence of contagious illnesses to which children in day care are exposed. In their first year of day care especially, children often suffer from numerous upper respiratory infections, including ear infections. They also can contract such bothersome ailments as pin-worms, head lice and chicken pox. It takes time and exposure to groups for children to build up their immunity to infection.

To sum up, although we pride ourselves in being a high quality Early Childhood Educational setting in which children can develop to their full potential, we also want to make families aware of the hazards children are exposed to in group day care. These include: contagious illnesses, messy play materials, aggressive encounters with peers, other children's inappropriate language or behaviour, physical challenges and more. Before choosing group day care, families need to consider whether they are ready to work with these day care realities and the fact that while our adult to child ratios comply with licensing requirements, the supervision provided cannot replicate that of a home.

As Early Childhood Educators, we are convinced that the benefits of quality group day care for young children far outweigh the risks. In the end, however, each family must make the final decision with a full understanding of all the factors involved.

During their year before kindergarten, the children become ready to take on greater challenges in all areas of the program. In order to meet the developing needs of our four-year-olds and to help prepare them for kindergarten we shift our focus and our expectations in the following areas:

Self Help and Life Skills

At four years old we expect the child to be independent in the areas of toileting, dressing (e.g. buttons, zippers, shoes), mealtimes and cleanup. Children start to assume more responsibilities and take more initiative in the classroom (e.g. putting away their work, laying out and clearing their lunches, helping tidy up their activity areas).

Social and Emotional

We expect a lot of our four-year-olds. They are learning to be mature and cooperative members of a large group. We expect them to be able to communicate and interact positively with other children, both individually and in groups. They are learning to understand the other person’s point of view. They are starting to be able to solve social problems independently. They are also starting to exercise their leadership in the group. We expect them to take some responsibility for their younger classmates and be positive role models. They should now be feeling empathy for others. We are also expecting them to be able to control their emotions and express them in appropriate ways. We expect a more mature relationship with teachers. We encourage our four-year-olds to be helpful and cooperate with their teachers’ requests. They are now also more able to work and play independently of their teachers’ assistance.

Curriculum Areas

We offer all our children a variety of activities in the curriculum areas of art, music and movement, language and literature, social studies, science, and math. While most of these activities are available to the whole group, we expect our four-year-olds to participate in all the curriculum areas in more complex and sophisticated ways. While our four-year-old program is still largely self-selected, in that children have many choices about what they will do, we encourage our older children to participate in all the activities that their teachers have prepared. The children should be spending more time, taking more care, asking and answering more questions, and completing their activities. At four years old children are taking pride in their growing knowledge base, competence, and achievements.

Academic Readiness

We offer our four-year-olds a variety of pre-academic activities exploring concepts such as number, size, shape, and colour. They are doing counting, matching, categorizing, and one-to-one correspondence. They are also learning the names and sounds of the alphabet and how to print upper and lower-case letters. As well they are learning to recognize and print their names. Other important readiness skills they are practicing are listening to and following teachers’ directions, doing neat and careful work, staying focused, and completing their tasks.

Children with extra support needs participate in every aspect of our program according to their ability. We individualize programs in consultation with parents and professionals such as Speech and Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Supported Child Development Program Consultants to meet each child's specific needs for growth and development. A written Individual Plan will outline the child's strengths and needs, specific goals and timelines and the supports needed to implement those goals.

When a child has extra support needs, the family and staff must assess the day care environment in relation to the child's needs. Safety, access, equipment and storage needs must be considered to determine if any modifications or adaptations should be made to accommodate the child.

We recognize families as their children's most valuable resource, and as such, we welcome families' input and involvement. We schedule two conferences per year for children with extra support needs and others as requested by the family or day care staff. We also encourage ongoing communication concerning the child's development, progress and concerns both at home and at school. As well, we participate in team meetings with families and the professionals involved with each child.

We provide extra support to families during critical transition periods, those times when children with extra support needs and their families move from one service or program to another. This includes the kindergarten transition planning process in the springtime before the child goes to kindergarten. We provide a final report and meeting with families and school personnel to facilitate a smooth transition to school.

We receive ongoing contract funding to pay for extra staff from the Supported Child Development Program. This extra staffing allows us to serve all our children better. Aside from the contract funding, the Ministry provides additional insurance for our inclusion program as well as the services of the Supported Child Development Program Consultants.

Langara Child Development Centre is part of a network of inclusive childcare programs and community resource services geared to supporting children and families. We maintain strong links with these programs in a variety of ways and are able to access their services to assist us in meeting the needs of our children and families.