Curriculum and Early Learning Philosophy
Activities are carefully planned so that they are fun, play based and hands on. This ensures that children are interested in exploring the centers and activities and are fully engaged in the learning experience. A child centered program designed to meet the needs of each child! Artistique Playschool takes great pride in ensuring the best experience possible for your child.
We believe that there are many factors to consider in providing a well rounded child centered program. Each component of our program is considered fully when planning new themes and activities for our students.
We believe that there are many factors to consider in providing a well rounded child centered program. Each component of our program is considered fully when planning new themes and activities for our students.
Well Being and Belonging: Students will participate in all aspects of the daily, classroom routine. This not only helps children become self-sufficient, but helps them to feel like they are an important part of the classroom family. We also create a family environment during our meal times. Teachers sit down to eat with the children and everyone helps to clean up. Children are encouraged to help themselves and others as much as possible and engage in social conversations with their friends.
Exploration and Creativity: Our educators are trained in play based learning and child development. They engage with the children at play to take note of each child’s individual needs and interests and in turn, capitalize on these interests by building off of the children’s play and providing them with the equipment and supplies needed to support their exploration while asking questions to guide children in play expansion and comprehension. Teachers then use these observations to set up their classroom with activities and materials that will support the learning needs of each individual child but will also reflect the particular interests of the children in their classroom.
Language and Literacy: These activities are fun and are a quick way to ensure that children get daily practice in letter and name recognition. We use music and songs to learn and recognize letter sounds.
Social Responsibility and Diversity: an all-inclusive classroom where all cultures, religions and every ethnicity are not only welcomed but are celebrated. Artistique's activities also focus on learning about the world and helping others and staff and children are often included in many projects that are focused on charity, friendship and inclusion.
Math and Numeracy: Activities cover all areas of math learning including number recognition, graphing, patterning, printing numbers, counting, learning shapes, matching, ordering, measurement and one to one correspondence. In addition to carefully planned activities children also have access to a wide variety of open ended math tools and equipment that they can incorporate in their daily play, experimentation and exploration.
Science and Technology: We create science areas with changing equipment that are chosen to tweak the interests of the children and encourage them to explore and learn. Making volcanoes, learning about germs with a germ explosion, mixing up some sticky slime, or exploring fluids are some of the fun activities children will explore.
Visual Arts: Children engage in many visual arts projects and are constantly exposed to a variety of different mediums that they may explore. Children will be able to experiment with painting, colouring, collage, sculpting, stamping and drawing. They will also have fun participating in some unusual art projects like finger painting with shaving cream and painting with baby bottles, yarn, ice, salad spinners, fly swatters, party blowers and other fun equipment. The process is the focus of our activities and children are encouraged to explore materials and create their own masterpieces!
Music and Dance: we provide classroom sets of drums, maracas, tambourines, rhythm scarves, parachutes, ribbon wands, bells, shakers, hoops and balls and a wide variety of music and movement equipment. This equipment is used during our gym time activities to get children up and moving to the rhythm. The hands on equipment make circle time a super fun time as children learn to move to the beat and play along with instruments to the rhythm of the music.
Dramatic Play: we transform these areas into beauty parlors, restaurants, ice cream shops, grocery stores, bee hives, castles, pirate ships, post offices and a variety of other dramatic play areas. We provide wonderful props for the children so that they may enter these centers and work with other children in all sorts of make believe play. Children also have access to puppet theaters to put on performances for audiences of all sizes!
Construction: we provide children with tons of open ended building equipment that they can use during their play. Equipment includes blocks, Lego, Mega Blocks, Gears, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Playstix, Magnetix and many connecting sets. All can be combined to create some magnificent building projects. Teachers also provide other materials as requested by the children like boxes, boards, stones, sticks and tubes. Everything is available to promote some serious building play!
Sensory Play: Children are thrilled to be able to explore goop, slime, sand, water, shaving cream, bubbles and other wonderful messy materials. This area is also used to create sensory worlds that are of interest to the children including ponds, treasure hunts, under the sea landscapes, dinosaur digs, and farm lands. We also take many projects outside where we are free to make a great, big, glorious mess!
Physical Education: Children have opportunities to play on and in climbers and tunnels while enjoying games and activities using bean bags, hula hoops, parachutes, rhythm wands, rhythm scarves, balls bubbles, and float balls. Children will practice daily skills such as balancing, jumping, throwing, catching, climbing, sliding, running, skipping and jumping, and dancing. They will not only be engaged in gross motor activities inside but will enjoy running and exploring in our fun play yards. Try some preschool yoga, climb a rope, jump, swing and hop!
Transitions and Routines: songs to signal time to clean up, line up, make a circle, come to circle time, and for lunch. We have discovered that guiding children through music is a fun way to get children to respond to transitions in a soothing and comforting way.
Classroom Set Up: Educational areas are broken up and clearly separated so that children can see the division in play areas. Shelves, tables and play equipment are turned and set out in formations that encourage the children to flow from one activity to the next while limiting frustration and opportunities for conflict. Classrooms are broken up into the following play areas, construction, dramatic play, puppet play, reading, table top toys, math and language manipulative, science, technology, sensory and free art. We have filled these areas with a collection of open ended and fun educational toys and equipment that the children can explore. Teachers set up the play environment so that all areas are filled with activities that interest the children. If children want to take out a new toy, project or activity at any given space they are welcome to do so.
Exploration and Creativity: Our educators are trained in play based learning and child development. They engage with the children at play to take note of each child’s individual needs and interests and in turn, capitalize on these interests by building off of the children’s play and providing them with the equipment and supplies needed to support their exploration while asking questions to guide children in play expansion and comprehension. Teachers then use these observations to set up their classroom with activities and materials that will support the learning needs of each individual child but will also reflect the particular interests of the children in their classroom.
Language and Literacy: These activities are fun and are a quick way to ensure that children get daily practice in letter and name recognition. We use music and songs to learn and recognize letter sounds.
Social Responsibility and Diversity: an all-inclusive classroom where all cultures, religions and every ethnicity are not only welcomed but are celebrated. Artistique's activities also focus on learning about the world and helping others and staff and children are often included in many projects that are focused on charity, friendship and inclusion.
Math and Numeracy: Activities cover all areas of math learning including number recognition, graphing, patterning, printing numbers, counting, learning shapes, matching, ordering, measurement and one to one correspondence. In addition to carefully planned activities children also have access to a wide variety of open ended math tools and equipment that they can incorporate in their daily play, experimentation and exploration.
Science and Technology: We create science areas with changing equipment that are chosen to tweak the interests of the children and encourage them to explore and learn. Making volcanoes, learning about germs with a germ explosion, mixing up some sticky slime, or exploring fluids are some of the fun activities children will explore.
Visual Arts: Children engage in many visual arts projects and are constantly exposed to a variety of different mediums that they may explore. Children will be able to experiment with painting, colouring, collage, sculpting, stamping and drawing. They will also have fun participating in some unusual art projects like finger painting with shaving cream and painting with baby bottles, yarn, ice, salad spinners, fly swatters, party blowers and other fun equipment. The process is the focus of our activities and children are encouraged to explore materials and create their own masterpieces!
Music and Dance: we provide classroom sets of drums, maracas, tambourines, rhythm scarves, parachutes, ribbon wands, bells, shakers, hoops and balls and a wide variety of music and movement equipment. This equipment is used during our gym time activities to get children up and moving to the rhythm. The hands on equipment make circle time a super fun time as children learn to move to the beat and play along with instruments to the rhythm of the music.
Dramatic Play: we transform these areas into beauty parlors, restaurants, ice cream shops, grocery stores, bee hives, castles, pirate ships, post offices and a variety of other dramatic play areas. We provide wonderful props for the children so that they may enter these centers and work with other children in all sorts of make believe play. Children also have access to puppet theaters to put on performances for audiences of all sizes!
Construction: we provide children with tons of open ended building equipment that they can use during their play. Equipment includes blocks, Lego, Mega Blocks, Gears, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Playstix, Magnetix and many connecting sets. All can be combined to create some magnificent building projects. Teachers also provide other materials as requested by the children like boxes, boards, stones, sticks and tubes. Everything is available to promote some serious building play!
Sensory Play: Children are thrilled to be able to explore goop, slime, sand, water, shaving cream, bubbles and other wonderful messy materials. This area is also used to create sensory worlds that are of interest to the children including ponds, treasure hunts, under the sea landscapes, dinosaur digs, and farm lands. We also take many projects outside where we are free to make a great, big, glorious mess!
Physical Education: Children have opportunities to play on and in climbers and tunnels while enjoying games and activities using bean bags, hula hoops, parachutes, rhythm wands, rhythm scarves, balls bubbles, and float balls. Children will practice daily skills such as balancing, jumping, throwing, catching, climbing, sliding, running, skipping and jumping, and dancing. They will not only be engaged in gross motor activities inside but will enjoy running and exploring in our fun play yards. Try some preschool yoga, climb a rope, jump, swing and hop!
Transitions and Routines: songs to signal time to clean up, line up, make a circle, come to circle time, and for lunch. We have discovered that guiding children through music is a fun way to get children to respond to transitions in a soothing and comforting way.
Classroom Set Up: Educational areas are broken up and clearly separated so that children can see the division in play areas. Shelves, tables and play equipment are turned and set out in formations that encourage the children to flow from one activity to the next while limiting frustration and opportunities for conflict. Classrooms are broken up into the following play areas, construction, dramatic play, puppet play, reading, table top toys, math and language manipulative, science, technology, sensory and free art. We have filled these areas with a collection of open ended and fun educational toys and equipment that the children can explore. Teachers set up the play environment so that all areas are filled with activities that interest the children. If children want to take out a new toy, project or activity at any given space they are welcome to do so.