Learn By Doing
The Aims of Pre-School Education
As all children are different and develop at different rates, pre-school education aims to develop the whole child by:
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promoting emotional, social, physical, creative and intellectual development;
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developing self-esteem, self-control and positive attitudes towards others;
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developing language and communication skills to encourage the sharing of thoughts and feelings;
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creating confident, eager, enthusiastic, independent, curious learners with a positive and problem-solving attitude to learning.
Creating a Love of Learning
Playschool isn’t about counting to 100, learning what an adjective is, trigonometry, algebra etc, all that fun stuff is for big school. A pre-school setting is where children learn how to learn. This is an amazing time in a child’s life where they begin to build friendships and discover what the world is all about, all the while forming their own understanding of the best way for them to take in all this information and make use of it to build who they will become. There’s no right or wrong answers in Playschool just a series of investigations and discoveries about how things work or don’t work, what things are made of and how things relate to each other, big or small, heavy or light etc. We guide children on their journey by focusing on six areas of learning.
Curriculum
6 Areas Of Learning
The play curriculum is shaped around the following areas.
Language Development
With language children make their needs, thoughts, feelings and ideas known. They interact socially as they play together, manage their own behaviour and self-regulate their emotions and learn independently and collaboratively. By listening and talking to their friends and teachers, and learning through adventures and activities, language builds and forms in Playschool.
Early Mathematics
Maths is everywhere. In Playschool we don’t sit everyone down and drum times tables into them. This is a place for Maths to be learnt through fun shopping activities, stacking lots of blocks, understanding how many bricks are needed to balance a structure, playing with things that are light and heavy and more.
The World Around Us
The world is an amazing place and we strive to showcase a little of it in Playschool and help the children understand their place in it. At Evergreen Wood as part of our mission statement we will also give children the opportunity to learn about the environment and how nature works. They will learn to understand people’s role in shaping the climate and experience the world’s wildlife in its many forms.
The Arts
Picasso, Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dali, Pollock, Rembrandt, all started somewhere and in Playschool children will have the chance to paint, sculpt, build, cut, stick, and create art that expresses who they are and what they enjoy doing. All with a range of materials that will change and progress to develop their artisitic skills.
Physical Development and Movement
Keeping active and learning to love exercise is important for physical and mental health. No bar bells or treadmills here, but plenty of basketball, football, catch, hula-hooping, balancing, dancing, jumping, bowling and zipping about on scooters and trikes. All done to stay fit and healthy and foster a love of movement and exercise that will hopefully stay with the children for years to come. The next sports stars start here.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Making friends, socialising, working as a team, persevering when things don’t go as planned are all part of the personal development a child will receive in Playschool. At Evergreen Wood we will guide children to a better understanding of their emotions and how they affect their decisions. With fun and happiness as the core of everything we do, we will help children understand the full spectrum of how they can feel through role play and interactive learning.
As well as our work in the 6 areas we’re dedicated to enhancing the learning experience of our children as education is not about repeating facts it’s about fostering curiosity and a love of discovery. To paraphrase the Greek philosopher Plutarch, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.”
We do this in lots of ways from introducing S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) concepts to calling in some wonderful experiences from our network of superb fellow educators like David from Hawk Walks NI, and Samantha with Summer the Therapy Horse.
We hope to give your child fun memories to last a lifetime.
Students per session
Mornings per week
Staff + Volunteers
Months per year
Get In Touch
Location:
The Village Hall, 62 Newtownards Road, Greyabbey
Email:
info@evergreenwoodplayschool.com
Telephone:
07577855185
Playschool Hours:
Mon-Fri: 9.15am – 12.15pm
Working Together
Our Professional Partners
