Family Day Care Parramatta: Learning through play
Family Day Care Parramatta; the expectations for children attending early childhood education seems to vary within different groups in society. Here we will define early childhood education as participating in programs in Childcare Centres and Family Day Care Parramatta.
Some people in society believe programs for children in childcare or family day care should have lots of structured learning such as template printout instruction sheets of letters and numbers, learning to rote count and recite the alphabet even so far as learning the sounds of letters and associating them to the corresponding written form. They find it quite acceptable that children be guided in how to paint, what to paint and when to paint (of course making sure they stay within the lines). They are excited when they see that the resources provided are all educationally focused such as pre-packaged number/counting games, flash cards and items that are more suited to an early primary school classroom; and all this in the name of ‘school readiness’.
The Early Years Framework, Australia’s first national Early Years Learning Framework for early childhood educators explains that ‘from before birth children are connected to family, community, culture and place. Their earliest development and learning takes place through these relationships, particularly within families, who are children’s first and most influential educators. As children participate in everyday life, they develop interests and construct their own identities and understandings of the world’.
The Framework forms the foundation for ensuring that children in all early childhood education and care settings experience quality teaching and learning. It has a specific emphasis on play-based learning and recognises the importance of communication and language (including early literacy and numeracy) and social and emotional development.
Here at Collective Family Day Care Parramatta we believe children need to be children. They are children for such a short time and so we believe play based programs will ensure children develop holistically and reach their milestones. By providing programs based on their interests and setting up meaningful, purposeful environments children will learn everything they need to know through play.
At Collective Family Day Care Parramatta, we also believe children have the right:
To be safe
To be respected
To be an individual
To be valued
To be supported
To be amazing
To be independent
To be a scholar
To be an explorer
To be an activist
To be a conservationist
To be an investigator
To be part of a community
To be heard
To be a decision maker
To be friends
To be an adventurer
To be a creator
To be inquisitive
To be a problem solver
To be anything they want to be
To be who they are
When all the above are embedded in a service children feel confident and become ready for school because they were given the opportunity to be themselves and challenge and refine their own skills.
Collective Family Day Care Parramatta is committed to providing programs that are based on children’ s interests and allow for the individual child’s needs, ensuring each develops a sense of belonging.
Belonging, being and becoming are all important, but the idea of belonging is central. By supporting children to belong, we provide them with the opportunity to be a part of a community and to work towards achieving the learning outcomes.https://docs.education.gov.au/node/29724