The Gap

Play and Learn The Gap’s Infant room is licensed for 8 infants with 2 permanently employed educators.

Experience with infants over the years has taught us that sometimes babies are not predictable and a third educator may be employed to assist with the room.

Several factors will be considered in determining when three educators will work in this group they include;

• How many bookings there is on each day – no point having three educators with one baby.
• If a new infant is to start at the service – extra help is often needed while settling and bonding with children.
• The ages within the group.
• The individual needs of each infant.

Experiences

Our main focus in the room is forming secure attachments with your baby. Secure attachments and trust develop when we respond consistently, sensitively and confidently. Our attachment however will not affect your babies’ attachment to you – it helps them be close to people.

Current research very clearly tells us that babies who experience any care that is unresponsive, unpredictable or threatening may develop problems developing trust and attachment, this often affects a child’s overall development.

What we will do to establish Infant connections

• Connect with parents so you feel relaxed and confident in using the service.
• Smile at your baby – so simple but so powerful
• Cuddle
• Sing
• Baby massage or bath
• Read Stories
• Have tummy time and encourage your child to reach their infant milestones.

The Gap Toddler child care room is licensed for 12 children with 3 permanently employed educators.

Settling children is again our main focus in this age grouping as now children are very aware when their primary caregivers have left.

Anxious and stressed children find it difficult to learn anything so bonding and establishing relationships with your child is vitally important.

Experiences

Our Toddlers have many opportunities to join in fun and educational experiences throughout the day. Informing us about what your Toddler loves to do helps us to plan for the transition from home to the centre.

Toddlers are developmentally egocentric. So helping Toddlers understand that there are other children in the group who may want to play with the same trucks is really tricky!! In helping this we deliberately set up our environments with multiple equipment that is the same or similar. Having one off pieces of equipment sets children up for challenges. However not everything can be avoided and nor should it, our educators are skilled in helping Toddlers learn life’s social skills.

Similarly, your child’s sensory motor development is vitally important. The Toddlers years see rapid growth in your child’s sensory motor systems and it is these systems that provide your child with the foundations for academic learning.

To continue developing the sensory motor systems we will

• Crawl / Spin / Creep / Climb / Jump
• Dance
• Explore messy play – please supply old clothes
• Skip / hop / throw / catch
• Sing / play music

Play and Learn The Gap Kindy program cater for children 2-4 yrs, we have two Kindy rooms.

Jnr Kindy which is licensed for 20 children aged approx. 2.5 yrs – 3 yrs with 4 permanently employed educators and Senior Kindy which is licensed for 22 children aged approx. 3 yrs – 4 yrs with 2 permanently employed staff.

The service will be flexible with age groupings to meet the needs of our children our families and the community.

Remaining flexible with age grouping allows for children of the same family to be together or children who are friends to remain together while settling.

Experiences

Within this age group our educators are planning activities that develop the integrations of two brain hemispheres, fine hand co-ordination, sense of direction, awareness of time and many other really important areas of development.

So often we hear parents say “When will they learn their colours, their numbers and letters” and although this is somewhat important they ARE NOT the markers for a child’s ongoing success and later learning. What I mean is a child may be able to recite the alphabet but unable to sit for a story or problem solve with peers.

Our service looks at children holistically across many areas of development some that cannot be seen nor measured nor sent home on a piece of paper but please note we are always thinking planning and evaluating all that we do.

In our Kindy groups we will be

• Running
• Playing ball
• Drawing
• Painting and some days it will be messy.
• Water play
• Listening to story / music
• Playdough and clay
• Climbing…….parents look away if you have to….! But small risky play is vital and if we deny children of risk taking in Early Childhood they will take greater risks as adolescents and these risks will have far graver consequences. So please allow us to be at the top of the fort…

Our Pre-prep program at The Gap Play and Learn is our Approved Kindergarten program led by our Early Childhood Teacher.

The room is licenced for 22 children with 1 Teacher and 1 Assistant and children in this room who are then moving to Prep will be 4yrs old by June 30th.

Let’s get ready for Prep …….not really at Play and Learn The Gap!! What??? What is being ready anyway? It will be so different for each child and each family. So often parents rely on markers such as knowing colours and letters as being school ready and that could not be further than the truth.

Prep teachers often tell us that if a child can look after their own belongings at school they will be eternally grateful…. But that doesn’t sound as glamorous at the end of the day does it…. “Oh...by the way your Billy put his pencil in the pencil holder today” said NO Teacher ever…..but at Play and Learn The Gap those life skills are just as important as learning our colours.

Our kindergarten program is based on the Queensland Curriculum guidelines and a copy can be found at

www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/kindergarten/curriculum

Experiences

We look at children holistically and our programs are play centered – (hence our name) Block play, games, puzzles, arts and crafts, dress ups, dancing, stories and singing are just a few things your child will enjoy.

Fun environments ensure that children learn best. When children are pressured to rote learn, recite and spend long periods of being directed and lectured by adults learning actually becomes far more difficult. When it happens naturally driven by children interests it has greater meaning and therefore retained more easily.

Getting ready for prep is:

• Using language to communicate ideas and feelings.
• Co-operating with peers without hitting /pushing and biting.
• Adjust to separating from their primary caregiver
• Working independently
• Expressing ideas and thoughts though the arts
• Developing language for problem solving i.e. Words like “lets negotiate”
• Mastering fine and gross motor skills – I cannot write if I don’t know where my body is in time and space.