Lab School Philosophy

Philosophy Statement

• The child care programs to be offered in these child care facilities will be reflective of quality indicators and developmentally appropriate practices.
• In order to grow well, young children require not only their basic needs be met, but the opportunity to develop high self esteem, independence, and the beginnings of social responsibility.
• Children need self respect, a belief in their own competence and possibilities for the future, and a chance to explore, actively, the world around them.
• Adults working with young children are obligated to act in ways which permit children to develop self respect, competence and construct deeply productive knowledge.
• There are four major tenets of developmentally appropriate practice which will be present in the programs of our child care centres.
1. The program will be child-centered with adults sharing power and responding to children’s interests and ideas in developing the curriculum.
2. Each child will be seen as unique and his/her development is supported.
3. The whole child will be respected as an active learner, who constructs his or her own knowledge.
4. Adults will offer children not simply physical safety, but psychological safety, that is, respect for one-self and the development of social responsibility towards others.

Curriculum

The programs implemented at the Lab Schools of NSCECE will be based on the research validated open framework of the Emergent Curriculum Approach also drawing on the premise of “active learning” from the High/Scope Educational Approach. The Lab Schools strive to provide safe and healthy learning environments for children. This child-centered and developmentally appropriate curriculum is delivered by qualified teachers who are trained and caring professionals.

This approach organizes the children’s environment and interactions to provide consistent and secure experiences that are based on daily observations of their development, skills and emerging skills. Careful observation will reveal what is individually appropriate for each child as well as interests that are shared. In deciding what interests to plan for and actively support, teachers need to assess the potential of any interest for in-depth learning by both the individual child and other members of the learning community. The content of projects should engage adults’ interests as well as children’s.

Guiding Children’s Behaviour

Our positive child guidance approach is designed to develop children’s self esteem and promote the development of self control and problem solving skills. Our goal is to help children take responsibility for the behaviour in which they engage. This is achieved by using a proactive approach based on an in-depth knowledge of child development, environment and curriculum design.

Staff facilitate the development of children’s competence, control and self worth by engaging in positive adult/child interactions, maintaining age appropriate expectations, and planning a consistent, predictable daily routine. These strategies minimize a child’s frustration and reduce incidents of inappropriate behaviour.

Positive child guidance strategies such as clear limit setting, respect for individual differences, offering appropriate choices, reinforcing positive behaviour, modeling appropriate behaviour, ignoring inappropriate behaviour, providing experiences with natural and logical consequences, redirecting, offering substitutions and encouraging a child’s active participation in the problem solving process are employed by staff.

A safe and secure environment for children is based on a sense of trust and respect. Children who need help gaining self control will be assisted and supported by the staff to ensure a positive learning experience.

The above principles are supported by current research in behaviour guidance and have been found to be very effective by early childhood educators. We ask that you respect our approach while in the centres. The staff and Centre Directors will gladly discuss the specifics of our behaviour guidance philosophy with you upon request.

In accordance with the Day Care Act and Regulations the Board of NSCECE will not permit the following:

• Corporal punishment including but not limited to striking a child directly or with any physical object, or shaking, shoving, spanking or other forms of aggressive physical conduct.
• Require or forces a child to repeat physical movements.
• Use harsh, humiliating, belittling or degrading responses of any form, including verbal, emotional or physical.
• Confine or isolate a child or deprive a child of basic needs including food, shelter, clothing or bedding.