Our Early Years Programme is holistic and exploratory. It focuses on:
- Language and communication skills
- Creative expression
- Physical well-being
- Social/emotional development
Our settings provide opportunities for:
- Emergent play situations
- Making sense of things around them
- Investigating their surroundings
- Forming relationships and meaningful interactions
Infant Care (2 months to 17+ months)
Attachment as the cornerstone of infant development
Attachment is about an infant’s first intimate relationship with a nurturing adult, and its effects on the infant’s subsequent development. Consistency in the response of the educarer is an important factor in building secure attachments. Young children thrive on interactions that are respectful, responsive and reciprocal. The Sunshine quality is characterized by being :
Respectful – Our Sunshine teachers respect children and respect the readiness of children. If they are to command the respect of children, they have to first model it to them, and this entails giving children space and time and not constantly rushing them.
Responsive – Being responsive entails knowing how to respond to the needs and initiatives of children. Our Sunshine teachers are always ready to develop warm relationships with both children and parents, and in doing so, she is ready to become a good observer, recorder, assessor, organizer, and facilitator.
Reciprocal – Children yearn for approval from others. Approval from others teaches us to approve of ourselves. This is the best kind of attention we can give that encourages children to try new things without fear.
Toddler (Year turning 2)
Children learn through sensory and tactile stimulus. Thus, learning experiences are built around natural tendencies to be active and inquisitive. A warm and conducive environment that builds upon responsive interactions is key to developing children’s communication and expressive language. Transition and routines in group settings also help children to develop autonomy and self-help skills.
Pre-Nursery (Year turning 3)
The Pre-Nursery curriculum continues to reinforce the development of expressive language, communication, and vocabulary skills. Fine and gross motor development is promoted, together with social and emotional development. Daily activities are carefully crafted to provide meaningful play experiences and are seamlessly integrated with interactions, routines, and transitions. The environment is designed to support active exploration, and sensory and tactile stimulations. Pre-writing and counting skills will also be introduced by exploring sounds, letters of the alphabet and numbers.
The growing child is at the heart of our Preschool Programme. Thus, we adopt a constructivist approach that places an emphasis on child-centered learning experiences. We believe that children are active participants in their learning and aim to provide child-directed learning opportunities that tap on children’s interests, curiosity and their innate quest for knowledge. As they engage in inquiry, investigations, discovery and active hands-on explorations, life skills and competencies develop, and dispositions are enhanced in an integrated process-oriented curriculum with a balance of knowledge and skills acquisition.
Based on MOE’s curriculum framework, Sunshine Kids aims to mould children into life-long learners by providing them a balance of knowledge, skills, and dispositions through six learning areas using a thematic approach. Careful thought is given to developing each child’s cognitive, emotional, social, physical and creative potential. This is accomplished through the following domains:
- Language and Literacy
- Numeracy
- Discovery of The World
- Motor Skills Development
- Aesthetic and Creative Expressions
- Social and Emotional Development
We believe in nurturing our children to be well-rounded individuals through a holistic approach that is tailored to each child’s unique needs. As such, other components of our curriculum include:
- Integrated Literacy Programme (reading, writing, speaking, listening)
- Letterland and Fitzroy Phonics
- Graded Reading Scheme
- Integrated Chinese Language Programme
- Hanyu Pinyin
- Jolly Music
- Chinese Speech and Drama
- Interactive Multimedia-Aided Learning
- Learning Journeys beyond the classroom
