Description: Kindergarten classes are operated September to June from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Friday which constitutes 750 minutes of instruction per week. The teacher/child ratio is 1-6. The program is staffed by an Early Childhood Educator/teacher with a degree and one assistant, Enrichment French and Movement teachers. Speech and language pathologist is available if necessary. This program meets or exceeds the standards as laid out by the Ministry of Community and Social Services for the Day Nurseries Act and the Kindergarten Years Toronto District School Board Curriculum.
Philosophy: Our education philosophy is drawn from best practice from the Ministry of Education Kindergarten Program and from the HIGHSCOPE program, which promotes:

Active Learning Approach - "Learning by doing"
Involving Teacher and Parents - Supporting and extending children's emerging intellectual, physical, social and emotional skills and abilities
Daily Organization - Consistent schedule to include individual, small group and large group experiences and a balance of teacher-planned and child planned activity
Classroom Organization - Room is divided into five or more distince "interest" areas. Reading, writing, math, science, art and computers.

Goals: We support a child's natural learning by Enquiry and Investigation within and outside our classroom. This involves the following critical steps:

*exploration
*questions
*predicting possibilities
*planning and reflection
*decision making
*communication
*evaluation

Our small group size, provides our teacher/team with the opportunity to provide a personal environment that will foster confidence, independence, socialization and a hands on learning experience to prepare the children for senior kindergarten and grade one and to allow us to have close contact with you regarding your child.

How Children's Progress is Monitored: Childrens' progress is documented by anecdotal notes recording observation of important behaviours and by compiling portfolios of student work samples that are evidence of childrens' progress. Information is communicated on a weekly basis via a "Notes from teacher" sent home. Regular meetings to discuss individual children will be scheduled each term.

To apply for this programme and information regarding fees, please contact Mary Dwan King at (416) 424-2135.