Preschool Programs

We believe that:

• play is essential to a child's learning and development
• a child is more likely to explore and learn from an environment that they feel safe and secure in.
• each child is developing socially,emotionally, physically, creatively and intellectually and that all five areas of development are of equal importance
• a child develops a positive self image through opportunities to make developmentally appropriate choices.

•  Our preschool program is a fully developed program that has evolved through 25 years of learning and exploring innovative ideas in the Early Childhood field. We offer a program that allows children to have the opportunity to develop a sense of self worth through positive experiences and every day successes. 
• Play is the means by which children learn all skills necessary for later life.  "We call it Learning!   They call it fun!" 

• We pick up our Kindergarten students from South Kelowna Elementary at 11:00 a.m. After our kindergarten children have put in a full morning at school we give them the oppurtunity to enjoy some outdoor, less structured time followed by relaxed playtime, in place of naptime. After some downtime, we engage in more structured opportunities that help stimulate their imaginations and continued learning.

Infant-Toddler Program

Infants and toddlers aged 3 months to 3 years will be cared for in their own brand new, dedicated facility next to our preschoolers' building. The ratio of caregiver to child is the required 1 to 4 for this age group . Our staff are fully qualified, licensed educators who have thier Early Childhood Education diploma, First Aid and Criminal Record Check.

The first three years are what Piaget, a foremost authority on early childhood development,  calls  the Sensorimotor Period, where infants and toddlers learn through sensory exploration. They develop physical and cognitive skills and learn about people and objects by becoming fully involved with their surroundings.

We know that toddlers will move whether moving is safe or not. They constantly try out new movement skills and explore thier independence. We designed our environment to encourage safe exploration and give toddlers the feeling of risk (without the risk) and of expanding their limits which increases thier self esteem. 

When your child turns 30 months we will begin a transition period to get him/her ready for the move to the preschooler group. We will start to include him/her in the "big kids" activities for a couple of hours at a time so she/he can get to know the routine and the staff. These blocks of time will slowly lengthen until they are there for a full day. When students make the transition to the "preschooler side", they are ready.