What Core Beliefs Do We Have About Children, Families, Teaching and Learning?
We appreciate childhood as a unique stage of the human life cycle. We value the quality of children’s lives in the present, not just as preparation for the future.
Our work with children is based on an ever-growing body of knowledge of child development and learning. We appreciate and support the close ties between a child and his or her family. We recognize that children are best understood in the context of family, culture and society. We respect the dignity, worth and uniqueness of each individual child. We aspire to help children and adults achieve their full potential in the context of relationships based on trust, respect and positive regard.
How We Make Our Core Values Evident in Our Environment
- We believe that all children are competent and capable individuals who have a natural curiosity for learning. We believe that a positive experience during the early years of schooling has a profound effect on self-worth and future attitudes towards learning.
Therefore, we foster a child’s basic disposition to investigate and to make sense of their experiences, to teach them to care about and relate to others and to nourish their social, emotional, spiritual, physical, aesthetic, cultural, linguistic and intellectual development. We affirm the value of play and social interaction as a key learning medium. Within our active program of learning, children engage in concrete experiences that enable them to build on their existing knowledge and develop dispositions for life-long learning such as creativity, perseverance, care and responsibility. Through a balanced program of teacher and student initiated learning, children interact with others to acquire skills that enable them to develop their interests, solve real problems and communicate cooperatively with others. We provide opportunities for children to be curious, to wonder, to ask questions and to learn from others. We encourage children to marvel at nature, to develop a sense of spirituality, to acquire an understanding of heritage and to make connections about the world.
- We believe that teachers actively contribute to each student’s learning through their expectations, teaching strategies and commitment to learning.
Therefore, we have high expectations of students and scaffold learning to support increased levels of understanding, consistent with developmentally appropriate practice. We regularly assess student learning and modify our instruction to match children’s needs. We support children’s sense of self and growing awareness of their abilities by establishing a positive environment in which student’s efforts are valued and recognized. We guide and monitor student behavior and use appropriate methods of discipline.
- We believe that parents have a critical role in contributing to their child’s self-esteem and learning.
Therefore, we encourage parents to be involved in their child’s learning both within school and at home, we regularly communicate with parents in various ways about our program and about student progress.
- We believe that teachers nourish themselves as professionals by continuing to learn at all stages of their career.
Therefore, we identify areas for our own personal and professional growth and implement plans to strengthen our curriculum and instruction. We find ways to learn from our colleagues and to share our knowledge with others.
