Kindergarten is simply not just another year of child care, it’s a vital stepping stone to Primary School and the final opportunity for your child to benefit from high quality early education in their first five years of life.
Kindergarten teaches more than just numbers
School readiness is more than building foundational learning skills, it’s about developing social confidence and emotional resilience and knowing how to ask for help. These important skills in independence and confidence are vital, especially as the child to teacher ratio can often double when starting in a primary school classroom. (The average ratio of children to teacher in a Kindergarten is 11:1, which provides lots of opportunities for support.)
Kindergarten provides opportunities for children to form friendships with peers of their own age. This plays a significant role in supporting children’s social and emotional development, as having healthy and strong friendships helps children learn positive social behaviours.
Kindergarten classroom environments also provide stimulating opportunities to support their learning and play. In dramatic play spaces for example, children learn to cooperate, communicate, engage in literacy and numeracy while acting out real life experiences.
Research continues to provide evidence that the education children receive in the five years before they commence school is the most important education they will receive.
The best preparation is two years
Traditionally, just one year of Community Kindergarten is offered to build school readiness skills - sometimes for only 15 hours per week. However, international research is suggesting that those children who have access to two years of a high-quality school readiness program – start school further ahead and tend to remain ahead.
Enrolling your child in the Lifelong Learning Centres’ Kindergarten Program is the best choice for preparing your child for ‘big’ school. The two-year program provides flexible sessions, days and offers more than a traditional time-restricted Kindergarten program.
The program includes an industry-leading focus on:
Social, emotional, physical and academic school-readiness for the move to ‘big’ school
Learning to recognise and write their own name
21st Century thinking skills and communication skills
Number recognition and early math problems
Child-led investigation projects building problem solving skills
Other benefits include:
Flexible care, including 5-day-a-week program with full-day and flexible session times
State Approved Curriculum led by Bachelor-qualified Early Childhood Teachers
Enrol from 3 years of age
Casual learning days available throughout the year and during holidays
Child Care Subsidy eligibility
Learn more about how a 2-year Kindergarten program can benefit your child.