TWO AND THREE YEAR OLD PROGRAMME
As children grow in confidence and ability, and turn two years old they transition downstairs to the ‘Over Two’ area. Our aim has always been to create a welcoming, nurturing, and home like environment.
We know as educators that an overly cluttered and brightly commercialized environment can be over stimulating for a child's brain development hence why we have a centre with warm colored walls, organised and neatly displayed areas and simple yet effective displays throughout each different part of the environment.
This environment is designed to stimulate our children's senses and nurture their curiosity with plenty of room for interactions with other children and the use of play equipment. We believe it is essential that our children have an environment which is rich in natural challenge that provides them with the opportunity to develop and refine their physical capabilities.
The area is divided into rooms that flow from one to the next, this encourages our children to make purposeful choices about where they want to be within the environment.
Natural wind chimes hang from trees and mosaic cultural designs can be found amongst the concrete areas.
Each room also comes with its own set of challenges, places and features to sit in, areas to provide for both privacy and views and natural ‘equipment’ such as shells, drift-wood and stones encouraging children to set the stage for their own play.
The Over twos area comes with its own gardens, worm farm and composting area with a strong focus on nature and sustainability.
Children actively participate in growing vegetables, recycling and compost making and there we also have our guinea pig which encourages and helps with fostering a sense of care and responsibility for living things.
There are rocks to turn, insects to find, huts to build and trees providing opportunities for creative problem solving and the development of a sense of wonder about the natural world. It is a rich learning environment with a hidden curriculum that speaks to children in a special way inviting learning about the natural environment through exploration, discovery and the power of their own imaginations.
“Indoor and outdoor environments are attractively resourced to support children’s learning through a range of play activities, investigations and physical challenges. Teachers continue to develop the environment using natural materials and gardens that reflect environmental sustainability and bicultural influences. Literacy, mathematical concepts, science, music, construction and creative expression are integrated into children’s play.” Education Review Office 2015.
Children have a “rolling morning tea” (9am-9:45am) and “rolling afternoon tea” (2pm-2:45pm) where between these times children have the opportunity to eat when they are ready to. Often children come to the Treehouse soon after breakfast, and are not ready to eat.
The child’s decision to eat or not eat is respected (and monitored with the parents if this happens regularly), allowing the child opportunity to take responsibility for their own eating habits. Lunch time is a meal that is eaten together as a group.
After eating, those children who sleep and rest do so, and the older children go outside for extended activities. If a child needs to sleep that does not usually, we will cater for these individual needs.