School Readiness Program

At Bear Child Care Centres we aim for your child’s passion for learning to commence from whatever age they join our BearFamily. There is an evolution of learning which derives from the methodologies of our teaching program from as young as a Bubba Cub. Your child’s passion for learning should start well before they commence Pre-School (which is from Cubby Bears to Pre-School Cub years). The information provided below is fairly specific for our Pre-School Cubs program, however, the learning they receive from their younger years @ BearChildCare, best prepares them to embark on their PSC journey for School Readiness.

• Homework Books – These are sent out once a week and encourage your child to do work at home (just like “Big School”). Each child’s homework book is unique, as they are all individuals learning and developing at different stages, with different strengths and interests. Therefore, we are not putting pressure to overwork the child. Homework they may be asked to complete could include; independent writing, tracing, counting, matching, colouring, drawing, etc… They also learn the importance of “homework”, familiarise themselves with the task of completing school work at home, and how “practice helps to make perfect”.

• School Routines –

• Choice of sleep or quiet activity.
• Independent self-help skills; dressing themselves, eating, toileting, shoes & socks, general hygiene such as washing hands and blowing noses.
• Crossing legs in group-time, hands-up for questions, and participation in longer group times.
• Rules and boundaries.
• Listening and respecting their Educators.
• Consideration for peers & Educators, discussing consequences of both positive & negative actions.
• Helping to make beds as well as pack away sheets and blankets.
• Be responsible for own belongings (lockers/pigeon holes/homework books, hats, bags, bottles)

• In-depth interest based Program – The Pre-Schoolers are encouraged to partake in more in depth & challenging projects within each topic area of the program, to extend learning further.

• 2pm “Big School Time” – At this time children are encouraged to progress throughout the year with their tracing, writing skills, recognition skills, concept skills, computer skills, self-help skills and independence. We have worksheets that are completed at least once a week, to encourage and practice these skills. For the Beginning of the year the children will be learning different concepts each week (shape, colour, letter, number) and will complete an entry in their school workbooks based on these concepts. These workbooks remain on the premises and can be viewed at any time by parents.

• Extending Languages – numbers 1-10 are learnt in Greek, Arabic, French, Portuguese and Italian and many more. If you are interested in teaching the children the language you speak please see Miss Hope. Languages have been extended by incorporating greeting phrases and songs. Papa Bear will be looking at introducing Russian to the Language Program in 2018.

• Working on Separation Anxiety between Children and Parents- we encourage parents to leave the Centre promptly if the child is upset or crying, after having said goodbye. At this age, it often makes the situation worse the longer the parent stays.

• Excursions – A combined Preschool Excursion is planned annually in November in which the children, educators and parents hop on a coach and head out for an exciting adventure. Throughout the last two years, spontaneous excursions have been implemented in order to better develop/extend on children’s interests and ideas. BearChildCare is lucky enough now to have our very own BearChildCare Bus that takes us to all of our desired learning locations. These times enable the children to be active participants in their learning by stepping out into the community, such RSL, local parks, Nursing Homes, Bunnings, Library, Reverse Garbage and supermarkets. Parents are encouraged to participate in all excursions.

• Lunch Box – will be introduced for December only. The children will be asked to have a packed lunch box filled with a sandwich a piece of fruit and some snacks for Morning and Afternoon Tea. The children will still be provided with a Papa Bear lunch. This will help your child be familiar with unwrapping and opening packages, and school/ lunch transition.

• End of year Pre-School Report – Our Pre-School Cub educators also complete a report for each child in their care that is then distributed to their New Big School. This report closely looks at each child’s development and provides families and their Kindergarten Teacher with a detailed summary of their progress.

• Weekend Reports – We encourage weekend input from our children and families as regularly as possible. This is providing your children with an opportunity to build their confidence levels and extend their vocabulary using prompts from teachers and parents. We ask that there are no toys brought for this part of our program. It is based on past events using photos to help recap your child’s memory. You written explanation helps us to guide the presentation.

• Inclusion Support – At BearChildCare we offer a variety of support networks to assist in guiding each and every child in our care. In our Pre-School Room we offer more support and assessments in order to better prepare each child and their family with their developmental milestones. This can include Speech, Dental, OT, Vision etc.

• Starting School Early – We are here to support you in your decision on when to send your child to school and if it may be too early. There are so many milestones and signs to look out for when starting your child at Big School and we want to help you to make that right choice. In March every year we hold a parents information evening with local school teachers/principals as guest speakers to give you an outline of what is expected and opportunity to ask as many questions as possible. Whilst your child may be “eligible” to start school by birth date, it doesn’t necessarily mean your child is “ready” for school…