Village Treehouse Childcare is a licensed child care program under the Ministry of Education and we are committed to being in compliance with the Child Care and Early Year’s Act 2014. We have adopted “How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years (2014) as the document to guide and influence our approach in curriculum.
Village Treehouse Childcare will use this resource guideline to strengthen the quality of our program and ensure high quality and enriching experiences that lead to positive outcomes in relation to the children’s learning, development, health and safety, nutrition and well-being through play based learning. Our program provides learning opportunities both indoors and outdoors.
We see children as competent individuals, capable of complex thinking, curious and rich in potential and we will value and build on their strengths and abilities. We will encourage the children to interact and communicate in a positive way and support their ability to self-regulate.
We see families as experts who know their children better than anyone and have important information to share with us. We will foster the engagement and ongoing communication with parents about the program and their children. Engaging families in our program builds on positive relationships and supports the child in their healthy growth and development.
We see our Early Childhood Educators as knowledgeable, reflective, resourceful and rich in experience and we value the experiences and environments created for the children. We will provide child-initiated and adult-supported experiences. Village Treehouse Childcare will support staff with continuous professional development and mentorship.
Community partners’ involvement is also essential to maintaining a supportive, nurturing and educational environment.
How Does Learning Happen?
Is organized around the four foundations that are to be considered to be essential for optimal learning and healthy development for children: Belonging, Well-Being, Engagement and Expression.
Belonging refers to a sense of connectedness to others, an individual’s experiences of being valued, of forming relationships with others and making contributions as part of a group, a community, the natural world.
Well Being addresses the importance of physical and mental health and wellness. It incorporates capacities such as self-care, sense of self, and self-regulation skills.
Engagement suggests a state of being involved and focused. When children are able to explore the world around them with their natural curiosity and exuberance, they are full engaged. Through this type of play and inquiry, they develop skills such as problem solving, creative thinking, and innovation, which is essential for learning and success in school and beyond.
Expression or communication (to be heard, as well as to listen) may take many different forms. Through their bodies, words and use of materials, children develop capacities for increasingly complex communication. Opportunities to explore materials support creativity, problem solving, and mathematical behaviors. Language-rich environments support growing communication skills, which are foundational for literacy.
The four foundations apply regardless of the child’s age, ability, culture, language, geography or setting. Unlike a structured curriculum, the conditions are high-level states of being that children naturally seek for themselves and should not necessarily be viewed as separate elements.