We are excited to begin another wonderful year and warmly welcome all of our families, both new and returning, to our preschool community.

Below, our long-time Director and Educator Michelle shares an insight into our learning philosophy and what everyday learning looks like here at Lilydale Preschool.

Michelle’s Say……

I base my program on my observations of the children, my knowledge of child development and am guided by the  Early Years Learning Framework.

The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia aims to help all young Australians to become

    Successful learners

    Confident and creative individuals

    Active and informed citizens

The learning that happens at this preschool allows children to choose what they would like to learn, how they are going to tackle what they are doing and long uninterrupted amounts of time to engage in their chosen activity.  Plus there is intentional teaching occurring throughout every session.

Gone are the days when every child in the group had to make a daffodil and they were put on display in a row in the playroom.  Today the children are active participants in their individual learning.  They are confident when asking for materials or equipment which will enhance what they are engaged in. They have strong ideas about what they are going to do, how they are going to do it and will ask for help when needed.

This makes my job (which has changed since these frameworks were introduced in 2009) unpredictable as I don’t know where the session will go and what will be learnt. We have the routines set so that the children know what is expected of them, learning is happening and there is a rhythm to our day.

“Not all children are ready to learn the same thing at the same time in the same way” is a quote from Kathy Walker who is an Australian early childhood consultant.  This is one of the benefits of having the multi-age groups. Everyone learns, plays and works together helping each other along the way.