When parents arrive to collect their children, their eager questions about the day's activities are most often answered by dreamy gazes. "Nothing" seems to be the usual answer to the question "What did you do in school today?" Once we realise, because of the child's ability to live in the present moment, that the child is unable to recount a day's events intellectually, we soon learn to interpret their way of sharing them - perhaps we hear a fragment of a song or a line of a verse, or the name of a new friend.
How can we build a healthy bridge between the Kindergarten and the home for the children? It is with this purpose in mind that the Kindergarten Handbook was created. Parents are invited to share their questions and concerns at parent evenings, in scheduled workshops and seminars, and in conversations with their teacher. It is our hope that we can all grow and learn together in a true spirit of community.
In the Kindergarten, education is centred upon meeting the needs of the child’s developing will. A caring environment which abounds with many possibilities for sensory and will activities is provided for children at this level.
The vital and purposeful activity of the Kindergarten child in which the world around is imitated and explored is simply called play. A young child’s work is play. The programme for these children is focussed around activity and play, in a colourful environment equipped with natural, basic materials. The children’s faculty for imagination is given scope to develop as they call up from within themselves the pictures and experiences they are absorbing from life. They express themselves and make sense of the world through activity and play.
See also