The Early Learning and Development Areas (ELDAs)

The National Curriculum Framework forms the foundation of our curriculum which is designed with the Early Learning and Development Areas (ELDAs) at its core.

• Physical well-being: health and safety, gross motor development, fine motor development
• Identity and belonging: self-awareness, positive self-image, self-management, social awareness and social management 
• Communication: listen and understand, speak and communicate, make meaning and represent, critical thinking and problem-solving, conceptualisation, learn Mathematical concepts
• Exploring Mathematics: quantity and numbers, measurement, patterns, shape and space, data collection, time and ordination
• Creativity: daily life and play, visual arts, performing arts 
• Learning about the world: exploration and inquiry, knowledge and understanding, executive function.

Program Activities

Our structured daily program follows the South African National Framework through a play-based philosophy

• It is aimed to support and enrich your child’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive growth through developing their knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
• We use a thematic approach and incorporate a wide range of age-appropriate, child-initiated and teacher-led activities: Ring-time, Arts and Crafts, Fine-Motor development, Gross Motor movement, Music, Science, Mathematics, Stories, Songs, Rhymes, Games, Sensory Activities, Fantasy and Free Play.
• Children are exposed to letters, numbers, shapes, colours, name recognition, counting, seasons, weather, news, life cycles, etc.
• Each class has weekly lesson plans, available in the classroom. These plans contain a number of activities, designed to foster each child’s development, and the development of the class as a whole. These activities are aimed at facilitating learning opportunities through art, dance, drama and music.
• Each classroom has set areas, which include blocks, books, gross motor, fine motor, science and art.

Daily schedule and Activities 

Each staff member is responsible for carrying out the daily schedule and activities for their own class. The daily schedule and activities create a balance between busy and quiet times, group and individual activities, gross and fine motor activities, indoor and outdoor activities and child-initiated and teacher-directed activities.

Our daily schedule focuses on consistency and routine to maintain the overall well-being of the children and classroom environment. 

Outdoor Play

Outdoor play is an important part of a child’s physical development and is included in both the morning and afternoon Programme in the daily schedule. 

Free Play

Free play is a daily part of the curriculum where the child has an opportunity to choose which activity he/she wants to participate in. This promotes creative expression and the development of important social skills.

Assessments

First Steps Day-care uses observation based assessments to evaluate and track each child’s physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. The assessment tool is used twice a year to aid the formal reporting process at the end of the second and fourth terms.  This allows a more holistic picture of a child’s development during a year. By tracking a child’s development, we are able to plan activities that are appropriate for each child’s developmental abilities and to adapt lesson plans according to their developmental needs.

Assessments Portfolio

An assessment portfolio is kept for each child. Copies of each child’s Progress Observation Sheets are filed in the office. Assessment portfolios will not be released to anyone outside the day-care without written permission from the parent/guardian. Assessment portfolios will contain a variety of items, including photographs, examples of artwork, assessment profiles, personal information and reports that document a child’s growth and development throughout the year. 

It is the responsibility of the class teacher to ensure that portfolios are continuously updated each term. These portfolios are sent home at the end of each year and become the property of the child’s family.

Reporting (is this whole paragraph necessary/ I wouldnt put it in)

The reporting process is completed after the completion of observation based assessment of all the areas of development. Reporting takes place:

• Teddies classonce a year, at the end of the fourth term
• Monkeys class           once a year, at the end of the fourth term
• Penguins class           twice a year, at the end of the second and fourth terms
• Owls class        twice a year, at the end of the second and fourth terms