About Us

Turtle Club Policy Statement on Programming & Pedagogy

Qualified and professional teachers provide guidance while offering your children the opportunity to:

• Feel that they belong and are valued.  Have a sense of connectedness to others and are making contributions as part of a group & community.

• Incorporate capacities such as self-care, sense of self, and self-regulation skills.  To see the importance of physical and mental health and well-being.

•  Be engaged and explore the world around them with their natural curiosity.  This will help them develop skills such as problem solving, creative thinking, and innovating.

• Express or communicate through their bodies, words, and use of materials, children will increase their complex communication.  Language-rich environments support growing communication skills, which are foundational for literacy.

​

Pedagogical approaches that support quality programs are those that:

• Build positive and responsive relationships;

• Focus on children’s social, emotional, physical, creative, and cognitive development in a holistic way;

• Provide environments in which children learn through exploration, play, and inquiry;

• Encourage self-reflection, discussion, and ongoing collaboration and learning among educators.

• Engage with families, and value their strengths, contributions, and unique perspectives;

• Use pedagogical documentation to study, interpret, make visible, and help inform children’s learning and development.

       The process of learning should be fun, for it is the greatest game in life!  

The Six Elect Principles are as follows:

1. Early child development sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behaviour and health.

2. Partnerships with families and communities strengthen the ability of early childhood settings to meet the needs of young children.

3. Respect for diversity, equity, and inclusion are prerequisites for honouring children’s rights, optimal development, and learning.

4. A planned curriculum supports early learning.

5. Play is a means to early learning that capitalizes on children’s natural curiosity and exuberance.

6. Knowledgeable, responsive educators are essential.

​

What’s Most Important:

Children’s early learning experiences have a profound effect on their development. These early interactions directly affect the way connections are made in the brain. Early learning experiences are crucial to the future well-being of children, and establish the foundation for the acquisition of knowledge and skills that will affect later learning and behaviour.

Their early experiences with Day Care are of paramount importance. Children will thrive within classrooms that meet their developmental needs and that provide a secure, respectful, and nurturing environment. An early learning program can meet these needs, and provide an environment conducive to learning, only if it is culturally, linguistically, and developmentally appropriate.

Expectations should be challenging but attainable, and the learning environment needs to reflect the social and cultural context in which each child is developing. The program should be flexible enough to respond to individual differences and to make children feel comfortable in applying their unique ways of thinking and learning.

List of Prohibited Practices:

No licensee shall permit, with respect to a child receiving child care at a child care centre it operates or at a premises where it oversees the provision of child care,

​

(a)  corporal punishment of the child;

​

(b)  physical restraint of the child, such as confining the child to a high chair, car seat, stroller or other device for the purposes of discipline or in lieu of supervision, unless the physical restraint is for the purpose of preventing a child from hurting himself, herself or someone else, and is used only as a last resort and only until the risk of injury is no longer imminent;

​

(c) locking the exits of the child care centre or home child care premises for the purpose of confining the child, or confining the child in an area or room without adult supervision, unless such confinement occurs during an emergency and is required as part of the licensee’s emergency management policies and procedures;

​

(d)  use of harsh or degrading measures or threats or use of derogatory language directed at or used in the presence of a child that would humiliate, shame or frighten the child or undermine his or her self-respect, dignity or self-worth;

​

(e)  depriving the child of basic needs including food, drink, shelter, sleep, toilet use, clothing or bedding; or

​

(f) inflicting any bodily harm on children including making children eat or drink against their will.

​

Teachers will do the following:

1. All staff will ensure that they promote the health, safety, nutrition and well being of the children.

2. All staff will support positive and responsive interactions among the children, parents, child care providers and staff.

3. All staff will encourage the children to interact and communicate in a positive way and support their ability to self-regulate.

4. All staff will foster the children’s exploration, play and inquiry.

5. All staff will provide child-initiated and adult-supported experiences.

6. All staff will plan for and create positive learning environments and experiences in which each child’s learning and development will be supported.

7. All staff will incorporate indoor and outdoor play, as well as active play, rest and quiet time, into the day.  They will give consideration to the individual needs of the children.

8. All staff will engage and form ongoing communication with parents about the program and their children.

9. All staff will involve local community partners and allow those partners to support the children, their families and staff.

10. All staff will support others who interact with the children in relation to continuous professional learning.

11. All staff will document and review the impact of the strategies set out in points (a-j)

FINAL NOTE:

Programs are most effective when the content of learning is focused on supporting the development of strategies, dispositions, and skills for lifelong learning through play and inquiry.

Through play and inquiry, young children practise ways of learning and interacting with the world around them that they will apply throughout their lives.  Problem solving, imagination, initiative and social responsibility are all capacities vital for success throughout school and life in general.