Welcome to the Juniors Room
Introduction:
The age group for this room is 2.5 years to 3.8 years of age depending on enrolment. There is a 1 teacher to 8 children ratio in this room. The room limit for enrolment is 24 children with 3 teachers.
The Junior Room is a cheerful, happy place, children think they’re playing all the time; in fact, they are learning social and classroom skills necessary for success in kindergarten. And that is the key to our Stoney Creek Child Care Center. Junior Program.
Each day the children will engage in all kinds of hands-on activities. They explore, inquire and discover solutions by themselves. These fun learning activities are all age appropriate, they will help build confidence, instill self-esteem, encourage self-expression, and develop social skills.
There are five important areas that prepare children for early stages for elementary school.
1. Social and emotional development;
2. Approach to learning;
3. Language development;
4. Physical well being and motor development, and
5. General knowledge
The Junior Room will provide a monthly calendar describing all special events, birthdays and activities. Programs are prepared weekly which outlines what the children will be doing on a daily basis. Programs and calendars are posted on the board by the door as well as a copy to the parents.
A cubby is provided with a name tag for your child’s coat, bag, rest blanket and spare clothing. Please be aware your child may share cubbies with another child due to part time children that attend the daycare.
Orientation
It is recommended that one to two weeks prior to your child/children’s official start date, you set up an orientation time with the supervisor and/or Director of Operations.
The following is a recommended schedule for an orientation:
• 1 – 2 hour visits with parent/guardian in attendance
• 2 hour visit without parent/guardian in attendance (1/2 day without lunch)
Program
The program begins at 8:50 a.m. Morning circle is held every day to discuss calendar, weather, songs, story, Mini-phonics, special event “theme days”, birthdays, and group discussions. Our goal is to teach the basic concepts (i.e. letters, numbers, colours, shapes, sizes etc.). and prepare each child for a smooth transition into our senior room and into kindergarten.
Part of the Junior Room is to learn about sharing and getting along with others. This is a time when they begin participating in activities for longer periods – listening to stories, singing songs, playing games, and doing art projects.
Through stories, children learn to appreciate language, gain new vocabulary, and learn to use new words and concepts. Simple participatory songs and games are important introductions to speech patterns, sensory motor skill development and movement skills.
Furthermore, the Junior Room focuses on a mini-phonics program. The mini-phonics program will allow your child/children to learn how to recognize and write the capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet. Mastering any kind of learning takes practice. We provide practice with worksheets/workbooks on a daily basis. In addition, we are always working with the children on writing names.
The teachers follow age appropriate activities and guidelines for both development and curriculum. This makes the transition from the Junior Room program into the Senior Room smooth, natural and fun.
Play/Learning Areas
The room layout provides learning/play areas for each child to explore. Toys and activities are rotated weekly. Ongoing program plans will foster physical, social, intellectual, emotional and creative independence, self-help skills and community awareness.
The daily play areas and learning centers/activities include:
(Please see parent Handbook for information on each play area)
• Table toys
• Large motor activities
• Creative art
• Block play
• Fine motor activities
• Cognitive activities
• Puzzles & Dramatic play
• Music and movement
• Reading area
• Science and nature
During the play/learning areas, the teacher(s) will circulate the room observing children and joining in their play. The teacher(s) will periodically sit with a small group of children to complete a teacher-directed activity.
