Dear Parents and Carers,
As yearend is fast approaching its time to start considering your choices for kindergarten education in 2021. Ordinarily we would invite you to our live event here at Choklits so you could speak with our educators and learn more about our program, but as we all know (almost) everything looks a little different in 2020!
One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is our commitment to deliver a high-quality program that will help ensure our children are ready to start school in 2022.
To simplify, you have two basic options, enrol in an outside sessional kindergarten program or stay within the familiar surrounds of the Choklits Community and be part of our very own kindergarten program which is now partly funded by the government.
You will obviously need to do your own investigative research if you are considering an alternative to Choklits. That should include visiting different kindergartens, speaking with teachers and ensuring the facilities are suitable. Most importantly, you should look for an environment your child feels safe and comfortable.
As we cannot be together, the kindergarten educators and I have our best technology foot forward and recorded the presentation in audio format. Please have a listen, we’d love to hear any feedback you have-
The Choklits kindergarten program has adapted and continued to evolve over the past 12 months. In addition to all our regular incursions including sports activities, music lessons, second language programs and the library excursions, we now have the ability to move in and out of a remote based learning environment if required.
We’ve included answers to many of the questions we’ve already received regarding the program below. Please feel free to reach out to the kindergarten team with any of further questions.
We are looking forward to an exciting 2021,
Jade and the Choklits Team
In our large, purpose-built room at Choklits, we offer two programs for our children. A pre-kindergarten class also known as 3 year old kindergarten and a 4 year old funded kindergarten class. Our team collaborates together to share the space at different parts of the day. Typically, the pre-kinders and kinders separate during the morning and come together in the afternoon.
We believe the value and benefits of collaborative learning are key in setting your children up for transition to school. The environment is a more holistic and child-responsive curriculum practice that considers the understandings, capabilities and dispositions that children need for the future.
We have found that because of the mixed age group, the younger children benefit from the positive models of older children, often aspiring to their levels of capability. At the same time, the older children rise to the expectations of the younger children and teachers, are more responsible and enjoy having opportunities to lend and use their expertise.
The advantage of working together with children for more than one year enhances continuity of learning and the forming of positive relationships between educators, children and their families.
Co-learning is the way of the future which , as we are learning, will include the need for lots of resilience and adaptability. We realize we cannot predict the jobs they will have, but what we can predict is the skills and dispositions needed to have lifelong success.
At Choklits we are fortunate to have Kindergarten Teachers who hold a Bachelor of Education and are approved with the Victorian Institute of Teaching.
Choklits kindergarten program operates 5 days a week from 8:30am to 4:30pm. The hours before and after the program will be dedicated to additional education and play in line with the Early Learning Centre environment.
Our kindergarten program is developed from the National Early Years Learning Framework and The Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework.
Attending Kindergarten at Choklits offers many benefits for both children and parents.
Please feel free to contact us and talk to the educators in the Kindergarten room at any time. We are happy to talk to you and discuss the program and answer any questions.
We are very proud of our all our Educators and the fantastic work they do for all our early learners here at Choklits. To meet our entire team click here. Some of our staff even have video messages waiting for you!
We love documenting and reflecting on our Kindergarten program, the lessons we learn and the education and experiences we provide. We have produced many videos and written many blogs on our program activity. To review what a day in the life of our kindergarten program may look like for your child, please click here for videos and here for blogs.
If you are considering sending your child to our excellent four-year-old kindergarten program in 2021 please complete form below before the 1st of November 2020, we will do our best to accommodate your preferences. We will confirm all places in November and provide you with the Victorian government funding letter and information for you to complete.
For further information please see the following helpful links–
https://www.learningpotential.gov.au/articles/is-your-child-ready-for-big-school
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/parents/kindergarten/allaboutkinder.pdf
Fill out this form and we’ll be in contact
