At Butterflies Nursery, we have developed an enhanced programme to cater to the diverse needs of our community. Our daily activities are carefully planned to stimulate each child's cognitive, emotional, social, physical, creative and intellectual growth whilst, maintaining a sense of enjoyment and excitement. Our philosophy is that "What is fun is learnt quickest!" Butterflies provide an atmosphere where your child can make friends and share the fun of learning with other children.
We have a fortnightly theme - based curriculum that is constructed in a way so that it is fun and entirely flexible. Through play, children can be taught self esteem, problem solving and independence.
Our Nursery Curriculum is organized into six main areas. The activities are planned to ensure that the children receive a broad and balanced curriculum. This curriculum is delivered through carefully structured play activities which allow all children to develop their knowledge and skills.
The six areas of the curriculum are listed below:
1) Personal, Social and Emotional Development
This area covers important personal and social skills which children need to develop. We develop the child's confidence in meeting new people and new situations, their ability to focus, concentrate and meet challenges. We enable them to become independent in all their activities within the unit, help them to play, co-operate and share with their peers. We develop their ability to understand and express their feelings and to respect the beliefs and traditions of different cultures.
2) Communication, Language and Literacy
All children will have opportunities to talk and communicate in a widening range of situations, to respond to adults and to each other, to practice and extend the range of vocabulary and communication skill.
Included here are the important pre-reading, pre-writing, listening and speaking skills which children need. Here we develop the child's book handling skills, enjoyment of sharing books and ability to listen and reflect on stories. We develop emergent writing and the ability to listen to others and to talk with others.
3) Mathematical Knowledge and Understanding
There are important concepts, skill and language the children need to develop before they are ready to begin formal mathematics. In the Nursery we give the child a wide range of practical activities to develop understanding of number, mathematical language of shape, size and position and simple problem solving.
4) Knowledge and Understanding of the World
This area focuses on providing opportunities to all children to solve problems, make decisions, experiment, predict, plan and question in a variety of contexts, and to explore and find out about their environment, people and places that have significance in their lives. Here we provide the children with experiences in handling natural materials such as sand, water and clay. We develop their awareness of their environment. We give them opportunities to use computers, programmable toys and cassette recorders. They use construction kits and reclaimed materials to make models.
5) Creative Development
In this area children experience a variety of art activities (creating pictures, collages and models and experimenting with colour mixing) and a range of musical activities (singing and responding to music through movement). In this area we provide the children with a wide range of media with which to experiment. We develop their ability to handle and control tools or instruments in an appropriate manner. We provide the opportunities to explore and share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings through a variety of art, design and technology, music and movement, dance and imaginative and role play activities.
6) Physical Development
Children must develop their strength and skills to learn to control their bodies in both large and fine movement. Here we increase their agility, co-ordination, awareness of space, body control and ball handling skills through our. P. E. lessons. We also develop their water confidence in our swimming sessions. We develop their fine motor skills through handling equipment and toys which require control and strength to manipulate. We provide the opportunities for children to develop and practice their fine and gross motor skills, and to increase their understanding of how their bodies work and what they need to be healthy and safe.
