For many toddlers this is often their first experience outside the protective family environment. Since we are a two section school our students are not overwhelmed by the cheer size of their peer group. They feel safe and quickly adjust to their environment.

The goals of the pre-nursery/nursery curriculum are:

Building strong pre-reading skills;
Knowledge of and ability to form letters/alphabets;
Enhancing listening and communication skills;
Introduction to basic math;
Build self confidence and self esteem;
Promote caring and sensitivity towards others;
Gain self-discipline;
Respect for self, others and materials; and
Appreciation for nature.

Children learn through free play, pre-planned play/activities and during staff directed learning times. The curriculum is designed to ensure genuine inclusion (i.e. active and meaningful participation) of every child in daily programs and with one another. The implementation of the curriculum goals begins as soon as the students arrive in the morning until they leave in the afternoon.

The methodology adopted to achieve the curriculum goals are as follows:

Language Skills

In the morning the students gather in the well of the classroom for a very vibrant and enjoyable oral session of rhymes.

The session involves the use of gestures and playful interaction with the teacher and with each other.

Activities like origami, puppetry, collage making, greeting card making, and flash card making enhance creativity and enrich vocabulary. Creative physical exercise routines and sign language during play are other reading readiness experiences that contribute to formal reading.

The day ends with a story telling session using puppets or the children themselves enacting from the stories and finally the picture dictionary to catch up on specific vocabulary to graduate to the next level.

Written work in initiated through pattern writing, strokes and finally alphabets and words.

Mathematics

Children use abacus, blocks, flashcards and other sensory aids and mathematical materials to understand the concept of colors, shapes, numbers, short and long. They learn how to sort, match, order, sequence, count and recognize numerals.

Knowledge and Understanding of the world

Children go on regular excursions to the entertainment city, the park, the post office, the shopping mall, the department store, and the mother dairy.

Students look forward to visiting the multimedia room. The audio and video presentations simulate learning. Kids concentrate and find the learning experience enjoyable and fun.

Appreciate Nature

Nature walk is an important activity. Children appreciate nature and learn much outdoors when accompanied by a teacher.

Music and Dance and Art and Craft

Children absolutely love their music and dance classes. There is hardly an occasion without the little ones swaying to the music. Through the performing arts children discover ways to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings. Children regularly present a cultural program to celebrate a festival or events of national importance.

Self expression is explored through open-ended, child-centered art activities.

Non-representational experiences, which eventually lead to representational creations, allow children to have successful creative encounters every time they participate. Our art projects, using both natural and manufactured materials, are often thematically based.

Physical Development

A broad range of motor development opportunities are part of the curriculum. Various methods lead to the promotion of balance, coordination, confidence, and control. Large motor skills are enhanced by outdoor activities such as running, jumping, and throwing. Indoor activities designed to coordinate eye and hand movements, manipulate small objects and to refine self help skills include the use of scissors, assembling puzzles, origami, collage making, art and craft, and building with blocks.

Assessment

Teachers actively take time to understand each of the children in their care by observing, interacting, listening, note-taking and reflecting.