The BKA Daycare program offers a stimulating and warm environment for children aged 19 months to 4 years old. Our bilingual program offers activities that occur in both English and German that allow children a playful environment to acquire and develop both languages while also fostering their cognitive, social, emotional and physical development.
Laying the foundation
Experiences during the early years lay the foundation for all future learning. A rapid rate of development during the early years occurs in the physical, emotional, social and cognitive domains. The brain and body develop faster than at any other point in a child’s life. Social development also takes shape in these early years as children are naturally inclined to explore, to discover, to play and to make connections between self, others and their entire surroundings. Through these interactions, children form their perception of themselves and others in the world.
Supporting children cognitively, socially, emotionally and physically requires that all members of the learning community value these early years in their own right, as a time in which play is the primary driver for early childhood curiosity and development. Through play, young children develop approaches to learning and connect with key domains of their development.
• Receptive and cognitive abilities (for example, listening, remembering, thinking, analysing, the control of attention and working memory)
• Representational abilities (for example, using symbolic systems—such as oral and written language, drawing and mathematical symbols—to construct and represent meaning)
• Relational abilities (for example, the ability to play with peers, sharing and taking turns, and respecting others)
Early learning and development
Young children’s development proceeds in a complex, and often non-linear, trajectory where individual children follow different pathways simultaneously. Early Years Caregivers create learning environments and experiences that are both adaptable and appropriate to young children. As a result, Early Years Caregivers adapt goals and intended learning experiences accordingly, based on their observations of young children’s development.
Natural inquirers
Children are natural inquirers from birth; they have the capacity to learn about, interact with and interpret the world around them. From birth, children possess all kinds of mental abilities uniquely suited to these early phases of learning and development. They are curious and capable learners with a sense of agency, rich in potential, bringing valid skills, preferences and understandings to the educational process.
