Curriculum Jimboomba Little Gems Child Care Centre

Little Gems Early Learning & Childcare, Albany Creek, aims to provide an enriching curriculum that extends and enriches children’s learning. The Early Years Learning Framework says that a curriculum is – “all the interactions, experiences, activities, routines and events, planned and unplanned, that occur in the environment designed to foster children’s learning and development” (source – EYLF document, pg 9). Our curriculum encompasses all of this and much more. We collaborate with families, guide children’s learning and extend on the children’s own interpretations and imaginary play. This is a continuing process of collecting evidence and information, identifying the development of learning and reflecting upon our daily practices.
Little Gems learning stories are designed to encourage children to be actively involved in their own learning process. This will enable them to experience a variety of developmentally appropriate activities. The learning stories are displayed daily and weekly for all parents to see, each child also has their own learning journal that is available for parents to see at any time.

Little Gems offers a Queensland Government approved Kindergarten Program. The program offers parents and children a program that enriches and fosters their learning whilst still having the flexibility of days and hours to suit each families requirements.
The Kindergarten Program:

• Implemented and run by a University Qualified Early Childhood Teacher
• Curriculum is based on the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines – QKLG
• Program offered is for a minimum of 15 hours per week. We run our program for 48 weeks of the year.
• Provides greater flexibility for families, as the centre operates 52 weeks a year from 6.30am to 6.30pm
• Kindergarten program runs from 9am – 4:30pm each day

For more information on the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines, please click here
Please see our centre director or early childhood teacher for more information in regards to our current curriculum and learning outcomes.

At Little Gems Jimboomba we believe in building secure, trusting partnerships with each child and their family. We provide an environment which reflects each families uniqueness, and respect and value each child as an individual. By being in tune with each child’s feelings and needs and by responding to these with warmth, understanding, compassion and empathy we are able to create an environment that conveys a sense of belonging, love and security. We believe that when a child feels safe and secure in their environment they will develop confidence to engage in learning, promote self-esteem and a positive self-identity.

We value family involvement as this allows us to connect directly with the child’s life, which then allows them to feel comfortable and confident to try new things, grow and develop to their full potential. We value open communication with families and work to build strong partnerships with families by providing daily feedback on their child’s day, providing support and advice when needed, reflecting their diversity in our environments and valuing their input and knowledge.

We believe it is important to allow children time to learn through play.  Play based learning allows children to discover, investigate, explore, problem solve, imagine, improvise and make mistakes. Play encourages children’s imaginations, allowing them to come up with their own ideas, solve problems, improve social relationships, and build a sense of belonging.  We view risky play as crucial to the development of children’s social and emotional skills and critical thinking skills. These include skills such as comparing and contrasting, explaining why things happen, evaluating ideas and forming opinions, understanding the perspectives of others, predicting what will happen in the future and thinking of creative solutions to overcome obstacles. Educators identify risky play experiences and work to facilitate child engagement by asking questions which stimulate reflection on their own safety and well being as well as problem solving.

We aim to create environments which stimulate curiosity, enthusiasm for learning and wonder. Children are offered a relaxed and less structured environment to increase their willingness to explore and learn on their own terms rather than as dictated by a set curriculum.  A safe and challenging environment is provided where educators are active participants.

At Little Gems we know the importance of being outside in nature investigating and exploring. We aim to help children develop a love of nature and the environment and use natural materials and sustainable practices wherever possible.  Our outdoor and indoor areas engage children in experiences which promote play and learning by stimulating the senses. We believe that each day in a child’s life is an opportunity to learn something new.

Children are unique individuals with different interests, strengths and abilities. A holistic approach is taken to ensure that learning is organic, whole child focused and integrated across the curriculum. Children learn in their own time, at their own pace and in their own way.

At Little Gems we view children as active participants in their learning and set high expectations for each child. We observe, listen and determine what level of educator participation is required. Our programs are tailored to the individual needs, levels and interests of each child. Whilst playing and learning together educators use intentional teaching methods by encouraging, questioning, extending and reflecting on experiences shared. We will scaffold the development and education of each child as an individual who is able to develop their own identity and qualities, but still contribute and interact within a large group.  The process is often more important than the end product.

We believe that all children have the right to achieve their full potential and to support this we are implementing the Abecedarian Approach into our curriculum to support language acquisition, relationships with educators and with their peers. The Abecedarian Approach consists of using language as a priority throughout the day, enriched caregiving, conversational reading and learning games.

Our door is always open and we look forward to working in partnership with you and watching your children grow and develop.