As children enter the Pine room they are at a pivotal stage of their development, we are really starting to see their unique personalities shine through. Before joining the Pine room the children go to the garden from the Willow room to start to build relationships with the Pine room educators. In the Pine room we use a key person approach as we believe this fosters strong relationships between the educators , the children and their families. Our curriculum in the Pine room is based off the emergent interests of the children, focusing on each child as their authentic unique self.
The Pine room is our toddler room so the environment is full of personality. We see each child in the Pine room as confident , competent learners and support children to become agentic learners. When we look at Aistear 2024 we see an agentic learner is:
- Capable of influencing their learning
- Able to make choices
- Has a sense of ownership
- Is given opportunities to make changes
- Capable of achieving goals
- Has the right to express their views
- Has a sense of control over their life
- Makes an impact on the world.
During the toddler years it is a big focus for us to build independence , communication and social skills. We encourage and support this part of their development by such things as having a clearly marked hanger with their photo to put their coats on and they are encouraged get these when going outside or home. This helps with their identity and belonging and life skills that they will carry through to the preschool room and beyond. As we prepare the Pines to venture up to the Oak room we introduce them to the Higgys house potty project which supports children and their families in their toilet training journey.
