Kangaroo Kids

Purpose


To create a learning environment that accommodates all individual learners providing them with opportunities to maximise their inherent potential.

Our ultimate and cherished dream is to capture the latest and most innovative learning and teaching techniques and to introduce them successfully in India and across the world. We believe that children have a right to stress-free childhood, and we have shown that education can be a happy medium to gain knowledge. Learning can be and should be fun. We believe that all children should have the opportunity to experience the joy of discovery and develop a love for learning.

Learning Environment

Brain research states that the ‘wiring’ in a child’s brain is positively affected by nurturing relationships and enriching environments. Our learning environment includes the set-up of various interest areas that encourage independence and autonomy where children learn how to get along with others, express individual thoughts, solve problems, and most importantly develop empathy towards others.

Teachers as Facilitators

The teacher/facilitator plays a vital role in our learning environments. Mentors are constantly trained and empowered to achieve an optimal balance between self – initiated learning and adult guided and supported learning.

Parents as Partners

Parents play an equal role in realising the vision of the school by walking hand-in-hand in the early stage of learning. This offers preschoolers a level of comfort essential for making learning fun-filled and exciting.

Our Curriculum Methodology

One size doesn’t fit all; it is important to accommodate all individual learners, providing them opportunities to grow at their own pace and optimise their inherent potential. Our curriculum strongly emphasises children’s intellectual (cognitive), language, social/emotional, physical, creative and aesthetic development and is based on the latest research and pedagogy.

 

Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs

 

After the basic physiological needs have been met, needs like safety & security, love & belongingness, and self-esteem are consistently met, which help children establish their competence and capability over time. Here is how we do it:

  • Well-trained and loving staff address the tender needs of preschoolers to be loved and cared for, while they are away from home.
  • Classrooms are well lit, colourful, safe, and comfortable.
  • Furniture is attractive, age-appropriate, and colourful.
  • Importance of cleanliness/hygiene is instilled at a young age by setting examples.
  • Provision of healthy meals offered through the school cafeteria.
  • The curriculum is designed to boost self-esteem and confidence in children. It also caters to social-emotional and physical growth in children.

Neil Fleming’s VARK

 

Treating each learner as a unique individual, implementing this theory helps foster a blended learning environment based on different learning styles. Here is how we implement this:

  • Visual: Movie watch, Puppet Shows, Activity Center
  • Auditory: Rhymes, Music and Movement
  • Read and Write: Pre-writing skills, Sight Reading
  • Kinesthetic: Gross motor, Outdoor play, Creative Art

Jean Piaget’s theory of ‘Identifying Four Stages of Cognitive Development’

 

Children move through four different stages of learning:

  • Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
  • Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7
  • Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11
  • Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up

On reaching the Pre-operational stage (ages 2 to 7), our learners start thinking, imagining, and learning about the world around them.

A plethora of activities form a part of their learning process during this stage, some of which are:

  • Roleplay/pretend play
  • Shaping the dough to make familiar objects like a ball, letters, numbers, fruits, or vegetables
  • Origami and cut & fold craft activities
  • Flying around in the room with arms outstretched like a bird

Maria Montessori’s principles of using their senses & incorporating materials to facilitate learning

 

Prepared classroom environment, colourful resource materials, and interactive learning activities ensure a holistic approach to growth and development, based on a combination of the following principles:

  • Respect for the Child
  • The Absorbent Mind
  • Sensitive Periods
  • The Prepared Environment
  • Auto Education

We implement it through:

  • Self-directed, hands-on learning and collaborative play- making handprints, marine life posters and other such art activities, sand play, water play concepts like sink and float, big and small
  • Gross motor coordination - Body balancing activities, hopscotch, catch and throw
  • Fine motor skills - Scribbling, cutting through the shapes, sticking and pasting activities, string the beads
  • Language skills - Recognition of letters, phonics, vocabulary

Erick Erickson’s Eight Psychological stages of Man

 

This psychosocial theory meshes individual needs with the needs of society. Resolving the crisis at each stage, children develop character traits that help them become confident. These stages include trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair.

Here is how we put this to practice -

  • Welcoming children by taking their names.
  • Engaging in an informal conversation with children.
  • Handling kids with a lot of love, care and affection.
  • Making monitors and giving them responsibilities.
  • Helping children with their basic needs like drinking water, visiting the washroom, or eating snacks.
  • Teaching children how to put on shoes, socks, open and close water bottles, and snack box.
  • Positive reinforcements and constant motivation.
  • Engaging with children in sand play, water play, outdoor games etc. Helping them understand conflicts and how to resolve them.
  • Helping children speak their mind, cope up with academic challenges, learn to share, be assertive but listen to others too.

Vygotsky’s focus on social aspects of children’s cognitive development

 

A child’s social interactions with adults and more learned peers can facilitate their potential for learning. Special days like Dad & Mom Day, Grandparents’ Day, Pet Care Day, Doctor & Nurse Day and field trips to a bakery, supermarket, or zoo provide great learning opportunities for their social development. Other activities include:

  • Circle Time activities like passing the parcel, knowing each other (introductory games), Chinese whisper, storytelling, sharing details of events like birthday celebrations
  • Cooperative Drawing
  • Sand Play
  • Splash pool
  • Concept themes - Community Helpers, Professions

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

 

This theory propagates that each individual has a way of learning and engaging with the world, which is unique to them and is referred to as ‘intelligence’. The application of this theory helps us implement strategies to promote all intelligences and cater to different learning needs at the Preschool level.

We have interesting activities which cater to all sorts of learners:

  • Mathematical/Logical - Math games like dominoes, number tablets to understand value association, looking for patterns in the immediate environment, mosaics, concepts like big and small, long and short, interpretation of data with graph
  • Visual/Spatial - Playing with mega blocks, lego, puzzles, sequencing story picture cards, dough play, puppet show, video watch
  • Naturalist - Seed germination activity, sand play, visiting a garden watching creepy crawlies, leaf printing, concepts on plants, wild animals, pet animals, sorting and classifying natural and man-made things
  • Bodily/Kinesthetic - Role Play/ Pretend Play, water play, music and movement, aim at the target, scavenger hunt, hula hoop activities, games like Simon Says, Twister, Hopscotch, acting out concepts, for example becoming planets and moving around the Sun
  • Musical/Rhythmic - Poem recitation, rhyme time, dance sessions, creating music with tambourines, wrist rattles, shakers, maracas, creating patterns while clapping, musical drawing
  • Interpersonal - Cooperative Drawing, working on a project in pairs or for a dance performance, team games, assisting/helping others complete their tasks
  • Intrapersonal - Concepts on understanding one's own emotions, object talk, self talk
  • Linguistic/Verbal - Reading sessions, read-aloud sessions, sequencing letters, word games, learning tongue twisters, rhyme time, crossword puzzles, conversation time

 

Events & Activities

Culminating activities and special events showcase and extend children’s learning. These provide an opportunity for parental involvement and are a critical tool for creating ‘episodic memory’ – memory created through sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, location & emotions.

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Field Trips

Children learn best through direct experiences as they connect their learning to the ‘real world’. Field trips and guest lectures are linked across all concepts. Whether it is a visit to the pet shop or a supermarket, a bakery or a zoo, such visits offer unique learning experiences that re-enforce learning concepts taught as a part of the curriculum.  

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