What will my child be taught?

At Sunbeam, we want to introduce socialization, communication and confident interaction with teachers and peers. Language development, listening, small and large motor skills, independence and self confidence will also be developed.
Our program is a play-based program designed for children aged three and four.  We offer a variety of play areas that encourage a child’s imagination and self-discovery:  art (drawing, painting, gluing, cutting), water and sand play, building blocks, dramatic play/dress-up area and a quiet reading area.

We take time to focus on being considerate with each other and on understanding that each child has an important place in the group.  

Children learn to co-operate with each other and how to interact with friends.  Each child gets the opportunity to be a special helper during class, and do show & tell, which promotes an opportunity for the children to practice social skills and to gain confidence when public speaking. Outside play and gym time allows children to use their gross motor skills, as well as use their cognitive, emotional and social skills. 

In our 3 year old program, we focus on social skills and learning about our world.  We have monthly themes, and we base our art projects, circle times and play centres on these themes.  We will introduce shapes, colours, patterns and numbers.  

In our 4 year old program we add our Phonics Program (based on Fun Family Phonics), and also a Fine Arts program.  One day a week we focus on learning a letter of the alphabet, how it sounds, how it looks and how to write it.  We will also have an artist each month that we learn about.  This can include painters, authors & sculptors such as Monet, Dr. Seuss, DaVinci.  We will also be compiling a binder full of work throughout the year so that you can look back at what your child learned and how they progressed. 

In all of our classes, we talk about God in different ways throughout the day. We do not teach individual doctrines, but we do tell the children they are loved by God, that God loves to hear us pray and that God created each of us. We will introduce bible verses and stories, as they fit into our themes. For example, during dinosaur month or gardening month, we would talk about how God created the world and how He made everything in it. At Christmas time, we will share the story of Jesus' birth and during friendship month we might talk about "loving our neighbours."