stgeorgechildcare.com.au local child care & services directory - Cheeky Monkey Day Care Centre -The St George Local Child Care & Services Directory

Our philosophy reflects our belief that early childhood education is important in the growing development of all children and here at Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre we strive to make these years as beneficial as possible.

The Aim of our centre is to provide professional care and a stimulating environment for all children in order to enhance and further develop their skills in all areas of their development. In doing this, Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre will provide an atmosphere which is warm, friendly, respectful, nurturing, safe, healthy and enriching for all those involved.

First and foremost we here at Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre believe that:
PLAY PAVES THE WAY FOR LEARNING

Play is so important to optimal development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. The children here at Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre are active learners. They construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world. Play is an essential aspect of learning for young children and planning for play is the central component in developing a curriculum that integrates all areas of a child's development.

We, as teachers have a critical role in responding to children's play ideas and in establishing an environment which supports and extends children's learning and every aspect of development through play. ?Play is the children's window to the world'. It forms the foundations for intellectual, social, physical and emotional skills necessary for success in school and in life.

KNOWN BENEFITS OF PLAY

Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, physical, cognitive and emotional strength.
Play is important to healthy brain development.
Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers.
Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts and to learn self advocacy skills.
When play is allowed to be children driven, children practice decision making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue.
Less verbal children may be able to express their views, experiences and even frustrations through play. (Paediatricians, Volume 119, Number 1. January, 2007 from ?The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining a strong parent bond").

PAEDIATRICIANS, TEACHERS AND ALL ADULTS SHOULD:

Emphasize that active, child- centred play is a time tested way of producing healthy, fit, young bodies.
Emphasize the benefits of "true toys" such as blocks, dolls, construction art & craft etc. With these experiences children use their imagination fully, over passive toys that require limited imagination.
Promote free play as a healthy, essential part of childhood. They should recommend that all children are provided with ample, unscheduled, independent time to be creative, to reflect and decompress.
If children are not given the opportunities to play freely and further develop life long skills they learn to adhere to adult rules and concerns and lose some of the benefits that play offers them- particularly in developing creativity, leadership and group skills. One of the most crucial outcomes of not allowing children the opportunity to play freely is that they can become very stressed, anxious, adapt into adult roles very quickly in life, lose self esteem and it can decrease a child's social competence.

So What Do Children Learn From Play??????

Block building, sand and water play lay the foundation for logical and mathematical thinking, scientific reasoning and further develop cognitive and problem solving skills.
Rough and tumble play develops social and emotional self regulation and may be particularly important in the development of social competence in boys.
Pretend play (Dramatic Play) fosters communication- developing conversational skills, turn taking skills, perspective taking and the skills of social problem solving such as persuading, negotiating, compromising and co-operating. As the children develop skills in pretend play, they begin to converse on many levels at once, becoming actors, directors, narrators and the audience- slipping in and out of multiple roles.

With all this said, we here at Cheeky Monkeys are very big believers that children learn through play. If you sit and watch your children play for at least ten minutes you will be amazed at the things they say, do and how they problem solve for better play solutions. Please do not forget that children learn through experiences and engaging in activities that they are naturally drawn to. Please also note that when you ask your children what they did at Cheeky Monkeys and they say ?we played'- please keep in mind that children do not play in order to learn, although they are learning while they are playing.

Futhermore, I would just like to add that aside from all this playing, the children participate in grouptimes which is a planned way of further developing children's cognitive skills and the preschool children engage in school readiness activities during sleeptime. If you would like to know what your children did for grouptime please look at the grouptime books that are in the locker area (they have been there all year) or ask your childs teacher. On the window of the entrance we also have posters about what activities further develop the children's school readiness skills. The children at Cheeky Monkeys are constantly further developing all skills necessary for their later life.

In Regard To the Children:

We believe in treating all children equally regardless of ability, gender, race, religion, values or beliefs. They are ALL unique individuals.
We believe that each and every child has a right of speech and opinion.
We believe that a child's first language is very important to their identity and our aim is to value and maintain this first language as well as Australia's language- English.
We believe that all children have a cultural identity which must be valued and looked upon as beneficial in maintaining this through their childhood experiences.

With these points in mind we here at Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre provide experiences that foster and reflect on the diversity of children and encourage children to express themselves verbally, creatively and through play. We encourage the use of first languages by asking that families write a list of useful words that we can use with their child/ren and we also employ staff that are bi-lingual. Furthermore, we encourage the learning of different cultures and traditions through play.

In Regard To Families:

We believe in fostering positive and consistent communication between parents/ caregiver and staff in order to tend to each families wants and needs when it comes to the care and education of the children.
We believe that family involvement and support is essential for the running of a high quality service.
We believe that parents/ caregiver's are the most important influences in the child's life and all your opinions and suggestions are valued highly and taken into consideration.
We believe in creating an environment where parents/ caregiver's are respected and welcomed into the centre just as much as the children are. We, together need to work as a team in the best interest of the children.
We value the role of the family when it comes to the centres program ,policy and philosophy reviewing. Families are encouraged to ask questions and raise issues about the centres philosophy and the overall running of the centre.

In saying this, we here at Cheeky Monkeys have an open communication with the families that pass through our centre. We communicate using our Communication pockets, our ?What We Did Today books', our daily communication books, monthly newsletters and our meal and sleep charts. We will constantly be asking families for suggestions and conducting surveys asking how we are performing and how we can change in order to better the centre. Families will always be invited to attend excursions, incursions and all other events arranged by the centre.

In Regard To Staff:

We believe that all staff should be encouraged to continue professional development and training in order to keep up to date with current trends in the childcare field.
We believe that all staff should take a team-work approach in all aspects of their working environment in order to increase the benefits of shared knowledge and skills in the workplace.
We believe that staff should ALWAYS show respect for one another.
We believe that all staff should have the necessary qualifications needed in order to carry out their job in a satisfactory and professional manner.
Staff here at Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre will always maintain confidentiality.
Staff at Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre respect all people involved within the centre and make everyone feel welcome. The staff are qualified and have experience working with children and will constantly be attending inservices to further their knowledge about the childcare industry and its practices. The staff are warm, caring and approachable are will be constantly problem solving the best possible ways in which to further develop children's knowledge and abilities through play and educational experiences.

In Regard to the Wider Community:

We believe that in helping the wider community we are also further developing the community awareness and acceptance of the children.
We believe that the wider community has a lot to offer the children when it comes to learning and educational experiences.
We believe that the children are constantly interacting within their wider community and with this said we aim to involve Cheeky Monkeys with wider community in order to encourage and further the children's involvement within the wider community when they depart from Cheeky Monkeys and also so they are involved and respect their wider community in later life.
At Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre we strive to help the wider community as much as possible. We will be involved in charity fundraisers such as Red Nose Day, Starlight Day etc and organizing people from the wider community to visit and further develop the children's awareness and acceptance of diversity such as Aboriginal Storytellers, Mums Day, Dads Day, Grandparents Day, Multicultural Day etc.. We also organize experiences for children to interact with people in their wider community such as visits to the library, the corner store and the post office.

In Regard to the Environment

We at Cheeky Monkeys believe that the children learn at their own pace and by engaging in experiences that interest them, therefore we focus on an emergent curriculum so children learn through play centres such as ?Construction Corner', ?Art & Craft Corner' ,?Technology Corner', ?Reading Corner', ?Puzzle Corner', Music Corner', ?Writing and Drawing Corner' and through free play time where the children can select what activity they wish to engage in.
We believe that the learning environment needs to be safe, fun and stimulating.
We believe that the environment should reflect multiculturalism and diversity.
We believe that the Cheeky Monkeys Environment should be a canvas of children's work and play experiences in order for children to feel proud and build up their self esteem and confidence about themselves.
At Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre the children are occupied within creating their own learning and problem solving ways in which their world comes together. This is promoted by the way the environment allows children to select what experience they would like to engage in and with what tools they use to further their knowledge. If children seem to be interested in certain topics or specific things that happen in and around the centre the staff extend on these topics and create child centred learning centres where the children can further their knowledge of certain topics by brainstorming, problem solving, discussing and creating experiences that relate.

Furthermore we would like to add that at Cheeky Monkeys Day Care Centre we have an "Open Door Policy" which means that we will always make time for our families and surrounding community, so please feel free to approach us with any questions or comments etc.