Early childhood is a particularly important period in child development. This is the time when your child learns social skills, develops concepts, and forms values and attitudes which last her/him a lifetime.

At Wind and Tide, we recognize each child as a unique individual with her/his own special capabilities. Our environment is warm, accepting and designed to promote self-confidence, optimum growth and development. We give each child as much personal attention as possible while at the same time promoting a feeling of group belonging.

Goals of the Preschool Program

   Main Goal - Socialization

The preschool program provides a semi-structured environment but incorporates a flexible approach to learning. Within the daily schedule there is lots of room for your child to develop at her/his own pace-socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.

The main goal of the preschool program is socialization.  We feel very strongly that the most important skill we can impart to young children is the ability to enjoy being a part of a large group.

We teach and encourage Going For Goodness, which is the ability to identify and express your personal feelings; how to successfully enter play situations; and how to resolve conflicts without always needing the assistance of a teacher. These skills and many more are taught through songs and roles plays with both teachers and children. We would like the children to complete their preschool years feeling that they know how to be friends with anybody rather than feeling that certain people are intimidating or boring and therefore unacceptable as friends.

   Academic Goals

We recognize that over the years Wind and Tide has become known as a very academic preschool. Although this is not our primary goal, all of our programs have a very strong academic component.   Over the years, we've found that the majority of the children who attend Wind and Tide come from strong, loving families where they've been treated with kindness and respect. Because of these nurturant family environments, the social aspects of the program come together quite quickly and therefore allow us to provide a sound academic component.

The philosophy behind our academics is guided by our desire for children to come to see learning as a very fun, creative hands-on experience which they feel successful with.

Our academic curriculum is broken down into six different curriculum areas; reading, math, science, social studies, art, music and dance. Each of these curriculum areas has its own set of goals and each area is reviewed in detail at the parent evening at the beginning of the school year.

Learning Style and Teaching Methods

Our program is designed to stimulate learning through play activities. The children actively participate in exploration and discovery while the teacher acts as a facilitator, extending and directing experiences so that each child's knowledge is stretched and deepened.

It is very important to us that, at the end of the day, when you ask your child what they did today, their first response is "I played". All of our teachers have been trained to creatively mold play situations so that they lead to the acquisition of specific skills.

   An example of our teaching style...

As an example, in October in the three year old program, we talk about mixing primary colours to get secondary colours. The teacher may introduce the lesson as follows:

"Girls and boys, today we are going to do some finger painting with green paint. Let's all go over to the painting table and have a look". At the painting table the teacher discovers, to her utter astonishment, that we are completely out of green paint - how unfortunate! Luckily, we do have some yellow and blue paint still in stock. "We'll just have to use those colours for today". As individual children choose to come to the art table, they begin painting with the yellow and blue paint "Oh my goodness!", exclaims the teacher, "where did you find the green paint?" (yellow and blue mixed make green in case you've forgotten your secondary colours).

In conversation with the child, the teacher would then draw out the child's experience which led to the colour green being on the page. The teacher would sum it up by saying something like... "So Kristen, you had yellow and blue paint and when you mixed them together they turned into green - how fascinating!". This discovery in art would be reinforced through other learning-play experiences such as a science lesson on melting. As the children melt a blue ice cube and a yellow ice cube in a zip lock bag (by rubbing the bag with their mitten-covered hands), the resulting green liquid is distinctly different from either of the two ice cubes - another discovery that blue and yellow make green.

A love for learning...

At the end of the four-year-old year, many of the Wind and Tide children leave being able to read and write, add and subtract, tell you the difference between Monet and Van Gogh paintings and describe the life cycle of a butterfly. However, the accomplishment of specific skills and the acquisition of discreet knowledge is not the hallmark of success in the program.  We consider ourselves successful when we have motivated each child to be challenged and excited about learning.

Basic values...

Wind and Tide seeks to demonstrate and promote Christian values and attitudes. We would like the children to develop a love for God, a caring attitude towards each other and an appreciation and concern for the world around them.