Early Childhood Program
At Butterflies we aim to provide the highest standard of educational programs for our children by following the principles and practices of the Early Years Learning Framework and allowing the outcomes to guide our teaching intentions and practices. We also use the NSW Curriculum Framework to direct our educators and ensure we offer learning experiences at every part of the day.
We believe the relationships established between educators and children, as well as between peers are a key strategy in the success of our educational programs as they allow us to have a deeper understanding of children's motivations, interests and ideas; as well as qualifying us to individually plan to enable children to learn more effectively.
Our curriculum is play based and child-centred to enhance each child's learning, development and wellbeing.
The educational programs are developed by each of our teams for each individual room outlining or teaching intents and highlighting clear proposed teaching strategies to reach our intended outcomes.
Our evidence-based Education Summaries are delivered to families every 3 months as children develop and work towards their goals, celebrate milestones and achievements, and explore the learning and education they have encountered and the educators have observed over this period of time.
Our day-to-day program and philosophy are guided by Being, Belonging and Becoming. It is Australia’s first national Early Years Learning Framework for early childhood educators. The aim of this document is to extend and enrich children’s learning from birth to five years and through the transition to school.
Our educators use a holistic approach to help children continue developing in all areas, such as physical, social, emotional, cognitive and language.
Transition to School
Our Transition to School Program was designed with the aim of giving children all of the social, physical and intellectual skills required to easily join their respective schools in the coming years.
At Butterflies we believe that play is a very important part of child's development. Therefore, we make sure that children have plenty of opportunities for free play every day. Our environment promotes play on every level and materials are selected to ensure that they stimulate the children's interest and help expand the learning process.
At the beginning of each year, we organise our Transition to School conference by inviting teachers from primary schools to give parents some insight of what children will need to do to get ready for ‘big’ school. We also arrange one-on-one meetings with each family to catch up with their child’s progress, set up goals quarterly, and aim to set them up for a successful transitioning experience for
If you’d like to know more about our School Readiness program, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.
Extra Curricular Activities
We understand that many of our families run on a tight schedule, and our busy life style means that there isn't much time left for you to take your children to participate in extracurricular activities you might wish they could join.
Many of your children spend a lot of their time in our care, and we want to assist our families, offering different activities for them to take part in while at the Butterflies.
All Age Groups
Tuesday and Wednesday: Mandarin Program
We currently offer a Mandarin program as an extra language curriculum. This is delivered throughout daily routines and small group experiences. Children will have opportunities to learn another language whilst playing, packing away, washing hands and enjoying small group interactions with the educator.
Friday: Reid the Music
Reid the Music Sessions will be tailored to the children’s interests and skill level attending the lesson. The children will be learning the dynamics of music; beat, rhythm, tempo, pitch, duration, tone colour and structure. These concepts will be explored through singing and music activities. Some of these activities include exploring long and short sounds, high and low pitch and, loud and soft instruments. Each session will have different resources to engage the children. Bongos, castanets, ukuleles, piano and tambourines are just some of the instruments the children will play to explore music. We will explore the different types of cultural music and instruments throughout our program as well. Along the way the children will also develop creativity, confidence building, cultural awareness, concepts of music, mathematical skills, coordination, pattern and symbol awareness, sensory development and social, emotional and physical well-being.
The program is created with Children’s Services professionals as well as musicians to create a holistic approach. We will have special sessions throughout the year that will align with the children’s curriculum e.g. Chinese New Year, Harmony Day and St. Patrick’s Day.
Toddlers
Thursday: GrowFit Mini All Stars
Children learn in a positive environment understanding that making mistakes is just part of learning. The Toddler stage is a crucial development phase in the building of movement skills.
There are four concepts that define all types of physical activities within the GrowFit program, which are designed to challenge the children's movement: body, effort, space, and relationship with an object. When competence is demonstrated at the base level, the focus then shifts to more advanced sets of skills.
Preschool
Monday: GrowFit Breathe
Breathe is a brand-new program by GrowFit designed to help kids slow down and... Breathe.
This program incorporates postures, stretching, mindfulness, calming techniques and most importantly with the GrowFit Fun Guarantee.
Breathe aims to increase strength, improve balance, enhance flexibility, promote health, enhance sleep and boost confidence in little ones.
We explore concepts through interactive story telling using our bodies to physically create the scene we are setting and build the lesson around activities to engage children's natural curiosity.
By encouraging the children to focus on their breath as an important developmental building block, we can assist busy little minds and bodies to access the ability to develop calming techniques when needed. Learning breathing techniques can improve concentration and posture and in turn increase self-esteem.
Our team of early childhood educators, exercise physiologists and meditative practice specialists have worked to build this program to complement ELYF and NQS. Each weekly flow is linked and the documentation completed for the convenience of your educators.
Thursday: GrowFit All Stars
The program has been run at Butterflies for years, and we still love it. Each session incorporates a wide range of specialised games, songs and tailored fitness exercises using sporting equipment specially designed and modified for preschool aged children.