LANGUAGE

Throughout your child’s Curriculum at the Umalas Kids Club, whether in the classroom, outside or during extra-curricular activities, the default language is British English. Being in Indonesia, we also use vocabulary and songs in the Indonesian language in our weekly schedule. All of our teachers must use English to communicate with children, staff, parents, or anyone else.

THE PLAY-BASED CURRICULUM (EYFS)

We believe that the child(ren) learn best through play. Playful learning involves purposeful, facilitated, guided or free play activities.  We use a play-based program that meets the requirements of the English National Curriculum (Early Years Foundation Stage) and the Key stages, which supports all the aspects of learning and development in early childhood, from birth to the age of five years old and up. It encourages their innate curiosity and desire to make sense of the world around them and also helps them discover that learning is exciting and fun! It is of crucial importance and will make your child(ren) passionate learners for the rest of their lives.

The EYFS is based on four principles:

  • A Unique Child
  • Positive Relationships
  • Enabling Environments
  • Learning and Development

Following these essential principles, we decided to organise our structure into three different activities at the Umalas Kids Club, all educational, and related to the EYFS program:

  • Early learning playgroups (6 months to 3 Years old)
  • Preschool (3 Years old to 6 Years old)
  • Daycare (all ages)

Through thoughtful planning and the use of specific strategies to enhance children’s play experiences, we integrate learning goals and objectives for the group and individuals through multiple intelligences and multi-sensory activities. It involves a range of learning activities and approaches – but the child’s right to learn through play is at the heart of the program.

This type of learning helps young children learn and develop their physical, social, emotional and intellectual skills by doing and talking, which research has shown to be how young children learn to think. This is also how they learn to socialise while engaging in learning experiences with other children and adults.

With our Curriculum, we have seven areas of learning and development identified for children. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. The secondary areas will be developed and will strengthen the three primes areas at the same time.

  1. Prime areas
  • Personal, social and emotional development
  • Communication and language
  • Physical development
  1. Secondary areas
  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the world
  • Expressive arts and design

DETAILS OF THE SEVEN AREAS COVERED

  1. Personal, Social and Emotional Development

It involves helping children develop a positive sense of themselves and others; build positive relationships and develop respect for others; develop social skills and learn to manage their feelings; understand appropriate behaviour in groups and have confidence in their abilities. The children become confident and will demonstrate respect for themselves and be able to establish harmonious relations with other children and adults.

  1. Communication and Language Development

It involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves, to speak and listen in a various range of situations. They will also use a growing vocabulary with increasing fluency to express thoughts and convey meaning to the listener. They will listen and respond to stories, songs, nursery rhymes and poems. They make up their own stories and take part in role-playing with confidence.

  1. Physical Development

It involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive as well as to develop their coordination, control, and movement. We also need to help children understand the importance of physical activity and making healthy choices about food. We focus on children’s developing physical control, mobility, awareness of space and manipulative skills in indoor and outdoor environments. Children will be allowed to move confidently and imaginatively while increasing their general control, coordination and perception of space and others.

  1. Literacy

It encourages children to link sounds and letters and to start reading and writing. For this, children must have access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems and other written materials) to arouse their interest. We encourage children to enjoy and handle books with care; to understand book’s organisation, how words and images have meaning and how, in English, the print is read from left to right and from top to bottom. They will begin to associate sounds with patterns, rhymes, syllables then letters and finally words.

  1. Mathematics

It provides children with opportunities to develop and improve their counting skills, understanding and use of numbers; calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, space and measures. From an early age, children will acquire and develop essential aspects of mathematical understanding through practical activities and the use of language. It develops when children use specific, precise language (such as circle, in front, larger than, and more) to describe shapes, positions, sizes and quantities. They will learn to recognise and create patterns, compare, sort, match, order, sequence and count using everyday objects. They will begin to use their developing mathematical understanding to solve practical problems.

  1. Understanding the World

It is about guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and discover people, places, technology and diverse environments. As children become aware of these elements, their understanding of other people, of the characteristics of the natural world, of man and the different relationships between them also increases. Children will talk about where they live, their environment, their family and past and present events in their own lives. They will speak about their observations, sometimes record them and ask questions about why and how things are happening.

  1. Expressive Arts and Design

It involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.  They will use a widening range of materials, suitable tools, instruments and other resources to express ideas and communicate their feelings. They will explore, select materials and use equipment and skills such as cutting, joining, folding and building for a variety of purposes.