What is "How Does Learning Happen?"

Ontario’s pedagogical document, ‘How Does Learning Happens’, and its four foundations of Well-Being, Belonging, Engagement and Expression intimately inform our Kindertown curriculum. In line with this document, which views the early years curriculum as the “sum total of experiences, activities, and events that occur within an inclusive environment”, we are constantly reimagining a curriculum that emphasizes child-led exploration and inquiry through intuitive acts of play.

 At Kindertown, our educators are responsible for creating interactive environments that encourages children to develop their own theories about their world, as well as experiment and build upon those theories. Through observation and documentation, educators extract and expand upon these concepts, connecting the children’s world to their own.

 When children first come to Kindertown as toddlers, we focus on building their self-confidence, awareness and independence. Programming revolves around the acquisition of basic skills and relationships.

Once children become comfortable in their own bodies, we begin an exploration of the world around them. In our preschool rooms, broad interests relating to space, sea creatures and people are deconstructed and broken down to unveil deeper concepts such as gravity, ocean currents and multiculturalism. Underlining all these ideas and concepts is an emphasis on school-ready literacy, numeracy, science and natural wonder.

“How Does Learning Happen” encourages us to constantly ask questions, of our children and of ourselves. By using this document as a constant reference, we are slowly creating our own sets of knowledge and beliefs unique to Kindertown, our children and their families.