Aspire Pakenham’s 3-year-old Kinder Celebrations and Program
Evidence shows that two years are better than one when it comes to early education. Attending 3-year-old kindergarten is linked to a range of benefits that can prepare your child for success at school. The Aspire Pakenham centre runs a funded three-year-old kindergarten program called Kickstart to Kinder, that offers quality, play-based early learning for children.
Our program offers a range of different experiences, incursions, excursions, and community events that ensure the children get the most out of the kindergarten program here at Aspire. We also hold graduation ceremonies for our 3-year-old kinder children to celebrate their achievements during the year. Read more about Pakenham’s recent 3-year-old kinder celebration and what their curriculum looks like.
Aspire Pakenham recently held their three-year old graduation ceremony in January, which was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our class of 2023. This ceremony was held at the Pakenham centre in the Woodland 3-year-old kinder room with children and their families all invited. During the ceremony, the children shared songs they learnt throughout the year, and signed their names with stamps as an official goodbye to their 3-year-old class. A presentation was also given by the educators and management team, and certificates were handed out to the children. It was a lovely afternoon at the centre, and the Pakenham team were so proud of the 2023 graduates and are excited to see them excel in the four-year-old kindergarten program.
We recognise the importance of celebrating the children and their growth during our kindergarten program at Aspire. So, what exactly does the kindergarten program look like at Aspire Pakenham?
The kindergarten curriculum at Aspire Pakenham is based on a play-based learning approach that offers different learning experiences for our children. The children participate in many different activities that promote creativity, numeracy, literacy and more.
Recently Pakenham’s Woodland kinder room participated in letter recognition. The children used some recycled small boxes and were encouraged to make the letter “T”. This promoted literacy skills, learning through play, as well as sustainability.
Our kinder rooms also love partaking in art and craft activities such as free painting, clay painting and decorating cardboard with different natural materials. These activities allow the children to be creative and learn about visual expression, spatial intelligence and colour recognition.
At Aspire Pakenham, we offer a range of incursion programs that promote social competency, physical activity, and healthy relationships.
Our regular Little Sports Heroes program encourages children to engage in physical activity and participate in different sport sessions including basketball and soccer. Exercise helps children develop their fine and gross motor skills and nurture their social skills by working as a team. It also gives children the chance to form relationships and make new friends.
We also offer Yoga run by Abby on a regular basis. In these yoga sessions the children learn different yoga stretches and poses. Practicing yoga helps the children understand their movements and abilities more deeply, which also increases their confidence and helps to strengthen their growing bodies.
And for the children who are more the creative type, we have our SketchRoo program run by Denver. SketchRoo drawing classes and workshops offer hands-on, child-friendly, and relevant subject matter to spark creativity and increase knowledge retention. The program extends the children's artistic side through paints, crayons, pastels, and items that can be used within the room. This helps support children in their social and emotional regulation through art.
At our Pakenham centre we also run monthly incursions for our Kindergarten rooms. One of these incursions is “Yimba Yumba” run by Aunty Karen. Yimba Yumba is an exciting renewed ancient Aboriginal earth connection practice that shares the importance of connecting to the Earth to sustain the health and wellbeing of the planet and of ourselves. The children love Aunty Karen and the learnings she provides.
Aspire Pakenham's three-year-old kinder children also go on monthly excursions that gives them the opportunity to explore the local neighbourhood and community. Recently they went on an excursion to the local duck pond. Here they watched the ducks, had some morning tea and ran around the park oval. The children discussed the different birds they saw, different sounds they heard and most excitingly got to watch the freight train fly past, which they thoroughly enjoyed!
Last month the Kinder rooms also went on an excursion to the local Pakenham library. One of the kinder teachers dressed as Pete the Cat and read Pete the Cat story books. The children loved this experience, as well as exploring various library resources during the excursion.
If you wish to learn more about Aspire Pakenham’s 3-year-old kindergarten program and curriculum, book a tour at the centre today or contact us on 1800 978 429 to find out more.
