The learning goals for this class will vary depending on each individual child, and their learning needs. Indivdualised learning goals will be prepared for all children taking this class, and will be negotiated and shared with you as part of planning and personalising this class for your child. 

If you also require this class to reflect a specific curriculum for your documentation/ reporting/ funding purposes, I am able to 'align' our learning goals to reflect a wide range of curriculum, including: 
~ Common Core Standards (US);
~ most various US state curricula; 
~ ACARA Curriculum (Australia); 
~ National Curriculum for various countries (UK, China/ Taiwan, India, South Korea)
~ Early Years Learning Framework (Australia)
~ Early Years Foundation Stage (UK)
~ Te Whariki (New Zealand)
~ Good, Wise and Happy Life Curriculum (South Korea)

I am also able to match learning goals to education/ Teacher-specific recommendations related to NDIS funding or services (Australia). 

If you require a written statement confirming the alignment of our class to any specific framework, please provide a copy of your framework/ curriculum requirements *before* our first class.  
 

I am a Masters-qualified Early Childhood teacher, with specialisations in Inclusive Education. I also hold a Bachelor of Nursing, and have over 30 years of experience in designing and delivering early childhood (0 - 8 years) programs, and I have received numerous awards for designing immersive early childhood development, learning and mental health programs and for excellence in practice. I am an experienced clinical/ and field supervisor (social workers, teachers, nurses). I have completed specialist and postgraduate  training in Talk for Writing, Play Therapy/ Therapeutic Play, Sand Play, DIR-Floortime,  Neurosequential Development, and Hanan Speech interventions. Please note, however, that this class is strictly educational in nature (see list of learning topics in the class description) and is *not* offered as a therapy intervention to address clinical concerns, and is not a substitute for a professional therapeutic assessment or program. 

Homework Offered
Assessments Offered
I do not use tests or other standardised approaches to assessing children's progress. In this age group, testing it is not developmentally appropriate and in some cases may be psychologically and academically harmful. 

Instead, I utilise best-practice assessment for this age group. This involves using continuous observation of children's activity and conversation or other communication as well as prompting challenges or questions within our play activities. These observations specifically consider the child's progress in relation to the learning goals of the class (see above). 

Within our classes, I routinely provide feedback to children. This may consist of: 
~ positive affirmation (e.g. "I really liked the way you communicated your idea with that painting");
~ positive reflection (e.g. "I wonder how you came up with that idea?"); and/ or
~ positive stretching (e.g. "I wonder if you could show that idea in other ways?). 

Depending on your learning goals for this class, some mathematics and literacy (reading/ writing) skills are also supported with direct/ constructive feedback. 

This is a wholistic and cyclical approach to assessment and learning. The child's response to my feedback - in turn - helps me understand of "how far" they have traveled in their learning, and then "what comes next" in their learning. 

I welcome questions and inquiries from parents about their child's learning progress.   

In this class, I am able provide a 'completion' statement (transcript) if required for your reporting or funding arrangements. Please let me know if you require this, and allow 72 hours for this to be prepared. If you require a more detailed report, this is available for an additional fee due to the time taken to prepare this. 
Grades Offered

In this class, I draw from over 30 years of training, study, research and experience. Therefore, the sources I use to inform this class are extensive. However, the key sources informing this class include the following perspectives on play-based learning, child development and teaching:

~ Play Profiles (Sara-Lea Chazan)
~ Learn to Play (Karen Stagnitti)
~ Talk For Writing (Pie Corbett)
~ Sand play research and practice models (Sue Parker Hall, Virginia Axline, Dora Kallf)
~ Imaginative Pedagogy (Kieran Egan)
~ Scientific Play Worlds (Marylin Fleer)
~ Indigenous and oral teaching traditions, perspectives and principles, 8-ways Pedagogy (Tyson Yunkaporta)
~ Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin, & Joan Wolfsheimer Almon. (2015). Reading Instruction in Kindergarten: Little to Gain and Much to Lose. Published online by the Alliance for Childhood. http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/file…
~ Linda Darling-Hammond and J. Snyder. 1992. “Curriculum Studies and the Traditions of Inquiry: The Scientific Tradition.” Edited by Philip W Jackson. Handbook of Research on Curriculum. MacMillan. pp. 41-78.
~ R. A. Marcon, 2002. “Moving up the grades: Relationship between preschool model and later school success.” Early Childhood Research & Practice 4(1). http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/marcon.html.
~ Caroline Maguire. 2019. "Why Will No One Play With Me?". Vermillion Press. 
~ Larry J. Schweinhart and D. P. Weikart. 1997. “The High/Scope Pre-school Curriculum Comparison Study through age 23.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 12. pp. 117-143