Childcare Frequently Asked Questions

A good early childhood centre can enhance a child's early learning through exposure to a broader range of resources, relationships, concepts and ideas than may be possible at home. For many parents it is the care provided while they work that draws them to a centre. A high standard of care develops a sense of wellbeing and belonging which is essential to forming a strong platform for constructive learning.

Teachers will welcome your child in the morning and be on hand to provide support as you prepare to leave for the day. During the day your child will be free to follow their own interests and while doing this will be exposed to the interests of others. Teachers reset the environment several times a day to provide resources and experiences that range from familiar favourites to new challenges. The development of self-help skills is encouraged with children being supported to recognise their needs and participate in the related hygiene, rest, food and dressing tasks that address them.

We respect the choices children make on participation in group experiences and allow them to find their own comfortable balance between joining a group and being engaged in individual play. We understand that sometimes a child's presence within a group may be influenced more by the teacher or children present than the activity at hand.

With infants we take note of the familiar routines they have established at home and use these in conjunction with the individual cues we pick up from them to offer food and sleep at times that best suit each child. Older children will be offered food and sleep at regular times but there is flexibility to ensure that if a child is tired or uninterested in lunch that they can be offered it later. If a child appears hungry or sleepy ahead of time we can offer them food or rest earlier.

Children are not pressured to eat or sleep and we respect that their natural rhythms may vary from day to day. To ensure children do not have to stop their play at a set time for morning tea we run a 'rolling' system where morning tea can be taken over a period of time and children are reminded that food is available.

In broad terms the theory revolves around respectful relationships and natural development through freedom of movement. Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE), was founded by Magda Gerber, an infant specialist and educator and Tom Forrest, a paediatric neurologist in 1978. Emmi Pikler was a paediatrician who introduced and practiced new theories in infant education at an orphanage she ran in Hungary. You won't see highchairs, jolly jumpers, play saucers or bouncy chairs at Co Kids and we don't place infants into positions they cannot get into and out of themselves. No one will suddenly scoop up your toddler from behind for a nappy change or thrust a wet cloth into their face after a meal.

Caregiving routines are conducted so that your child is aware of what is about to happen and free to participate in the process to their full level of capability. With older children we don't put them into situations that they find uncomfortable or don't want to be in. Whole group 'mat-times' are not enforced and reciprocal relationship concepts like turn-taking, conversation, asking and responding to questions are found to be more enriching and fulfilling in small group gatherings where participation is voluntary. Emphasis is placed on building trusting, respectful relationships with all age groups and creating an environment where children feel secure, confident of their needs being met and valued as individuals.

We see you as your child's primary caregiver and believe trying to replicate this relationship in a group care situation is unrealistic with the potential to cause unnecessary anxiety. Each age group has a regular team of teachers and for infants we keep this small and consistent. Our approach is to begin your child with a settling teacher who will be on hand to work closely with them over their initial weeks. As the settling teacher gets to know your child they will share information with other teachers who will gradually become more involved in their care. Our aim is to ensure that the shift patterns and annual leave of individual teachers do not become a source of distress to children. We also recognise and respect that although your child is likely to develop a close bond with their settling teacher, they may find themselves naturally gravitating towards another.

Co Kids centres are staffed with the objective of maintaining ratios of 1:3 for under 1's, 1:4 for 1 year olds, 1:6 for 2 year olds and 1:8 for 3-5 year olds. These enhanced ratios comfortably cater for times when your child may need a cuddle or a little one on one attention and allow teachers to realistically carry out the practices of our philosophy. Regulation minimum ratios are 1:5 for under 2's and 1:10 for over 2's.

Your child will be learning early literacy skills before they come to Co Kids. The development of early literacy skills is essential to becoming competent in writing, reading and comprehension. Your child will draw inspiration for writing from their experiences and imagination. The processes of early caregiving routines mirror stories by having a beginning, middle and end. The more actively involved an infant is with these routines, the more they will remember and anticipate what happens first, what comes next and what the result will be. Before they are able to write on paper a child will be able to tell a story verbally, act it out in play or depict it with paint or other media. How well these experiences are catered for and received by others influences a child's motivation to write. The recognition of letters is only a small part of literacy and on its own does not prepare a child to read or write.

Books are freely available to children of all ages and Co Kids libraries are frequently replenished. We know how wonderful it feels to get lost in a good book and recognise that children enjoy this too. We provide comfortable, quieter areas for book reading and children can choose to browse independently or share the reading of books with a teacher.

Opportunities abound in everyday life for children's minds to form basic mathematical concepts. Infants are naturally drawn to the human face and begin to recognise familiar ones from properties they have attributed to those faces. The infant's ability to discriminate between and classify objects, people and surroundings continues to grow through active exploration. Sorting laundry, setting a table, shopping and baking are all real life examples of mathematical concepts in practice for older children. As with letters in literacy, the recognition of numerals is only a small part of numeracy and on its own does not prepare a child to make calculations or solve problems.Co Kids teachers incorporate numeracy learning within the centre programme and environment with resources and experiences that cover open ended exploration right through to complex challenges requiring persistence and skill.

Childhood comes with its share of challenges, frustrations and disappointments and young minds need time, guidance and experience to develop socially acceptable strategies to successfully work through them. Your child may spend a good part of their week with us so we don't expect impeccable behaviour all of the time. We are prepared to see a wide range of behaviours from children as their understanding of emotion, action and consequence develops.

Co Kids ensures behaviour issues are minimised by:

• Providing a carefully supervised environment that is well resourced with developmentally appropriate equipment

• Tailoring daily routines around realistic expectations and recognition of individual preferences

• Maintaining comfortable teacher to child ratios that allow opportunities for personalised attention

• Building respectful relationships between teachers, children and families that promote and support appropriate behaviour

Children's play falls into three broad categories. It begins with solitary play, extending over time to parallel play and co-operative play. Children of all ages will enjoy engaging in solitary play and being comfortable in your own company is a valuable skill. Gradually an interest in other children and what they are doing develops. Parallel play occurs where children are engaged in play alongside each other, doing their own thing but tolerating the presence of others. Co-operative play can be seen developing when children are actively engaging with each other in play. This could be seen in imaginary play situations where children take on complementary roles or in the sandpit helping each other to build a drain.

Children have the capacity to form attachments to one another from an early age but the concept of friendship develops over time, along with the skills to make and retain friends. It is perfectly normal for a child to name someone as a friend one day and not the next.

Our on-site cooks are able to prepare meals for children with food allergies as well as food intolerances and lifestyle choices such as vegetarian and vegan. Care is taken to provide meals that are balanced and nutritious regardless of type. Children are only offered food that is supplied by the centre to ensure that ingredients can be monitored by a team that is aware of your child's requirements.

Our primary source of communication with parents is in person at the beginning and end of each day. During the day we record all bottles, food intake, nappy changes and sleep times on charts which are available for you to view when you collect your child. Whiteboards are used to note what has been happening in the centre each day and we will often display collections of photos.

Each child will have a learning profile created for them and this will include detailed information on what your child has been observed doing and the learning that is occurring. We have current programme plans displayed in the centre and past programme plans are available to view. The monthly newsletter also includes programme information, including the focus of upcoming plans. Parents are welcome to ring us during the day if they have a specific question or want to find out how their child's day is going.