Smart Little Kids Early Learning Centre

Smart Little Kids Early Learning Centre provides an environment and learning culture for children to be active and engaged learners. A child’s ability is one factor in achievement; however, the amount of effort a child makes has even more to do with their success in learning. Each child has the natural ability to question, interpret and understand the world around them. The educational focus is on the individual strengths and needs of the child and children are always encouraged to explore, have opinions and provide suggestions.

Therefore, at Smart Little Kids Early Learning Centre we offer open ended learning opportunities and inquiry-based teaching to support children’s growth and development in all areas. We believe it is important to provide opportunities for children to experiment, discover, explore, create, investigate, practice theories, solve problems and express ideas with the support of other children and the educators. We believe in celebrating children’s play, discoveries and learning through reflection and meaningful documentation.

An integral element of the Reggio Emilia Approach is the physical environment and immediate surrounds. Driving this approach, we believe that if children are given beautiful and stimulating materials to work with and allowed to work in an environment that is well organized and maintained, then they will in turn maintain and respect their own (and the broader) environment.

Reggio Emilia was inspired by strong emphasis on the importance of family and community and the belief it ‘takes a village to raise a child’. At Smart Little Kids Early Learning Centre, educators work closely with families and the community in order to provide the best possible education and care for every child. Families are encouraged to take an active role in the education process through consistent collaboration. Constant communication between the families, educators, children and other families are fundamental to this approach and creates a rich social environment for everyone involved.

We believe children have the right to express their ideas, thoughts, emotions and learning in a variety of ways. Educators offer a variety of rich opportunities for children to express themselves through art, dramatic play, music, dance along with the ‘typical’ ways of communicating such as re-telling, creating stories, discussions and negotiations.

An enabling curriculum strives towards ethical, creative, intellectual and equitable practices, cognisant of the rights of all children.

An assessment culture in our programs is critical factor in achievement as this involves children, teachers and parents in planning how learning will occur, monitoring and, importantly, explaining how progress can be assured for all.

Smart Little Kids Early Learning Centre team

Our educational program at Smart Little Kids is developed based on the learning theories of  Reggio Emilia and the Steiner approach, plus more. The team believes that children learn at different times, in different ways and that including a variety of learning theories will assist all children to grow, learn and develop at their own pace.

This educational program based on multiple learning theories focuses on children's interests, ideas and needs in order to further their development in a variety of ways. Family feedback is valued and is used to improve educational programs. The learning outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework guides educators’ principles and practises and contributes to the development of a quality early learning program.

At Smart Little Kids Early Learning Centre, we understand that a nutritious and balanced meal is essential for health growing bodies. Our qualified cook prepared healthy, balanced nutritious meals made from fresh ingredients and seasonal produce. 

We have carefully planned a seasonal menu including breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and late afternoon tea. A rotating meal menu plan will be provided and visible to all children and families rotating weekly. 

All meals are prepared in our purposely built kitchen, which is designed to encourage children participation and viewing areas. We also have a separate dining area, which we utilise for meals at times when children want time out of the room.