We work to help children keep their spontaneity, curiosity and joy of learning. In this view, four qualities are emphasized for healthy child development.
COMPETENCE: The having of skills and the ability to use them effectively
- To be able to do, make, think and move – climb, run, balance, pour, catch, draw, cut, sift, sort, fit, count, understand, reason, infer
- To use language effectively
- To see similarities and differences
- To overcome obstacles
- To be resourceful
- To be resilient
- To sense one’s own competence
INDIVIDUALITY: The active declaration of self
- To become increasingly autonomous
- To feel self reliant
- To make choices and develop preferences
- To initiate activities
- To take risks
- To solve problems one’s own way
- To enter new experiences comfortably
- To be spontaneous
- To have feelings and express a range of emotions appropriately – pleasure, sadness, joy, anger, excitement, fear, affection or surprise
- To cope constructively with frustrations, fears and anxieties
SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS: The adapting of oneself to group life
- To enjoy playing with other children
- To engage comfortably with adults
- To accept limits
- To re-channel impulses
- To begin to internalize controls
- To develop sensitivity to others feelings and space
- To learn to see other points of view
- To be openly sensitive and responsive
CREATIVITY: The synthesizing of a wide range of experiences into a variety of expressions; the reasoned as well as intuitive
- To explore materials freely
- To play heartily and with deep involvement
- To solve problems and see alternate possibilities
- To imagine
- To express innovative ideas
- To reflect broadly; hypothesize, suppose
