Message from the ECE's

We are proud of our preschool in the heart of Victoria, BC. We love to be working and playing with children. As Early Childhood Educators (ECE's) we know that children learn everything they need to know through play. While playing, children practice social skills, develop fine and gross motor abilities, and are working their intellectual muscles.

At Lansdowne Preschool we have developed a routine because your child will feel more secure knowing what is coming next. Within that routine, a wide range of activities are offered that will appeal to every child and make every child feel successful. Supporting children while they learn through play means that our day is noisy, messy, active and really, really fun!

A typical day at Landsdowne Preschool

by Kim Atkinson (Early Childhood Educator)

In the house area a few children are setting the table, mixing soup on the stove while others are crawling and meowing on the floor. They have been playing kitty restaurant for some days, continuing a dramatic narrative that explores themes of friendship, identity, loss, and rescue.

The adjacent block area is home to some good guys spying on the bad guys. They each have a block stuffed in their pocket and are stacking more blocks to build a wall. Complex negotiation and sophisticated language is used to determine how the play should progress. Themes of good and evil, fear and bravery are explored. Cooperation and empathy is evident as they listen to and incorporate one another’s ideas.

At a table in the other room one boy sits alone, rolling playdough, arranging smooth stones into a circular pattern. He sits here most days, manipulating the materials, observing the other children and the activity going on around him. He feels safe at this table, and knows he can sit there as long as he needs to. When he’s ready to explore further, he will. We know some children need time to observe and to feel comfortable before they join into group play.

Sarah, the Early Childhood Educator (ECE), is making apple sauce at a table with another group. They are using a hand peeler, knives and putting the chunks into a large pot to cook. These children have made apple sauce many times before at preschool, but they ask to make it over and over again. We know children need time to really investigate materials and processes, to touch and taste and listen and watch closely. After making apple sauce, the children want to make juice, to dry apples, and they bring many varieties of apples to school to compare.

At another small table three children are enacting a story with wooden dolls and animals and a carved boat. A book they have read at group time has captured their imagination and they ask for it almost every day, to read or act out as a group. Responding to this interest, the ECE has set up a table with all the characters and the children tell the story again and again, changing and adding it to suit their experience and interests.