Research from around the world shows that for children to reach their full potential, they need to be stimulated and exposed to developmentally appropriate and engaging learning experiences in their earliest years. IST’s Early Learning Center (ELC) is fully authorized to offer the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB-PYP), and caters to children between the age of two years nine months and five years who are embarking on their journey through these critical foundational or ‘Early Years’ of learning.
For many children the ‘Early Years’ mark the first transition from home to group experience outside of the family and to a new and exciting physical environment, and it is therefore our mission to ensure that your children’s first steps away from the familiarity of your own homes take place in a safe, supportive, and stimulating environment.
Learning programmes and experiences in our ELC are guided by our school philosophy, by the IB-PYP curriculum framework for the Early Years, and by building strong relationships with children and their families. Our ELC teachers foster and support learning by carefully planning dedicated time for the many varieties of play, by creating and maintaining safe, stimulating and responsive learning spaces, and by offering frequent opportunities for symbolic exploration and expression.
High quality learning in Early Years settings require that children have multiple opportunities throughout the school day to experience different type of play, including Free Play, Guided Play, Direct Play, and Games.
Genuine, affective relationships are essential if we wish to establish the trust, sense of belonging, and the risk-taking and personal agency that is necessary to support the development of new knowledge, skills, and learner traits and dispositions. Teachers and teaching assistants in our ELC encourage and nurture positive partnerships between the home and school, and within the classroom community, to provide a strong basis for learning and behaviour, and for the health and well-being for all children.
Play-based learning is most effective when children are able to pursue their interests across a range of environments, both indoor and outdoor. At IST we are blessed with world class facilities that were purposefully designed and built to meet the developmental needs of our students, and within these learning spaces students have access to a carefully curated choice of learning resources and materials, and age-appropriate technologies and play and construction equipment.
The ELC comprises two very large self-contained classrooms (150m2 each) catering to our KG1 and KG2 students, with the classrooms connected by a third shared room (60m2) that houses general amenities, including a kitchen, dining tables, and bathrooms and handwashing facilities.
Our ELC also has an extensive and secure outdoor garden and learning space (750m2) bursting with trees and outdoor play and construction equipment. The unique characteristics and stimuli of this outdoor environment provide different play opportunities that cannot be replicated indoors.
