The children are at the center of everything we do at ECLC and the parents are important and valued partners whose involvement in their children's education is critical to their success. We believe that when parents know what is expected at school, they are better able to provide the home support of learning that all students need. The learning program framework at ECLC is guided by the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) http://www.internationalprimarycurriculum.com and is supported by a learning continuum which identifies what all students are expected to know, understand and be able to do across all areas of learning. The learning program is also designed to enable teachers to make connections across areas of learning, and to develop programs which accommodate a range of learning styles amongst the children. The ECLC Learning Program has four strands: Independence and Interdependence - Children learn about their own rights and those of others; diversity; respecting and interacting with people who are different from them; their ability to learn new interests and skills; interpersonal skills; strategies for solving problems in peaceful ways; positive and constructive attitudes to competition; empathizing with others; and acceptable behavior. Communicating - The value of their first language; using gesture and expressive body movement for communication; using language skills in a variety of contexts; enjoying and using verbal communication; listening attentively and responding appropriately to others; enjoying and using words and books; stories and literature valued by the cultures in their community; creating stories and symbols; using the processes of art and craft. Exploring - Exploring and observing the use of numbers in purposeful activities; trying things out; and valid approach to learning; using a variety of strategies to make exploration and curiosity as important and valued ways of learning; playing with ideas and materials as an enjoyable, creative a sense of the world, using all their senses; thinking logically, making comparisons and asking questions; explaining, listening to others; taking part in reflective discussion, planning and observing; inquiring, researching, exploring to draw conclusions about the world around them; the earth and beyond; social relationships and social concepts, such as friendship, negotiations, social rules and understandings. Healthy Living - keeping themselves safe from harm; paying attention, making choices, coping with change, self-help and safe?are; expressing emotions and emotional needs; their own personal worth. Through the curriculum at ECLC, children are engaged in interesting, hands-on learning experiences designed to ensure that all learners meet specifically identified and age appropriate learning outcomes or 'Milestones' while striving to reach a standard of excellence. We believe that every student should be challenged, and every student should be successful and we achieve this by making learning irresistible!

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Located at Treetops, our Toddler program has been designed to meet the needs of our smallest and youngest children at ECLC. At ECLC we recognize that each child needs to develop a sense of autonomy, and an independent self. We enable the Toddler children to develop this sense by treating them as important individuals and by creating a colorful and stimulating environment that fosters an interest in and love of learning through play. Play is after all how children learn. At ECLC, we carefully consider the personal needs of children of this age. Recognizing that it is critical for Toddlers to be comfortable and familiar with their environment, we provide a place where they may grow and personal expression is encouraged. The Toddler program is therefore all about experiences: Large and Small Motor Experiences: Gripping, throwing, manipulating, walking, climbing, pushing, pulling Sensory Experiences: Exploring texture, color, patterns, size and shape, smell, taste, weight, height. Cognitive Experiences: Object permanence, spatial relationships, classifying, collecting and 'dumping', cause and effect experiences, problem solving Language and Music Experiences: Adult-child conversations, reading and language play, explorations in music, rhyming, and sound. Personal Expression: Art, movement, imitation and beginning dramatic play, doll and stuffed-animal play. Parents' Prime Time: The staff understands that the parent-child relationship is primary. Parents are openly encouraged to share ideas, questions, or concerns and a communication book between home and school is used daily.
"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."
- Carl Jung, Psychologist

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Our Preschool is also located at Tree Tops and builds on the foundations of learning established in the Toddler program. Play is still very much at the center of learning in our Preschool program. Play helps children to understand what they see and experience in the real world. Children move from the make-believe symbols in play to the symbols of reading, math, and other high-level skills. They learn to develop their social, verbal, negotiating, and problem-solving skills through active and spontaneous play with their peers. Children discover things through trial and error. As adults we encourage and participate in their play, not direct it. Play can be joyful, serious, solitary, or social. When children play, they strengthen their small and large motor skills and form attitudes towards others and about themselves. Success in play promotes a child's self-confidence and increases the desire to learn and do more.
	"The activities that are the easiest, cheapest, and most fun to do-such as singing, playing games, reading, storytelling, and just talking and listening-are also the best for child development."
	- Professor Jerome Singer, Yale University

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Our Kindergarten program takes place at our second and new 'campus'. The Garden House is just a short walk from Tree Tops. At ECLC we are continuously developing a positive attitude towards learning amongst all our children and the the ECLC Kindergarten program balances academic development with social, physical and emotional maturation. Art, music and physical education are an important part of our program, stimulating a healthy, eager, and happy attitude toward future learning.
"Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some".
- Robert Fulghum, author

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Located at the Garden House and as a part of our long term plan to grow and develop the school, the Primary 1 program is being offered for the first time in the 2006/07 school year. Guided by the framework and philosophy of the IPC, the curriculum of the ECLC Primary School offers a challenging, well-rounded program emphasizing academic and personal growth. The academic coursework is integrated, sequential and age-appropriate in skills, knowledge, and values. Academic objectives include providing a well-rounded education based on a mastery of English, Maths and the Social Studies of Geography and History, training students in logical reasoning, critical thinking and inquiry based learning while generating excitement for life-long learning. These skills are taught in a nurturing and supportive environment.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing".
- George Bernard Shaw, playwright