Educational plan

A carefully thought out approach

At House by the park, we practice the child friendly pedagogical approach developed by Fariba Motamedi, educationalist, founder and director of House by the park. This approach is inspired by the work of the Dutch pedagogue J.F.W. Kok and the Polish pediatrician and pedagogue, J. Korczak.

Our approach is guided by 3 aspects.

• The relationship between teacher and child.
• The learning environment.
• Using situations that arise as learning opportunities.

Stability and continuity: conditions for trust and friendship

House by the park’s regular teachers care for, listen and accept each child as he/she is. We follow a few principles that  allow the children to build trust and friendships with other children and to bond with their teachers.

• Small groups that ensure that each child receives the attention that they need to develop to their full potential. Our groups are often smaller than in other daycare centers.
• Each group has a regular teacher to foster lasting relationships with the children.
• We have stable groups because each child attends for at least 3 days a week.

House by the park operates in English and Dutch and provides quality childcare to expat families. Stability is particularly important for expat children. We understand  the challenges that international families face when moving to a new country.

Learning in each phase of a child’s life

Babies have basic needs: good care, attention, emotional security and rest. Their days have natural rhythms: eating, lying down, sitting on someone’s lap, playing in the playpen, sleeping, crawling. House by the park offers a safe and comforting environment where babies feel confident enough to explore new activities.

Toddlers and preschoolers need predictable routines. They eat, play, go outside, sleep and do activities within the group. There are plenty of fun learning materials at House by the park. The toddlers and preschoolers can build things by themselves or in a group and develop their individual competences. They learn to interact with other children, share things and wait their turn.

It takes a long time for children to understand their own feelings and those of others. Parents and regular teachers play crucial roles in helping children learn to be kind to each other.

As children grow, they become self-aware and start to take more responsibility. We stimulate this by giving them age and ability appropriate tasks. For example, we encourage preschool children to put on shoes and jackets by themselves, to tidy up and to eat independently. And we encourage after-school care children to take even more responsibility by following certain rules indoors and outdoors, and to learn more about the ‘Big World’.

 

Children reach their full potential at House by the park

All our children’s activities are carefully tailored to be both instructive and fun. Children learn best through play. Play stimulates their social, creative and intellectual abilities, allowing them to reach their full potential.

Our activities include:

• age-appropriate toys, games and books;
• cognitive and creative activities such as story-telling, playing, reading and baking;
• artistic activities such as drawing, painting, paper folding, singing or playing instruments and listening to music;
• physical activities such as walking, dancing, doing gymnastics, yoga or swimming;
• outdoor activities such as going to the park, playground or the nearby petting zoo.

The children love these activities. While the children are having fun, these activities promote body-awareness, help sensory and motor development and help the children become more aware of the world they live in. They stimulate the children’s creativity and teach them to express and talk about their feelings.

Group activities help children learn about solidarity and friendship. They are encouraged to help one another and to learn from each other. The activities are adapted to each child’s personal skills level. This helps each child to gradually become more independent and self-confident.

 

progress reports

Each child receives a progress report at the end of the school year or upon request from their future school. The schools to which your children move to find our reports a valuable asset. The reports show the level that the child has attained within the key areas of learning and thereby enabling a seamless continuation of the child’s education.

parent teacher meeting

Twice each year parents have the opportunity to attend a parent teacher meeting to discuss their child’s progress with the relevant teacher.

work folders

We do not hand out all of the children’s work every day or every week, instead each child has their own work folder filled with their work based on the themes we have completed and their work during the one-to-one sessions with the teacher. This work folder along with a Certificate of Education is provided at the end of the school year or when a child leaves.

parents comments

At the end of the school year or when children leave us to move up to the next stage of their education or away from Holland, we ask each parent if they would add their thoughts to our comments book. This book is totally unbiased and each parent is free to write what they wish. All potential or new parent / guardian can view any of our comments books from the previous years. The majority, in fact 99.9% of parents comments praise the way we work at our Preschool and clearly state how their children have enjoyed and benefited from attending our school.

We receive comments ranging from the simple “Fantastic, great job” to the more emotional “My child has spent half of his life at House by the park, I don’t want him to leave”. All of this brings joy and encouragement to all of us at House by the park and we are all very proud to work in such an appreciated, esteemed environment.

sample comments

Dominic’s parents wrote:

“I cannot thank you enough for the wonderful environment you have created for Dominic – kind, caring and fun. It has been a great start to his “school” life. Great teachers and brilliantly run. It is the TLC and extra touches which mean so much. It really has been the best play school we could have hoped for – Thank you.”

Ferdinand’s parents wrote:

“Patience, charm, creativity and love provide the ingredients for this outstanding preschool”

Francesca’s parents wrote:

“Francesca has had a great time with all of you, thanks for being such an important piece of the puzzle of her overall development. The place is run beautifully. Congratulations!”

These are just some of the comments we have received, all of the original comments are available for viewing when you visit us.

Coming to House by the park for the first time or moving groups in House by the park

 House by the park has developed a transition plan to make sure that children joining our daycare or who move from one group to another settle in well. We make an individual transition plan for each child in consultation with the parents. It usually entails the children visiting our daycare a number of times to get used to us, the teachers and the other children. Once the teachers and parents think that the children are ready, they go through an adjustment period of between 2 and 4 weeks.