Playland Βάρκιζα | Δίγλωσσος Βρεφονηπιακός Παιδικός Σταθμός - Νηπιαγωγείο

Since 1983, Playland has created a warm nest for children's first steps outside their families, the first steps for their lifelong education. The journey towards new experiences and surprises continues from nursery to kindergarten. The main goal of our educational program, even in kindergarten, is the holistic development of children through experiential and playful methods, with exposure to both Greek and English languages. We cultivate each child's unique talents and abilities, leveraging their family experiences. We respect each child's pace and method of acquiring knowledge and foster respect for diversity. Simultaneously, we aim for cognitive and emotional maturation, both individually and within the group context. We interact with children based on the principles of positive parenting and empathy. Play is at the center of a child's learning and development. Symbolic, imitative, theatrical, musical-movement, constructive, rule-based play, and more, are part of the daily program. Through experiential methods, children develop emotional, cognitive, sensory, social, and motor and language skills. Children acquire knowledge through developmentally appropriate practices. We apply the child-centered teaching approach of project-based learning, as defined by the Interdisciplinary Unified Framework of Curricula (DEPPS) for Kindergarten. Within this framework, children themselves determine what they want to learn, direct their work, choosing the activities they will organize and the materials they will use. The classroom is a workshop where children research, analyze, comment, discuss possible strategies, create, and acquire knowledge, while also "learning how to learn". Providing appropriate stimuli empowers children's desire for exploration and learning. During project work, children achieve goals from all learning areas (language, mathematics, natural sciences, arts, physical education, information and communication technologies). In our kindergarten, we implement the modern teaching approach of emergent literacy. We create classroom conditions that help young children discover reading and writing through experimentation and effort, within the framework of appropriately organized activities and with continuous encouragement and guidance from our educators. At Playland, young children write and read through play. They play with letters and words, graphemes and phonemes, write to communicate, send a message, or describe what they drew. Our basic principle is that a prerequisite for the effectiveness of any activity and method is for the child to feel safe and happy, which is a primary and continuous concern for our educators. At the end of this journey full of experiences, children will have acquired the necessary skills (cognitive, emotional, social) to transition and integrate into Primary School.