The Kindergarten Years (Ages 3 to 6)
Children usually come into Sloka at the age of three. A few children who have completed 2-and-a-half years are sometimes included in a class. They join the Playgroup at this age and then move on to one year of Nursery and two years of Kindergarten and then on to Grade I upon completion of age 6 (by July 31). Children across all these classes work together in a multi-age kindergarten setting – very like a family – with the older ones helping the littles ones to integrate and learn new skills under the guidance of their teacher.
Until the age of 6-7 years, children learn best through imitation, through their senses and through activity. It is important that these children are kept in a setting which is soothing to them, which provides them with a secure and intimate atmosphere where the children learn about themselves and their world. Our Kindergarten classes are bright, airy and colorful, and filled with the beauty. Here, the children’s vitality and creativity are fostered through imaginative activities.
The children in the Kindergarten are constantly doing: building, singing, digging, cooking, gardening, painting, and sewing. In creative play, they develop social skills and mastery of their bodies. Through songs, nursery rhymes, and fairy tales, they are nourished by the beauty of language. The children thrive in the rhythmic repetition of daily, weekly and seasonal activities and learn to love work through meaningful tasks.
The beauty, logic and purpose of what they experience to create a feeling for order and harmony and engender the development of memory, attention and imagination. As they grow, their imagination and natural sense of wonder, nurtured in these early years, will foster inquisitiveness and a desire to learn and understand.