INFANTS

Infants

3 - 12 Months

Our Infants program prioritizes affection, personalized care, daily multi sensory experiences and a safe but exciting space for discovery, providing a complete environment for babies to thrive and be happy in.

Our experienced educators understand that emotional safety comes first for babies, and the importance of respecting each baby’s unique routine and rhythm. Our teachers compliment warmth and fun with rich Thinking Language during play that assure babies wholesome development into autonomous little learners.

Abilities Fostered

Inquisitiveness

A key goal of our educational program is to nurture autonomous, life long learners, because learning autonomy has been proven to be a key determinant of life success. Learning autonomy starts with sparking curiosity and inquisitiveness, from birth! How do we promote inquisitiveness in babies?
Click to learn more...

We consider all babies as unique individuals with multiple developmental needs. We focus on developing the whole child to his or her unique potential. Every experience is a learning experience carefully crafted by our teachers. We focus on multi-sensory exploration, which naturally develops your baby holistically. Click to learn more...

Scientific Mindset

Babies are in constant discovery of how the world works. Teachers actively observe babies’ interests, plan experiences accordingly and guide them to explore these through their senses. They model advanced thinking language to describe the experiences babies are living to help them make sense of what they are experiencing. Click to learn more...

Higher-level thinking

Our VESS curriculum fosters development through strategies that promote higher level thinking skills.Higher-level thinking refers to our ability to do certain mental processes more efficiently, making us better learners. This ability is fostered by developing what neuro-scientists have called Habits of Mind – a mental process that, with practice, we do routinely and naturally, turning it into a mental habit. Click to learn more...

Innovation & Creativity

Creativity and Innovation are at the core of the VESS educational approach. Every moment and learning experience focuses on promoting creativity.Through our Artist of the Month, for example,babies are exposed to artists’ stories, techniques, and how they use colors, shapes and lines uniquely to express their emotions. Click to learn more...

Citizenship

All children in our school are seen as global citizens, including our babies. Our babies’ voices are heard as teachers are in tune to their needs, wants, and preferences, and respond to them. Click to learn more...

Learning Autonomy

Learning autonomy refers to the skills and dispositions needed to be independent in one’s capacity to learn new things – and its development starts at birth! It is seen by neuroscientists as a key determinant of life-long success. The VESS educational approach focuses on developing children’s learning autonomy to be efficient learners for life. Click to learn more...

Developmental Areas for Infants

Social & Emotional Development

- Building and maintaining
relationships with adults and peers
- Emotional functioning
- Managing emotions
- Sense of identity and belonging

Cognitive Development
& General Knowledge

- Concept development and memory
- Exploration and discover
- Problem solving & creative expression

Communication, Language & Literacy

- Listening and understanding
- Speaking and communication
- Conversation
- Emergent Reading
- Emergent Writing
- Vocabulary

Mathematical Thinking

- Number sense
- Numbers and operations
- Spacial Relations
- Patterns
- Measurements and data
- Geometry

Scientific Thinking

- Earth and Space Science
- Engineering and Technology
- Environment
- Life Sciences / Biology
- Physical Sciences / Physics
- Scientific Inquiry, Exploration and Discovery

Approaches to Learning

- Eagerness and curiosity
- Persistence

Creative Expression Tthrough the Arts

- Appreciation of the arts
- Creative movement
- Imaginative and creative play
- Music
- Sensory Art Experience

Social Studies

- Culture
- Economics and resources
- Governance, Civic Ideas and Practices
- Individual Development and Identity
- Individuals and groups
- Spaces, Places and Environments
- Technology and our world
- Time, Continuity and Change

Physical Development

- Active physical play
- Feeding and Nutrition
- Fine motor development
- Gross motor development
- Gross motor perception (sensorimotor)
- Health
- Personal care routines
- Safety

Learning Autonomy

Learning autonomy refers to the skills and dispositions needed to be independent in one’s capacity to learn new things – and its development starts at birth! It is seen by neuroscientists as a key determinant of life-long success.

The VESS educational approach focuses on developing children’s learning autonomy to be efficient learners for life.

We focus first on nurturing children’s love for learning – the first step for becoming an autonomous learner – through crafting learning experiences that are meaningful, surprising and fun We use advanced thinking language in our daily interactions to promote higher-level thinking and embeed this language in babies’ thinking process , which will become habitual vocabulary as they learn to speak

Citizenship

All children in our school are seen as global citizens, including our babies. Our babies’ voices are heard as teachers are in tune to their needs, wants, and preferences, and respond to them; this is the first step in developing communication skills, self esteem, and embeeding an understanding in our babies that they are valuable members of our world, capable of adding immense value!

Innovation & Creativity

Creativity and Innovation are at the core of the VESS educational approach. Every moment and learning experience focuses on promoting creativity.Through our Artist of the Month, for example,babies are exposed to artists’ stories, techniques, and how they use colors, shapes and lines uniquely to express their emotions. Our goal is to inspire our babies to express through art, and to develop an understanding that art is a language for them to express through.

In our classrooms, babies have access to age-appropriate art and science materials that they can create with. Teachers are in tune with babies’ expressed needs and interests, carefully crafting opportunities to create that are exciting for babies.

Higher-Level Thinking

Our VESS curriculum fosters development through strategies that promote higher level thinking skills.

Higher-level thinking refers to our ability to do certain mental processes more efficiently, making us better learners. This ability is fostered by developing what neuro-scientists have called Habits of Mind – a mental process that, with practice, we do routinely and naturally, turning it into a mental habit. The VESS curriculum develops 17 Habits of Mind in children. Some of these include Inquire, Innovate, Consider Perspectives, Manage Impulsivity, Reflect to Learn, Synthesize, Predict, amongst many others.

The first aspect of developing higher-level thinking is a DESIRE TO LEARN, so that our first goal is to foster excitement for learning in children.

Once children are excited to know more, our teachers use neuroscience-proven Thinking Strategies to ask deep questions and get children’s thinking going. Doing this all day, every day, creates higher-level thinking routines that lead to children’s development of our Habits of Mind, and a true ability to be better thinkers and learners.

Scientific Mindset

Babies are in constant discovery of how the world works. Teachers actively observe babies’ interests, plan experiences accordingly and guide them to explore these through their senses. They model advanced thinking language to describe the experiences babies are living to help them make sense of what they are experiencing. Sensory exploration is a naturally scientific process that also develops risk taking, persistence, careful observation, and objectivity, and in our classroom, it is a daily experience!

Holistic Development

We consider all children as unique individuals with multiple developmental needs. We focus on developing the whole child to their unique potential. Every experience is a learning experience carefully crafted by our teachers. We focus on multi-sensory exploration, which naturally develops your child holistically. We use a monthly artist, country and “unit of inquiry” to bring the world to the classroom through novel experiences that are exciting to our students and covers multiple developmental areas simultaneously: mathematical thinking, communication, scientific exploration, and art, as well as emotional education, thinking skills, our VESS Values, and motor skills.

Our Enrichment classes of Yoga, P.E. and Music further promote whole-child development through an area expert.

Inquisitiveness

A key goal of our educational program is to nurture autonomous, life long learners, because learning autonomy has been proven to be a key determinant of life success. Learning autonomy starts with sparking curiosity and inquisitiveness, from birth! How do we promote inquisitiveness in babies?

• We respond to babies‘ expressed needs and desires, always, including during exploratory activities – teachers observe and listen carefully, adapting their planned experiences to their preferences

• The Surprise Factor – a neuroscience-proven strategy that focuses on presenting experiences to children in an unexpected and exciting way that invites them to want to explore

• Respecting babies’s process and celebrating risk taking: we encourage babies to explore at their own pace, plan with their preferences in mind and praise trying something hard or new.

“Surprising a child with a fascinating opportunity to explore generates engagement and emotion, getting the brain ready to really comprehend”, explains Ms. Aura, Edu1st teacher of 15 years