Description

Our Mission:
Kipinä, with its inspiring, clutter-free learning environments, qualified staff, seamless apps for greater parent/teacher communication, and intentional individualized planning, uses an enhanced Finland curriculum that balances play and guided learning with focused instruction, to spark 21st century skills.
Our Curriculum – Enhanced Finland
Kipinä’s researched program was designed to merge play-based learning with structured outcomes that give kids a head start in school life. Our curriculum encompasses six core areas + innovation focusing on the; emotional, social, cognitive and physical development of each child.
Cognitive Development through Exploration and Play
Play and exploration provide a platform for supporting the development of children’s literacy and numeracy skills as well as capitalising on children’s natural curiosities and exuberance with the world around them. Early childhood is not only a period of amazing physical growth, it is also a time of remarkable mental development.
Relationships and Character Development
Kipinä supports every child’s social and emotional development in ways that allow each child to form positive relationships with others. In providing a safe and caring learning environment where a child’s sense of self is nurtured, opportunities for the development of one’s character is a natural progression and intended outcome of the program.
Numeracy
Children need numeracy skills to solve problems, make sense of time, numbers, patterns and shapes. Numerate Kipinä kids will develop confidence in making judgments or taking actions in all aspects of their daily lives through the ability to critically assess and reflect upon quantitative information. Providing our children with a strong numeracy foundation will allow for deeper explorations in mathematical thinking and concepts as the child enters into KG-12 school settings.
Physical Development and Wellness Awareness
An integrated focus on physical activity and wellness development through the Kipinä curriculum supports strong cognitive and physical development and produces high academic performance in children. Current brain research shows evidence that children who are physically active and lead healthy lifestyles are happier and able to advance more quickly developmentally than children who experience a more sedentary unhealthy lifestyle.
Literacy, Communication and Language
Children are active learners in the process of making meaning of the world that surrounds them. How they choose to communicate affects their identities and is influenced by language. Kipinä offers a socially and intellectually engaging environment where children’s communicative practices, languages, literacies and literate identities are valued and supported.
Cultural Awareness and Diversity
Kipinä seeks to provide an inclusive environment that celebrates the uniqueness of every child. In this caring environment, children will be nurtured to develop a deep understanding of the culture to which they belong, while instilling an appreciation and acceptance for the diversity of cultures that exist in our global society. Children will become socially responsible citizens sensitive to equitable and democratic practices that deepen their sense of cultural identity.
Innovation Built in
Our curriculum, the skills and learning outcomes, and all six domains, support 21st century skill development. Children build their abilities to innovate and problem solve – using the 4 C’s; Critical thinking, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration – through teacher questioning and activities every day!
Focused Instruction
Kipinä follows a balanced child-centered and teacher-directed framework. Using guided learning and skilful instruction similar to the core philosophy of the Finland program, Kipinä has added the teaching methodology of focused instruction, which accelerates the learning process so children learn at a faster pace. Research shows it brings more value to both the learning and teaching process.
Kipinä practitioners are engaged and interactive with children, guiding them towards specific learning outcomes across all of the age groups following the Gradual Release of Responsibility model. Learning is also scaffolded, so the Kipinä practitioner does not move on until the child fully comprehends, or masters, what is being taught. Through this process, interventions are made at an early age, and the relevant support provided for each child, so they become confident, creative, lifelong learners.
Understanding Children’s Developmental Continuum
Kipinä is designed to support the holistic development of every child. To ensure that children progress along the developmental continuum, Kipinä offers its program through the lens of six core curricular domains. The developmental skills charts interwoven through the curricular domains are meant to be used as a tool to help Kipinä practitioners and families exchange information about a child’s growing skills.
While the developmental ‘ages and stages’ are provided under Kipinä curricular domains, the philosophy of Kipinä is such that all aspects of development are interconnected.
Separating out developmental maturity into any one curricular domain would suggest an artificial categorisation of what is truly meant to be an integrated approach to child development and learning that Kipinä seeks to support through its curricular focus.
Knowing what comes before and what comes next is helpful to Kipinä practitioners as they observe children for the purpose of sharing a developmental assessment of a child’s progress and in helping to shape the learning pathway for each child where necessary.