Pedagogy

A Gateway to the World

At Cap Canaille, language learning is at the heart of our educational program.
Songs are one of the many fun ways to introduce children to a new language and to promote language skills. At Cap Canaille, each day begins with a song. Our educators make a point of welcoming each child by name during this morning ritual and allowing children, who so wish, to actively participate. This group activity also makes children feel comfortable and secure in the daycare environment.

Cap Canaille proposes an educational program composed of a variety of activities adapted to the needs and individual pace of each child. According to the age group, excursions to the park, to the market or to the museum are regularly organized. These excursions are the perfect opportunity for children to learn new words and develop conversation skills. During these excursions, our team of educators continuously describe in detail the environment (the colour of the leaves, a construction site, the wind blowing …) helping children enrich their vocabulary.

Although many of our educators are bilingual, they are asked to only use one language when speaking to the children. Children quickly associate a particular language to an educator whereby removing any confusion and making learning a new language easier.
Children spend their day in a bilingual environment. Gradually, children learn two languages through songs and play activities. This method of language immersion allows children to perfect their conversation skills and feel comfortable in a new language.

At Cap Canaille, the emphasis is on fun learning through play

Play is vital to children’s development helping them understand the world around and nurturing their emotional, social and physical skills. Children in our daycares are encouraged to experiment and discover the world around them at their own pace.

Our educational program favours freeplay and our different daycare sites provide a wide range of experimental learning opportunities for children in a safe and secure environment.

Toys and games adapted to each stage of development are made available to the children by our team of childcare professionals. Different play areas such as the building corner, the dress-up corner, the arts and crafts corner or the discovery corner help foster creativity, self-reliance and self-confidence in children.

Everyday objects or recycled materials (bowls, empty cereal boxes, trays, curtain rings, ribbons, rinsed out shampoo bottles…) suddenly become fantastic toys and sensory experiments for the children.

Our daycares are designed to allow children free access to toys and our educational team ensures that there are enough of the same toys available to reduce frustration. Toys and games are also switched regularly depending on the interests and the developmental stage of the children.

Children are free to play on their own or with others during the day and the individual needs of each child is always taken into consideration when planning the day.

Montessori inspired rooms have been created by the educational teams in our Rolle and Morges daycares for children as of 2 ½ years old. These rooms are specially set up to allow children to experiment on therir own with a number of Montessori activities.

 

Encouraging social development

Through a wide variety of activities organized within our daycares, children gradually learn to interact with other children and adults. By simply listening to a story, participating in a cooking activity or a gardening project, children observe, imitate, explore and interact with others and the world around them.
The different activities prepared by the team of childcare professionals allow children to be valued as individuals whilst still being part of a group; each child is given enough time and space to develop his or her self-esteem.

Cap Canaille Rolle, within a short walking distance of Lake Geneva, has combined the spectacular setting of the daycare with the proposed educational program.
Nurturing environmental awareness in children this program includes many outdoor activities such as daily nature walks and regular picnics by the lake. A vegetable garden on the daycare site motivates children to learn about the seasons, develop the 5 senses, and build curiosity and patience.

Our childcare director tells you more about our pedagogy here…