Skye Vision
I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about the philosophical and educational principles that are at the heart of Skye International.
The Skye Pre-School’s approach to learning is hands on providing children with opportunities to learn by doing, exploring, discovering, creating, and questioning within a framework that values play as much as it does academic development. Learning through play is one of the ways children make sense of the world in which they live, and helps them develop their emotional, physical, intellectual and social skills. We aim to provide a fun and stimulating educational environment that encompasses these main areas of learning and development:
•Personal, Social and Emotional Development
•Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
•Knowledge and Understanding of the World
•Physical Development
•Communication, Language and Literacy
•Creative Development
Our mission is to plan activities that allow children to integrate learning from across the spectrum of the main areas of early childhood development.
Communication, Language and Literacy development is what sets Skye apart from other Pre-schools in Nagasaki. English is the primary medium for instruction and we use monthly themes (with Puffins and Robins) and appropriate text books (with Eagles) to aid the children in developing a sense of direction and purpose in their learning. The Skye educational curriculum teaches key academic skills while encouraging children to explore and understand the world they live in. Using fun, engaging, and developmentally suitable methods of instruction along with the constant English exposure throughout the day, gives a child the optimum conditions for learning a second language
At Skye it is our goal to cultivate language awareness and enjoyment in speaking and listening through initiating interest and curiosity in language used in everyday life. Using English as a communication tool and not something simply to be translated or certified is of paramount importance in building a co-operative, caring and rewarding learning experience for our young learners.
It is also essential that we promote literacy with a progressive reading programme to develop student’s reading fluency and decoding skills as they make the transition from a pre-reading (and pre-writing) stage to a reader able to understand the language necessary to everyday life, to be familiar with picture books and stories, and to express their feelings with teachers, family and friends.
How can children start to learn English that will provide them with the basic skills and confidence to meet the demands of the future where the de facto international language of English is going to play an ever-increasing role in their world? At Skye we have taken this question seriously and established a system of teaching that, hopefully, in some way is able to offer a solution to the problem. It is vital to lay the foundations of future English proficiency with the children of today.
At Skye International we are Learning to make a Difference!