At CIS, we deliberately maintain a manageable low student/adult ratio, so that students can be given special care and attention. We believe in family values and in educating the ‘whole child’. This means that the well being of each child academically, emotionally, and physically is important! It is very much a ‘family’ atmosphere at our school. CIS offers a wide range of activities to enrich and support the “Whole Child” concept.
Our Early Years Program follows the Canadian curriculum using the Alberta document, “Flight: An Early Learning Framework for Alberta”. It has been written for the education of young children of one of the most prestigious provinces in Canada. It is based on thorough, current, educational and scientific brain research on how young children learn best. The document provides a clear guide for the curriculum in early childhood settings. It focuses on helping each child achieve their full potential through active engagement, activity, observations, experimentation and social interactions with others.
Play is the key means of early learning that encourages children’s curiosity and eagerness to learn. The goals and outcomes are clearly defined but the pathway to reach those goals may be very individual, for each and every child.
We are a Reggio Inspired school that encourages teachers to know and understand the philosophy and framework of Reggio Emilia, while ensuring it fits with our setting in Cambodia. Reggio Emilia fits very well with the Canadian philosophy of learning and growing and is referenced in the Alberta Early Years curriculum “Flight” document. This curriculum document is widely used in many schools that feed into an inquiry based IB school.
Our well-trained and western educated teachers design classrooms and activities to facilitate free and structured play. All of our teachers have degrees, diplomas, and experience in Early Childhood. The activities in our classes provide children with useful vocabulary needed for everyday interactions, learning, explorations, and self-expression. Our classrooms will be maintained as wonderful places of learning with all of the standards of a Canadian education. We know that early education is so much more than learning ABCs and 123s. We pledge to teach the ‘whole child,’ as an individual, and to increase learning potential through proper stimulation.
Children are assessed regularly through observational data. This assessment is ongoing and meant to inform instruction and to build on each child’s individual learning profile and potential. Children will be met wherever they are on the learning continuum and supported to move on to the next step in the learning process. Teachers know and understand the standard expectations for each age group, and they plan and provide the learning scaffolding for each individual child!
At CIS, our children construct knowledge and meaning through:
More detailed specifics of the curriculum are available from staff upon request. At CIS we love to talk about education! Please feel free to ask us anything.