Nurseries and Preschools Dubai

Nurseries and preschools, although may not seem important, is able to give your child the right foundational environment before they attend kindergarten and elementary school. Kids Island Nursery is founded on the idea that children require stimulation and activity in order to grow and develop, preparing them academically and socially for school itself.

What is the difference between a normal school and a nursery school?

Nursery is in fact a structured methodology that allows children the freedom to learn and develop at their own pace. Nursery focuses less on academic curriculums and more on practical structured play. Kindergarten will focus on theoretical learning and putting pen to paper. This will entail alphabets, numbers, colours, shapes, and basic life sciences. The main difference between a kindergarten and nursery school, is that children do not face exams or tests in nursery level, while kindergarten systems do carry some kind of grading system.

Why should I rush my child in to learning when she is still so young?

Children who attend a nursery school in Dubai are more confident in their learning objectives than those who don’t when they begin kindergarten. They are more aware of the expectations and are much more familiar with the academic theory of kindergarten. Nursery schools do not follow a curriculum, but expose your child’s mind to the existence of letters and numbers, while introducing life sciences and concepts in a relaxed and casual manner. A nursery’s main focus is to train, your child to be independent, and social, while helping them progress mentally, physically and emotionally.

I am worried I am forcing my child to grow up too fast?

This is a concern that is quite justified and is probably fuelled by advice from family and friends. A good Dubai preschool that follows the Early Years Foundation Stage will allow your child plenty of time to play and have fun, while learning. A good foundation is to ensure that your son or daughter does not feel obligated with expectation, but appreciated for their enthusiasm. A good nursery school will combine academic theory with plenty of fun activities that your child will enjoy.

What do I look for in a good Dubai preschool?

As new parents, you may feel overwhelmed with information and advice from family and friends when looking for a preschool for your child. School shopping is a hard decision and with all the different requirements, you are forced to think about, it is difficult to decide on one school. Our best advice for choosing a preschool for your son to attend would be to let your child have the final say. If your child feels comfortable and safe in a school he visits, you will know that you have found the right school. It is important that your child is happy to attend the pre-school, where he feels the teachers are friendly and open, meets children that could potentially become his friends, and an environment he is eager to discover.

Kids Island Nursery focuses on meeting your concerns for your child, as well as your child’s expectations. Feel free to visit us along with your child and see for yourself if we meet yours and your child’s needs.

10 Signs to look for in a great Dubai Nursery

If you are parent of a child between the ages of 3 and 5, then you are probably on the lookout for a good nursery in Dubai for your child. Nursery or Playschool; as per the European standard, is attended by young toddlers and infants, where they learn to be social and interactive while learning letters and numbers related to everyday life. Children, who follow a preschool program, are learning to make friends, accept other children and ideas different from their own, learning to play in groups and independently, and learning basic skills and knowledge with letters, numbers, colours, and things about the world they live in.

There are different ways to filter a good Dubai pre-school out of the many that you visit. The most trusted would be your own instincts and what’s best for your child. Good instincts should be what finally decides on one nursery, but here are 10 signs you should look for when scouting for a nursery for your little one.

1. You notice that the children in a classroom are involved in structured play under the guidance of the class teacher. If you can tell that the children are in fact paying attention and not running around aimlessly, then you are sure your son or daughter is going to have fun while learning.
   
   
2. Children are born curios and need to have many interesting toys and activity based supplies like crayons, building blocks, paintbrushes, clay and other fun and age appropriate games to keep them active. A well-developed nursery program for pre-school children will provide plenty material to play with.
   
   
3. Activity based learning frameworks are good and the most productive in teaching young children and toddlers. If you see children smiling while they’re singing along to a nursery rhyme, and waiting their turn outside in the garden playing hop-scotch, it’s a sign that children have plenty of space to run and around and socialize in.
   
   
4. Individualized attention by teachers is a good thing and is very important in making sure the children keep up with other. When all children are taught as one entity, it is difficult to notice those left behind. A classroom will have a minimum of two teachers to make sure all children receive undivided attention.
   
   
5. Creative and welcoming classrooms keep children creative and happy. You can usually judge the enthusiasm of a nursery by the effort taken to decorate and plan the interior of classrooms and play areas. Most good preschools will display children’s work and projects.
   
   
6. Letters and numbers are taught as part of their daily experiences and needs and not using worksheets and textbooks. Kids between the ages of 3 and 5 are not ready to read and write, and therefore will not be able to keep up with expectations.
   
   
7. Long break or recess Recess is important for children to explore and play, without restrictions. They are seen using this time to discuss things they learned a while before, comparing notes and telling stories amongst running around and burning off energy.
   
   
8. Teachers should be friendly and you can see this easily when they’re around children. If children run towards them with delight, you know they are accepted by the children and are easily approachable.
   
   
9. No set curriculum but a standard framework of activity and learning plans to allow all children the room they need to develop. A nursery in Dubai, catering to a multicultural society should understand that children who come from different countries will have different backgrounds and knowledge and will therefore not learn at the same pace as they do not experience the same things every day.
   
   
10. You can truly know if a school is a good nursery school for your child, if you notice the enthusiasm in the children that attend. You will be able to see this for yourself when visiting a playschool in the morning hours. A friendly and educative nursery will have friendly staff, be willing to answer your questions, no matter how many they are, and would love to show you around and let you talk to other parents and children.

Kids Island Nursery Dubai, prides itself in building and creating a safe and secure place for your children, while making sure they have fun while learning and developing. If you’re looking for a good play school for your toddler or young child, pay us a visit with your child, and see for yourself.

Nurseries in Dubai

Children are naturally inclined to play. Play is natural process for children who are growing and developing. From the moment your child takes his or her first breath, muscles are exercised and strengthened. Sitting upright, is in fact a task, and this means he or she has been working on strengthening back muscles to allow them to sit on their own without support. What we may take for granted today, was in fact a challenging milestone which we accomplished through curiosity and play. 

Many pre-schools in Dubai adapt play into the teaching methods to ensure your child’s development requirements are met. Physical, mental, intellectual, and emotional developments are addressed by different types of games and activity tools. Simple activities like putting a puzzle together helps the tiny muscles in the fingers and the eye muscles to strengthen, while running and jumping around helps develop the large muscles in the legs and hands.

Nurseries in Dubai are required to balance teaching methods to include all the developmental needs of children of a specific age group. A typical day at pre-school in Dubai would include storytelling and show and tell, group play, outdoor play, imaginative play, resting time, time to eat, board games and puzzles. Each of these different activities helps your child build one or two different skills. Show-and-tell, would help your child improve his or her language skills while developing their confidence and use of hands and facial expressions. Outdoor play helps your child strengthen his or her motor skills, while improving social skills and confidence to play in groups.

Physical play also helps a child with thinking and problem solving skills. When a child begins to walk, he or she will usually aim for something high up or out of reach. This encourages them to think of a smart plan or way to obtain the object of interest. Children gradually learn to walk after a weeks of reaching and grabbing on to furniture. Physical activity will increase throughout the years as they get older, children will attempt play that is more strenuous and sports.

“Quiet time” like drawing and painting is considered a necessary activity to help in the development of the muscles in fingers. Children start unable to hold a pencil or pen, however as they reach the age of three or four, they begin holding a crayon or pencil correctly. With lots of practice, they will become stable writers and painters by the age of ten and eleven.

The teachers at Kids Island Nursery in Dubai ensure our children are constantly learning through play and games to keep them interested in the subject matter while growing and strengthening their muscles and bones. Although, children love to play and be active for most parts of the day, it is important to ensure they receive the right nutrition to support them in their playful development.

Understanding Your Toddler – Childrens Nursery Dubai

At kids Island Nursery, we take great pride in securing a safe and interesting environment for kids to develop. Pre-school children develop at different rates and stages, which sometimes leaves parents in the dark not knowing how to react to different situations. The age between two and five are interesting years, considered fun and exciting for both caregivers and the children. These are the years where many long and short phases will come and go which sometimes leaves you pulling your hair out. Although no two children are the same, they learn words at rapid rates, influenced greatly by the diverse mix if cultures and traditions found in a single classroom in Dubai Nurseries.

Their favourite word is “No”

Little children are trying to establish their power over parents; therefore, their favourite word will be “No”. They understand that “No” means disapproval and hence will respond in the same way for most requests. “Time for bed”, “Time to eat”, “Time to go to school”, will all be answered by; ”NO”. This phase will pass after they reach the age of five or six when they have learned more words and are able to describe exactly what they want. You will hear your child using the word “NO” at nursery as well with their peers. They are striving to become leaders amongst their playgroup and teachers.

 

I am a big Boy or I am big Girl

Children in this age group are striving to state their individuality and will therefore proactively take part in decisions. One of the most important aspects of communication to a child, is to be listened to and will insist some of their suggestions are taken into account. Pre-schoolers are always trying to establish themselves as individuals; different from their parents and this is what they like. At home, they will insist on eating and bathing by themselves, at their Dubai pre-school they will insist on completing a given task without the help of their teacher. Each complete task will give them satisfaction and the motivation to keep proving themselves repeatedly.

Nursery Children will make profound statements

Children who attend pre-school will mimic statements and actions of caregivers and peers. Parents usually will find themselves embarrassed with some statements that pre-schoolers make. They will repeat things they hear from the music they listen to, adult conversations, and anything else they are exposed to. It is very important to filter content, they see and hear, and ensure they are surrounded by age appropriate activities and entertainment. However, should they have already picked up behaviour or vocabulary you do not approve of, deal with these situations diligently and ensuring they clearly understand what is approved and what is not.

Pre-schoolers repeat stories

Pre-schoolers want to be heard and feel important. This will mean repeating the same stories, until everyone they look up to has heard it. They might relate a story from home over and over again to their peers and teachers and vice versa. This should be encouraged, as it through stories they will improve their vocabulary; learning words and phrases every day.

Emotions will be described with stories

A preschooler is at the stage where they begin to understand things happening around them. For example, when they want to go out and play on a rainy day, they will explain that they can’t because the sky is crying and therefore they are sad too. If they miss a day at nursery, they will express their disappointment to amongst peers by stating that little monsters went into their body and made them sick. An explanation given by pre-schoolers will be amusing and we suggest that time time be appreciated to its fullest, as their stories will be missed by them they grow older.

Understanding Cause and Effect

Pre-schoolers will make the connection between the cause of something and the effect. They will begin make the connection between being sick and needing medicine. Oh a cloudy day, followed by rain.

Pre-schoolers communicate best with art and body language

Nursery going children are very physical and artistic. They are fond of gestures and actions and are eager to rein act experiences and things seen on television. As part of their curriculum at Kids Island Nursery, they will have plenty of playtime which helps them develop their imaginative skills. School Role-plays of re-enacting the elements of weather, sun, cloud, rain and snow will encourage them to do the same at home when relating their days events to parents. Preschoolers express their deep emotions through art. Art and craft is a good way of understanding your child’s mood very well.

The age between two and three are the most interesting years for both children and caregivers. It is a time for learning and developing and don’t be surprised if you find yourself learning new things everyday from your little children. Kids Island Nursery Dubai ensures that all little children are able to develop and learn at their pace maintaining their individuality.

Nursery in Dubai

Kids Island Nursery, in Dubai works on the fundamental milestones established by Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). EYFS guides us with tools and techniques to follow for each age group  ensuring all children, regardless of age, ethnicity, or social background have equal opportunity to excel as individuals.

Children are born ready to learn and learn fast. However, they achieve different milestones at different times, based on their interest and environment during a set period. When children attend a nursery school in Dubai, they are able to interact with other children from different backgrounds. Attending a Nursery in Dubai is one of the best experiences that a child as young as two can enjoy. The mix of races and ethnicities, amazing resources of teachers from all over the world, and state of the art equipment will help your three-year old progress greatly compared to attending school anywhere else in the world.

There are standard goals that children will reach during their years at nursery. These years are called, “The Magical Years”, as they have passed the terrible twos and are now finally accepting approved behavior, understanding commands, being independent and their minds begin creative and imaginative thinking. This period with be both amusing and enlightening to parents as well.

A 3-to-4-year old is prepared to grow and develop in many aspects throughout the year and keeping track of their achievements can be a difficult task. Each child will develop varying skills and talents however, there are certain general advancements that all children are likely to make at pre-school level.

Speech and Language Milestones

Turning three for any child is a time where parents will finally be able to communicate with their children much more than they were able to before. At the end of the 4th year, he or she should be able to say his of her name and age when asked, and will answer questions clearly as they would have picked up around 250 – 500 words. They are able to tell stories and update you on their day at school.

Cognitive Development Milestones

If you thought the terrible two were bad, because they never stopped moving around, the three’s is an age, where parents would hear the word “Why?” at least a hundred times a day. 3-to-4-year-olds will question everything around them. As annoying as it might be, this is normal in the developmental progress as they try to catch up with information. This is when cognitive development takes precedence over everything else as they begin to understand and form opinions on varying subject matters. During this time they will name colours, and understand concepts like same and different, morning, noon and night, and remember stories their teacher told them at nursery. They will use building blocks to construct tall structures and solve age appropriate puzzles.

Emotional and Social development Milestones

A child aged between three and four will thrive in social situations. They will make friends easily and find things to say and do with their newfound friends almost immediately. They will share their toys and accept the concept of waiting their turn during play. Their acting skills will also develop well as they imitate parents and teachers, and show affection to other children and babies. They will understand the concept of possession and will know what belongs to them and their friends. They will make faces to show their emotions; like for instance when you call out bedtime to your 3 year old, they will make a sad face to show their disapproval

Practical Learning More Advantages than Theoretical Teaching

In a city as multicultural as Dubai, where hundreds of different ethnicities come together to live, work and play, the children of Dubai are global citizens. Originating from different backgrounds, speaking many different languages, practical education tops any other educational theory. Engaging young children in play allows us at Kids Island Nursery to teach many different subjects, which are relevant and required for today’s children.

Children are naturally inclined to imitate things they see and hear. In a recent study, two groups of children were taught the alphabets using different techniques. The first group was to learn by writing and the other was to learn by songs and dance, role-play and art. The children in the first group were bored, inattentive, rebellious, and uninterested in the subject matter. They were slow to grasp, and barely showed any progress in the two-day experiment. The children in the practical group were attentive and eager to learn and imitate. The practical group of children showed higher results in the tests conducted at the end of the experiment. This proves that children learn better, when they are engaged in the learning process. This is also true of us adults; however, we are able to train our minds to concentrate through determination.

At Kids Island Nursery, we understand that the key to developing young minds is to engage them in practical learning that will keep them active and attentive. Running a nursery in Dubai, means that we have children that speak different languages and understand things differently. However all kids behave the same way in playful activities. We use this to our advantage creating a universal platform for all children, accommodating their uniqueness. At Kids Island Nursery, our teachers are qualified in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) education system, developed in the UK. The EYFS uses experimentation and practical lessons to teach alphabets, colours, and numbers, additionally social and communication skills, general knowledge, science, emotional and mental growth and so much more. We cover many topics at our pre-school in Dubai, which give our children the added advantage when moving to higher grades.

The children at Kids Island Nursery are happy and enthusiastic in their educational development. We integrate a variety of topics, like food, the weather, geography, science and of course the foundation subjects: numbers, colours, and alphabets’. We teach these topics by activities like role-play, show and tell, fun experiments, junior chef and much more.

Children at Kid’s Island Nursery are confident with strong personalities as we strive to instil social interaction and intellectual skills throughout their time with us. We strongly follow our principles to guide all our students equally on all fronts while understand that each of them are different.

Choosing a Nursery in Dubai

Whether you have recently travelled to Dubai or have been living here for long, one of the biggest decisions that young parents are faced with is choosing the right pre-school in Dubai for your young toddler.

We have seen how young children; toddlers and babies alike, cling to their mothers on the first day caused by separation anxiety. This is normal and expected of children as young as they are, when they enter nursery, due to the unfamiliarity of a new environment and people. Whether you have made the move to Dubai recently or have always lived here, looking for nurseries in Dubai to ensure your child safety, happiness and learning is at the best facility is important to any parent before they leave their precious little ones for the day.

There are certain factors you need to consider before deciding on the Best Pre-school in Dubai for you and your child. The curriculum that the school follows is vital and most important as it is the foundation that they will obtain and the system followed should help your child in their future higher education with other schools and syllabuses.

It is important that the school you pick, gives your toddler a broad spectrum of education and learning activities that helps in personal and academic growth. All aspects of your toddlers developmental criteria, should be integrated in the curriculum like, emotional, social, physical, and mental, while encouraging enthusiasm for learning and exploring.

Secondly, having a school follow a strict disciplinary boundary is important in cultivating morals and manners that will come in handy when moving to higher education and social environments. However, it is of utmost importance that any school when considered does not over step the parent’s authority nor should they scare your child into good behavior as children only misbehave when their required needs are not met.

The first five years of any child are most important and it is during this time that they discover their niche and their special talents and capabilities. It is therefore important to ensure that the nursery you pick, inculcates enthusiasm for self-discovery and progress.

One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a nursery for your child, is ensuring that you are involved and the school you pick, encourages your feedback and works with you as a team to improve your child’s progress made overall.

Last but not least, any nursery should encourage individuality, while maintaining a sound academic syllabus that is certified by international bodies, designed to ensure that no child is left behind in his work.

If you would like to learn more about Kids Island Nursery Dubai please feel free to visit us and talk to us personally before you make your decision.