Ready for what comes next, without rushing childhood
Four-year-olds are increasingly able to explain their thinking, plan with friends, investigate a question and take responsibility for familiar routines. They are also still young children who learn best through play, movement, imagination and dependable relationships.
Our Senior Preschool Program brings those needs together. Children develop communication, early literacy and mathematics, problem-solving, self-regulation and independence through purposeful materials, learning centres, small-group projects and long stretches of meaningful play. Educators provide clear guidance and thoughtful challenge while protecting the joy and curiosity that make children want to learn.
We are here to provide a loving and secure environment where your child can grow, learn and thrive.
- Age range
- 4 years until kindergarten entry
- Program hours
- 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Care options
- Full-time care. Part-time care may be available; families must inquire first, and approval depends on space.
- Daily rhythm
- Learning centres, two outdoor periods, small-group projects, meals, quiet time and family handoff
- Regulated ratio and group size
- Standard ratio of 1 primary staff member for every 10 children; regulations permit 1:20 during rest periods. Maximum regulated group size: 20.
- Family updates
- Daily information in person and through the Centre Parent App, plus a formal progress report each August
- Curriculum
- Montessori-informed practice, emergent curriculum and Alberta's FLIGHT framework working together
At a glance
Confidence begins with belonging
Children are more willing to speak, take a reasonable risk and persist with a difficult task when they feel known and secure. Educators build that foundation by learning each child's communication, interests, strengths, relationships and ways of regaining calm.
This relationship-centred approach can be seen throughout the day:
- each child receives a personal welcome and an inviting way to enter the morning;
- predictable routines help children organize themselves and anticipate transitions;
- educators listen to children's theories, questions and stories with genuine interest;
- children receive meaningful choices and responsibility appropriate to their abilities;
- feelings are acknowledged while boundaries remain clear and consistent;
- conflicts become supported opportunities to communicate, problem-solve and repair; and
- families hear about how their child thought, participated or connected, not only what activity was completed.
Children are encouraged to do more for themselves, but independence does not mean managing alone. Educators remain available with the amount of support each child needs.
How our curriculum works in Senior Preschool
Montessori-informed practice, emergent curriculum and FLIGHT work together throughout the day. They guide how educators prepare the environment, plan purposeful learning and respond when children's ideas take the experience in a new direction.
Montessori-informed practice
Purposeful work and real responsibility
The prepared environment allows children to see their choices, select suitable materials, concentrate and care for what they use. Hands-on activities invite children to sort, sequence, count, compare, build, draw, transfer, fasten, pour and solve practical problems.
Everyday routines matter too. Organizing belongings, preparing an eating space, managing clothing, washing hands and helping restore the room build coordination, order, confidence and responsibility. Educators demonstrate carefully and allow children enough time to try, repeat and improve rather than stepping in too quickly.
Emergent curriculum
Questions become projects
Children's conversations, play themes, discoveries and repeated questions help shape planned lessons and projects. Educators document what children are trying to understand, add materials and vocabulary, and create connections across different areas of learning.
An interest in insects, for example, may lead to observation outdoors, drawing details, comparing features, counting legs, reading information books, building habitats and representing ideas through sensory materials. What begins as one child's question can become a shared investigation involving language, early mathematics, science, art and cooperation.
FLIGHT
Identity, relationships and meaningful participation
Alberta's Early Learning and Care Framework keeps belonging, well-being, communication, play and relationships at the centre of practice. Children are treated as capable contributors whose ideas, cultures and experiences shape the room.
Educators reflect on daily experiences, make space for different ways of participating and use learning stories to make children's thinking visible. Family languages, traditions, knowledge and goals strengthen each child's connection between home, the centre and the wider community.
Learning centres and project work
Learning centres give children time to choose, plan, concentrate and return to an idea. A child may build a detailed structure, act out a family story, investigate a natural object, create with art materials or explore print and number concepts through hands-on materials. Educators observe first, then join with a question, new word, demonstration or material when it will deepen learning.
Small-group project time allows an educator to work closely with a few children. The experience may connect to early literacy, mathematics, art, science or a question already developing in the room. Groups remain active and conversational; the purpose is to think together, not to reproduce identical work.
Child-led play remains essential. It is where children make plans, negotiate rules, test ideas, sustain shared stories and apply the communication and problem-solving skills they are developing.
Kindergarten readiness in everyday practice
Readiness is broader than knowing letters and numbers. It includes being able to communicate, participate in a group, care for personal needs, approach a problem and ask for help. These foundations develop through the whole day rather than in one isolated school-readiness lesson.
| Foundation | What parents may see |
|---|---|
| Communication | Taking part in longer conversations, explaining an idea, asking questions, listening to others and using language to solve problems |
| Early literacy | Enjoying and discussing books, retelling events, hearing rhyme and sounds, noticing meaningful print, drawing with purpose and making early attempts to represent a name or message |
| Early mathematics | Counting in meaningful situations, connecting number words to quantity, sorting, comparing, recognizing patterns and exploring shape, position, size and measurement |
| Inquiry and thinking | Predicting, observing closely, testing an idea, revising a plan, making connections and explaining what happened |
| Social participation | Joining group experiences, cooperating in play, negotiating roles, taking turns, considering another perspective and repairing after conflict |
| Self-regulation and executive function | Following routines, remembering more than one step, shifting between activities, sustaining attention and using support or strategies to regain calm |
| Independence and self-care | Managing belongings and clothing, toileting as able, opening containers, using utensils, washing hands, cleaning up and asking for assistance when needed |
| Physical development | Running, climbing, balancing, jumping, throwing, kicking, using tools and strengthening the hand control that supports drawing and later writing |
| Creativity and confidence | Developing imaginative stories, taking roles, expressing ideas through art, music and movement, and trying more than one solution |
School readiness is not a race or a single checklist. Educators meet children at their current stage, offer appropriate challenge and help families understand the growth taking place over time.
A typical day in Senior Preschool
This is the room's usual weekday rhythm, and Tuesday through Friday follow the same shape. The sequence provides predictability while leaving educators room to respond to children's needs, developing projects and safe outdoor conditions. Themed experiences change with the children and the classroom plan.
The everyday details
Positive guidance and problem-solving
Senior preschoolers are learning to manage stronger social expectations, but they still need patient adults when feelings or conflicts become difficult. Educators anticipate challenges, provide meaningful choices and use positive directions, clear boundaries and developmentally appropriate expectations.
When a problem occurs, educators protect safety, listen to the children involved and help them describe what happened, understand the effect of an action and consider a workable next step. Support may include modelling language, helping children negotiate, changing part of the environment or staying close in a quieter supervised area until a child is ready to return.
Children are never shamed, humiliated or isolated for discipline. When a pattern needs closer attention, educators work with families on consistent, respectful support.
Personal care and growing independence
Handwashing, toileting, dressing, meals, cleanup and managing belongings are part of preparation for school and life. Educators encourage children to complete the steps they can, notice what still requires help and ask for that help confidently.
Children do not need to meet one toilet-learning deadline to participate in the program. Educators follow each child's readiness and the family's approach, encourage without pressure and respond calmly to accidents. Families should keep educators informed about routines used at home and provide extra labelled clothing when needed.
Children who still use diapers receive prompt, respectful personal care. Family-provided creams or ointments must be labelled and may be applied only after the required Medication Authorization Form is completed and approved by the Director.
Meals and snacks support community
The daily schedule includes morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack. Educators sit with children as positive role models and use mealtimes for conversation, self-help and awareness of hunger and fullness. Children practise opening containers, using utensils, helping themselves when suitable and caring for their eating space.
Morning and afternoon snacks are included in the optional Essential Services Package. Families who decline the package provide snacks and milk or yogurt. Whether supplied by the centre or family, snacks include foods from at least two food groups. Families send a nutritious, ready-to-eat lunch each day.
Food is never forced, used as a reward or withheld as a consequence. Allergies, sensitivities, dietary restrictions and feeding requirements must be recorded and kept current in the Centre Parent App. Families should also speak with the Director so a safe plan can be arranged.
Quiet time rather than an expected nap
The Senior Preschool schedule provides a 75-minute quiet period after lunch. Children choose calm, developmentally appropriate experiences such as books, drawing, puzzles or Montessori-informed materials. This quieter pace offers rest from group activity while building concentration and independent engagement.
Children are not expected to sleep. If a child does fall asleep, educators respond to the child's needs within the centre's rest policy and the information provided by the family. Any bedding or rest item requested by the centre must be labelled, taken home for washing at least weekly and washed whenever wet or soiled.
Outdoor learning and active movement
The room schedule includes about 60 minutes outside in the morning and another 60 minutes in the afternoon, when weather, temperature, UV conditions, air quality, playground conditions and children's health and safety needs allow. Outdoor time supports running, climbing, balancing, digging, throwing, kicking, collaborative games, nature inquiry and imaginative play.
Educators treat the outdoor space as a learning environment. Magnifiers, chalk, loose materials, stories or project questions may move outside when they add meaning, while children still receive substantial time for open-ended active play.
Movement continues indoors through songs, dancing, games and active experiences. Beyond the movement that happens naturally during the day, educators provide at least two indoor movement periods of 10 to 20 minutes. If outdoor time must be shortened or cancelled, indoor movement opportunities increase. Families send seasonally appropriate clothing each day so their child can participate safely and comfortably.
Thoughtful and limited screen use
Screen use is not part of KCC's regular program and never replaces play, movement, outdoor experiences or social interaction. Because children in Senior Preschool are four or older, brief educational media may occasionally be used when it directly supports the curriculum and an educator remains actively involved.
Assistive, communication or accessibility technology may be used when it supports an individual child's participation.
Care, supervision and group size
For children age four and older receiving day care, Alberta's standard regulated minimum is one primary staff member for every 10 children, with a maximum regulated group size of 20. During children's rest periods the regulation permits one primary staff member for every 20 children.
| Program age | Standard staff member-to-child ratio | Permitted rest-period ratio | Maximum regulated group size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 years and older | 1:10 | 1:20 | 20 children |
The maximum regulated group size is a licensing grouping limit; it is not the physical capacity of an entire room. Applicable ratios are maintained alongside active supervision, regular headcounts and the centre's safety procedures.
Starting with us
Staying connected with families
Families know their children best. Before care begins, educators want to understand your child's routines, interests, communication, comfort strategies, dietary needs, personal-care needs and the relationships, languages and traditions that matter to your family.
Daily information is shared in person and through the Centre Parent App. Updates may include meals, quiet time, personal-care information, photographs, room journals, learning stories, project documentation and meaningful moments from the day. Families receive a formal progress report through the app each August, summarizing the child's strengths, interests, learning and areas for continued growth.
Families are invited to share observations and goals from home. This knowledge helps educators respond consistently and plan learning that is relevant to the child.
What to bring
Please label every item with your child's name. Senior Preschool families generally provide:
- indoor shoes and a labelled water bottle;
- at least two complete changes of clothing;
- seasonally appropriate outdoor clothing and footwear;
- any bedding or approved comfort item requested by the centre; and
- a nutritious, ready-to-eat lunch each day.
Families who decline the Essential Services Package also provide diapers and wipes when needed, morning and afternoon snacks, milk or yogurt, sunscreen and insect repellent. Creams and ointments must follow the centre's medication authorization process.
Preparing to begin kindergarten
The move to kindergarten is supported through the skills children build every day: participating in a group, communicating needs, following familiar routines, managing belongings, approaching new tasks, caring for themselves and staying curious.
KCC celebrates children preparing to begin school through an annual graduation. The celebration recognizes their growth, friendships and move to the next stage of learning, and families receive details in advance.
When a child begins kindergarten, KCC's Kindergarten Program can support children who attend school either part-time or full-time. Placement and transition planning consider the child's school schedule, licensing requirements, development, relationships, support needs and available space. The Director works with the family and educators so the change is thoughtful and well prepared.
Frequently asked questions
How does Senior Preschool prepare my child for kindergarten?
Children build readiness through communication, early literacy and mathematics, inquiry, self-regulation, independence, physical development and experience participating in a community. Learning remains hands-on, active and connected to play rather than relying on long formal lessons.
Does my child need to know the alphabet or count to a certain number?
No single academic checklist determines readiness. Educators observe each child's current understanding and provide meaningful opportunities to explore sounds, print, stories, number, quantity, pattern, shape and measurement at an appropriate level.
Is there a nap?
The schedule includes a 75-minute quiet period with independent choices rather than an expected nap. Children may look at books, draw, work on puzzles or choose other calm materials while the room moves at a restful pace.
Does my child need to be fully toilet trained?
No. Educators follow the child's readiness and the family's approach, encourage without pressure and provide respectful personal care when needed. Families should send extra labelled clothing during toilet learning.
Do children go outside every day?
Two outdoor periods are planned each day when weather, air quality, playground conditions and safety needs allow. Timing or duration may change, and indoor movement increases when outdoor play must be shortened or cancelled.
Are screens used in Senior Preschool?
Screens are not part of the regular program. Brief educational media may occasionally be used when it directly supports current learning and an educator remains involved; it never replaces hands-on play, movement, outdoor time or relationships.
How is learning planned for my child?
Educators observe and document children's interests, strengths, emerging abilities and needs throughout the month. Those observations guide the following month's flexible classroom plan, including purposeful group experiences, projects and individualized goals or support.
How will I know about my child's day?
Educators share daily information in person and through the Centre Parent App. Families may also receive photographs, room journals, learning stories and project documentation, followed by a formal progress report each August.
Is part-time Senior Preschool care available?
Part-time care is not guaranteed. Families must inquire first, and approval depends on available space, staffing and the enrolment options currently offered.
What happens when my child starts kindergarten?
KCC's Kindergarten Program serves children attending kindergarten either part-time or full-time. The Director works with the family to understand the school schedule and plan the appropriate room placement and transition, subject to available space and program arrangements.
Come see confident learning in action
A tour lets you meet the educators, explore the learning environment and see how independence, purposeful projects and child-led play prepare children for what comes next.
