Heroes of Learning
SISU Kids
Kindergarten and Preschool
SISU Kids Program is a 3-level program for early childhood that takes into account children’s universal developmental stages at specific ages.
Each child develops his/her skills at a different pace and we respect and acknowledge the individual needs of each child.
Therefore, we have not limited the early years education to specific one year programs. SISU Kids will have time to grow and develop their skills over a longer period of time.
The three different levels of the program are:
SISU Kids Program is not based on the traditional division of subjects. We think bigger.
Discovering Me
SISU Care
6 months to 1 year
Early interaction is a guiding principle in SISU Care. Time, presence and attention from adults are provided for each child in an unhurried environment.
Repeated interaction experiences in the early years affect the development of the brain. Baby’s needs are accepted and understood. This has an enormous effect on building positive self-esteem.
The caring and learning environment in SISU care is designed to be a safe place for explorations and wonder. All furnishings and toys are developmentally appropriate to crawlers, walkers and almost-walkers.
Exploring My World
SISU Early Years
2 to 4 Years
SISU early years program promotes child’s holistic growth, development and learning in collaboration with the parents. Growth and wellbeing of each child is determined by his or her age and development. Daily activities are based on play, physical activity and arts and enable positive learning experiences.
Children are encouraged to act in a peer group and guided towards acting more independently. SISU Program emphasizes that all children children get an opportunity to participate and influence matters concerning them.
World of Expression
Artistic experiences and expression promote children’s learning potential, social skills and positive self-image.
SISU Kids become artists and innovators through visual, musical, verbal and physical expression.
Future designers develop their skills through craftsmanship and working with hands.
World of Wonder
SISU Kids learn in and about the environment and take action on behalf of the environment. We go outside in the real world!
Children are provided with opportunities to carry out their own ideas and solve problems by building things out of different materials and testing how different devices work.
Hands-on exploration and play-based counting tasks build up children’s early math skills and number sense.
World of Languages
We understand the importance of reading which is strongly connected to the development of thinking and learning skills.
SISU Kids dive into the magic world of stories through versatile children’s literature and develop their pre-reading skills in versatile pedagogical and play-based activities.
Adult talk matters. SISU Kids are heard and supported to speak up and participate in an unhurried atmosphere.
World of Meaning
We have time for what is most important: compassion and co-passion.
SISU Kids become global citizens by knowing where they come from and by appreciating their roots and cultural heritage as well as that of others.
Successes are made visible by giving praise and sharing of others’ enthusiasm. Critical thinking is developed by guiding children in learning to tell wrong from right.
World of Wellbeing
SISU Kids go out every single day despite the weather or season! We are active in many ways and emphasize the joy of the outdoors and nature.
SISU schools provide healthy lunch and snacks, promote positive attitudes towards food and eating, and support versatile and healthy eating habits.
We encourage and support children to understand health and safety issues and to take care of their health and personal hygiene from early on.
Playing My Way to School
SISU Preschool
5 Years
Preschool is an important period in the life of a child. Preschool education is planned and implemented to give children opportunities to be inspired, experiment and learn new things.
Through play and activity in different learning environments, children expand their competence in different fields of knowledge and skills.
Preschool offers children opportunities for versatile interaction and strengthening of social skills. The goal is that the children learn to appreciate human equality and their own uniqueness.
Create and Be Re-created
World of Expression
Children’s capabilities for learning, social skills and positive self-image are strengthened as they develop capabilities for structuring the world around them. These capabilities also support the development of children’s ability to focus and self-regulate.
SISU Preschool children develop their skills in self-expression by practising basic skills in music, visual arts, crafts and bodily and verbal expression. Becoming familiar with different forms of culture and expression strengthens the children’s skills of participation and involvement as well as the development of multiliteracy.
Children gather experiences of the arts and the creative process and they are encouraged to express their ideas, work and different experiences. Art is examined together, and doing things together is made visible in the learning environments.
Explore and Do Your Maths
World of Wonder
Mathematical thinking is developed through the joy of invention and learning. Children are introduced to numbers and amounts and they learn to join them to numeral words in writing and numeric symbols.
Children get multiple opportunities to classify, compare and rank different things and objects and to discover and produce regularities. Children are encouraged to examine and experiment with 2D and 3D objects and to learn concepts of location and relation to strengthen their geometric thinking.
Science offers children experiences of nature and a possibility to investigate and get familiar with plants, animals and natural phenomena.
SISU Preschoolers do also small experiments and ddiscuss the observations and practice applying the data obtained by observation. At the same time, children learn to use concepts connected to nature, draw conclusions and consider causal relationships.
Read and Speak Up
World of Languages
Children start to develop their linguistic awareness by playing with language and rhymes and then practising through versatile familiarization with spoken and written language.
For preschool-aged children language increasingly becomes a tool for thinking. Children start to developt their reading and writing skills through play and by active learning methods.
Children’s literature is diversely used in the instruction. Children are introduced to letters and sounds and begin to read and write as permitted by their skills.
"Today a reader. Tomorrow a leader."
Care and Be Cared For
World of Meaning
We have time for what is most important: compassion and co-passion.
Being attentive, patient, listening to the children and asking questions are important for a successful entrepreneurial learning situation.
Positive entrepreneurial learning situations are closely related to meaningfulness. SISU teachers are flexible with their planning and able to react to the child's interests.
We strengthen children’s capabilities of understanding society and act within it. Children are provided with opportunities to participate in the immediate environment genuinely.
Friendship and respect for others, reasons for joys and fear and telling right from wrong are among the topics that are discussed with the children.
Move and Eat Your Greens
Healthy Lifestyle
SISU Program encourages children to be physically active in versatile ways and to experience the joy of physical activity.
Children develop their social skills in acting when exercising and playing games together.
In addition to supervised exercise, it is ensured that children get opportunities for independent physical activity both indoors and outdoors.
Mealtimes are used as a learning situation that promotes healthy habits. The mealtimes with children are made pleasant, and children are guided towards good manners.