Smart Start

Extensive research in neuroscience and psychology shows that the first five years of a child’s life are a critical period of development. This is the time when the brain develops more rapidly than at any other point in life. In fact, by the time a child is three years old, 90% of their brain has already been developed. It is now understood that the impact of early experience has a greater influence on development than heredity.

This really reinforces what an important job we have in challenging and stimulating your child each day while they are in our care. Our Smart Start program combines thoughtful and creative learning spaces with a strong educational curriculum, to give your child the best chance of success at school and in life. It offers education in re-reading, pre-writing, maths, science, problem-solving, geography—all appropriate to your child’s specific age and developmental stage.

Modern Learning Spaces

Unique to Rise & Shine, our centres each contain a Smart Start Room. Our Smart Start Room is a well thought out learning space, designed to allow children the opportunity to learn collaboratively with their peers and to really engage with our curriculum. Smart Start rooms reflect the Australian government’s initiative to move towards more flexible learning spaces and modern classrooms of the future.

In our Smart Start room you’ll also find a Promethean® board—an amazing interactive LED10 touch board which is used by many elite schools across NSW and forms a key element of the modern classroom. The Promethean board allows our educators to teach rich, dynamic and interactive learning experiences to the children and promote increased child engagement. Children in virtual learning environments grow in their understanding of the world around them and develop higher-order thinking skills. Incorporating a modern classroom space into our service helps to prepare children for their technologically-based schooling years ahead and forms an important part of our school readiness program.

We incorporate ABC Reading Eggs® into our Smart Start program, which is an award-winning online resource that supports children’s reading skills. It’s created by an experienced team of Australian primary school teachers and provides your child with an educationally sound and highly enjoyable learn to read program. The structured online reading lessons make learning to read fun and easy to integrate into each child’s early literacy experiences.

To learn more about our Smart Start program, contact our educators or book a tour to experience the Shine Advantage.