Building solid foundations for life

Helping little minds and bodies reach
critical developmental milestones

At this age, your child’s physical and mental development is happening at an extremely rapid pace. They are learning how to move their body, how to communicate their needs, and how to interact with different things around them.

Their personality, social awareness, and intelligence are developing too. So it’s vital to guide them through a range of positive experiences that help them to develop into confident and capable little people. The discoveries they make at this stage of life form the bedrock of their character and attitude as they grow up.

The Discovery Bay philosophy for
infants and toddlers

Learning approach & curriculum

Library + language + home office

Language and Communication

Building the child’s ability to form sentences, understand words, and use an expanding vocabulary. The alphabet is introduced and children begin to learn the phonetics of each letter.

Making connections between words and objects

In this stage of your child’s development, our main focus is on introducing new words and building the child’s understanding of what they mean. We communicate clearly and often to help the child build their ability to form their own sentences.

  • Using singing and rhymes to encourage phonetic recognition
  • Naming things in their environment clearly and specifically
  • Reading picture books to associate words with things
  • Encouraging pointing to objects to learn their names
  • Simple conversation with other children is encouraged
language

Blended Montessori + STEM

Discovery Bay’s industry-first methodology delivers an expanded early learning program that incorporates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) within a Montessori curriculum.

This means your child gets all the development that Montessori offers, while also being introduced to foundational STEM concepts along the way.

Sensorial

Sensorial

Developing use of sight, touch, smell, taste, sound, and kinaesthetics. Kids refine their motor skills and build their ability to recognise and classify different things.

Recognising and classifying sensorial data.

Sensorial is all about developing our ability to think about the world by using information collected by our senses. Children use and manipulate different objects to understand their differences and learn what those differences mean.

These experiences form their skill at perceiving distinctions between similar and different objects, and lay important groundwork for more sophisticated subjects in the coming years.

  • Exploring touch, colour, and smell of veggies from the garden
  • Shaking cylinders filled with sand or beads to distinguish loud or soft noises
  • Splashing in water or digging in the garden to understand texture
  • Manipulating playdough, clay or coloured sand (weight and volume)
  • Playing sound discovery games – can you hear the bird/bell/scratching?
  • Comparing different objects, long vs short, big vs small etc
language

Blended Montessori + STEM

Discovery Bay’s industry-first methodology delivers an expanded early learning program that incorporates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) within a Montessori curriculum.

This means your child gets all the development that Montessori offers, while also being introduced to foundational STEM concepts along the way.

Mathematics

Mathematics

Building the child’s understanding of abstract mathematical concepts using hands-on sensory materials.

Building number recognition

We use tangible objects they can grasp and see, and guide each child to develop an understanding of the differences between one, two, three or more things. Children begin to recognise what each number symbol corresponds with in the real world, and start to develop their ability to understand numbers in abstract form.

  • Handling and manipulating common objects into different amounts
  • Verbally counting objects both in Discovery Rooms and outdoors
  • Demonstrating numbers using familiar objects eg: pieces of an orange
  • Matching block or cloth numbers with their physical representation
  • Counting ingredients when cooking in a Practical Life activity

Blended Montessori + STEM

Discovery Bay’s industry-first methodology delivers an expanded early learning program that incorporates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) within a Montessori curriculum.

This means your child gets all the development that Montessori offers, while also being introduced to foundational STEM concepts along the way.

Practical Life

Practical life

Purposeful tasks that teach children to look after themselves and their environment. Kids learn coordination, co-operation, and gain a sense of belonging through participation.

Developing real-world capability

Practical Life involves everything that it takes to be a fully functioning human within the child’s culture and society. Kids learn to care for themselves and their environment. They also start to learn how to function acceptably within a group, which is essential for developing healthy social habits and the ability to connect with others in a purposeful way.

We have also installed ‘home office’ areas in each classroom so kids get familiar with concepts related to modern working life early.

  • Food preparation such as pouring, choosing ingredients, peeling fruit
  • Cleaning and tidying up activities such as rinsing dishes and wiping tables
  • Raking, sweeping, watering and other outdoor maintenance activities
  • Self care: nose blowing, hair brushing, hand washing etc
  • Using manners and showing consideration to others
  • Self-regulation through activities such as ‘the silence game’

Blended Montessori + STEM

Discovery Bay’s industry-first methodology delivers an expanded early learning program that incorporates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) within a Montessori curriculum.

This means your child gets all the development that Montessori offers, while also being introduced to foundational STEM concepts along the way.

Cultural Studies

Cultural Studies

Kids build their understanding of the world around them through geography, botany, zoology, science, history, music, and art.

Discovering potential lifelong passions

Cultural Studies introduces children to the wider world around them, laying important foundations for future learning and development in relation to the physical world, people and culture, animals and nature, and art and music.

This multifaceted area of exploration gives children the ability to investigate the world’s wonders without leaving their safe environment. Who knows which discovery will spark a lifelong interest or passion in your child?

  • Interacting with maps, globes, and geography puzzles
  • Learning about plants and manipulating water (eg: jug pouring)
  • Playing with instruments and singing using musical cues
  • Gluing, painting, and other art and craft activities
  • Investigating different rocks, shells, and other natural elements

Blended Montessori + STEM

Discovery Bay’s industry-first methodology delivers an expanded early learning program that incorporates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) within a Montessori curriculum.

This means your child gets all the development that Montessori offers, while also being introduced to foundational STEM concepts along the way.

The highest
quality and care

Every inch of Discovery Bay has been meticulously created to give your child the best start in life within the safest environment possible.

Wellbeing

Emotional wellbeing

We’re committed to providing a safe, nurturing and caring environment that’s designed to build your child’s physical, emotional and mental health.

Creating capable kids

Our focus is on building the resilience, confidence, and critical thinking ability your child needs as a foundation for a great head start and progression through school and in life.

Nutrition

Chef-prepared menus

Chef-prepared menus

All of your child’s meals and snacks are prepared by a qualified Chef using fresh and nutritious ingredients.

Nutritious and delicious!

Our seasonal menus follow Australian Nutritional Guidelines specific to early learning.

Educators

Highly qualified

We require our lead educators to be at least Diploma qualified, and our senior educators to hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education.

Child-led program

We never over-instruct your child. Kids choose what they want to focus on and are then guided through activities within that area.

Turning infants and toddlers
into little explorers

Our Discovery Rooms promote the explorer spirit to create confident and capable kids.

Vasco da Gama

During the Age of Discovery, de Gama found new sea routes between Europe, Asia, and India that established a new era of world trade.

Bartolomeu Dias

Dias led the first European expedition around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, proving that a sea trading route around the southernmost tip of Africa was possible.

Marco Polo

Italian adventurer Polo was a prolific traveller who opened up trade routes to East India and China, introducing Europeans to many Asian inventions we still use today.

Your child is also on an exploratory adventure every single day.

Join us

Ready to get started? Book an orientation meeting to establish your learning and development goals for your child.

Make a Booking

Want to check things out for yourself? Click below to book a guided tour of your closest Discovery Bay Early Learning Centre.