Our Philosophy

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Our Philosophy of Learning

Founding Principles

A number of founding principles guided the initial design of the program and inform the long term planning for the program as well as day-to-day decisions.

Our Vision

Island Discovery supports families with:

  • An educator-led program that provides quality service to learners.
  • Attached relationships for their children over the school years.
  • Learning in the context of attached relationships, at home and in the wide world
  • Access to a child-led learning philosophy.
  • Enriched attachments through community connections.
  • Teachers who understand and appreciate a homeschooling philosophy.
  • A high degree of parent involvement in educational planning, with direction and guidance from a certified teacher.
  • Access flexible funding for learning materials and classes.

Partnership

The teacher, parent and child are partners working together to develop and support a learning plan for the child and to provide/engage in enriching learning experiences for the child.

We work to make this a genuinely respectful relationship, where we work to support and celebrate each child’s passions and interests as we plan, engage in, and evaluate learning.

Your voice as a parent, as well as your child’s voice, are integral in creating an educational program that is vibrant and exciting.

Respect

We aim to respect each person’s feelings and individuality as we interact and work together (adults and children alike). We also respect the integrity of each person and their individual learning styles and differences.

This is reflected in individualized learning plans and appropriate learning support in the way that each child is taught, heard and evaluated.

Each person is treated with empathy and caring by teachers, parents and other children. Conflict resolution processes are based on respect for all involved and on building positive skills for all involved.

Family

We value the role of family involvement in a child’s learning and healthy development. We also value the ways that a community of families can support each other, both practically and by enriching the mentorship and learning opportunities available to our children. This value is reflected in welcoming parents in the classroom, involving families in the running of our centres, partnership in developing learning plans and evaluation, and in including families in special events, celebrations, fieldtrips and workshops.