Kindergarten Program at Oak Park Early Learning

At Oak Park Early Learning, we offer a high quality kindergarten program for children aged 3 to 5 years within our long day care environment and accept funded or non funded kindergarten enrolments at our centre.

We will have separate classrooms for:

3 year old kindergarten
4 year old kindergarten
The kindergarten program is designed for children to become “school ready” by the end of their kindergarten journey, in turn allowing for a smooth and prepared start to Prep at their selected Primary School.

Our Kindergarten Programs are thoughtfully designed with inspiration from the Montessori philosophy, blending child led exploration with structed learning experiences that align with key developmental milestones. In a carefully prepared environment, children are encouraged to follow their natural curiosity, make independent choices, and engage in hands-on activities that foster concentration, coordination, and confidence. Children explore at their own pace, choosing from range of purposeful activities that promote independence and love for learning.

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Montessori-Inspired Kindergarten Education

Our Montessori-inspired kindergarten program blends the core principles of the Montessori philosophy with the Victorian Early Years Learning Framework. This approach encourages independence, hands-on learning, and self-paced exploration, allowing children to take an active role in their own learning journey with support and guidance from our expereicned educators. Our classroom is calm, organised, and rich in Montessori materials that support early literacy, maths, sensorial exploration and practical life skills.

Preparing Your Child for School and Life

Through a balance of structured teacher led and child-led activities, children in our kindergarten program develop essential early literacy and numeracy skills while building social etiquette and bonds and emotional resilience.

Our kindergarten curriculum includes opportunity to engage in:

Practical life activities such as cleaning up after ones self, taking responsibility of belongings, understanding body needs
Well being programs like yoga, mindfulness, cooking, singing, music and movement, sports
Cultural, literacy, numeracy, science and technology activities in a fun age appropriate way
A space to express creativity and imagination
Develop focus and concentration
Develop fine and gross motor skills
Understand team work, taking turns, taking on other people ideas and perspectives

At Oak Park Early Learning, we believe that early education is about more than just preparing for the next grade-it’s about building a strong foundation for a successful and fulfilling years ahead. We guide children in developing the skills they need not only for school readiness, but also for life.

Flexible Enrolment for Families

Funded or unfunded children can be enrolled into our 3 year old or 4 year old Kindergarten Program at Oak Park Early Learning. All children will benefit from our highly qualified kindergarten teachers running the Kindergarten Programs.

While daily care fees apply, government kindergarten funding covers a portion of the program for eligible funded children, helping make high-quality kindergarten and early education in Oak Park more accessible for local families.

Why Choose Our Kindergarten:

Highly qualified and experienced Kindergarten Teachers
Our educators observe, guide and support, allowing children to build self- confidence and problem-solving skills
Excellent School Readiness Programs to support the transition to Primary School
We have designed fun and challenging outdoor gardens
Montessori inspired indoor classroom programs that allow children to experience structured learning
Social and Emotional development to assist with identifying feelings, resilience, managing frustration, develop empathy, work in teams
Government funding available for eligible children
Feeder into local Primary Schools
Available all year around with no school holidays to worry about

Kinder Funding in Victoria

Kinder Funding is provided by the Victorian Government to cover up to 15 free hours of kindergarten per week for eligible children in 3 year old or 4 year old kindergarten.

This funding is paid directly to Oak Park Early Learning who will then reimburse you with funds towards your kindergarten fees through the Xplor App.

Child Care Subsidy (CCS) Explained

The Child Care Subsidy (CCS), provided by Centrelink, is a government initiative aimed at helping eligible families manage the cost of childcare. This subsidy helps make childcare more accessible and affordable by easing the financial burden on families. The amount of assistance a family receives is based on factors such as total household income, the type of childcare service used, and the number of hours required. To qualify, families must meet specific criteria. Payments are made directly to the childcare provider, which lowers the out-of-pocket costs for families. Please visit the Centrelink website for further details.

Combining Kinder Funding and CCS

In many cases, families can use Kinder Funding and the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) together. For example:

Kinder Funding: Covers the cost of the kindergarten portion (up to 15 hours per week).
CCS: Reduces the cost of additional child care hours beyond the Free Kinder program.

At Oak Park Early Learning, we accept both Kinder Funding and the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) to help ensure every family can access high-quality early education within a flexible long day care setting.