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New preschool opens at Early Years Centre

The AV Learning Lab Preschool will run three days a week for children ag three to five
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Carrie Nahorney will be running the AV Learning Lab Preschool opening in September. KARLY BLATS PHOTO

A new early childhood centre is opening in Port Alberni this September for children aged three to five.

The AV Learning Lab Preschool is located at the Early Years Centre at EJ Dunn Elementary School and will operate Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. by preschool teacher Carrie Nahorney.

The new childcare centre is a pilot project funded by School District 70.

Nahorney, who previously taught at Mini Miracles Family Centre at John Paul II, said the centre will offer some “really neat components.”

One being that the centre will work in collaboration with students from North Island College’s Early Childhood Care and Education certificate program.

“The students will be using this as their lab class,” Nahorney said.

“It’s not replacing practicums…but it will be a place for them to come in and practice making observations, setting up explorations for the [children] and having me mentor them and giving them a better foundation to head out into their practicums with.”

The school is set up for a 10 student enrolment with one teacher.

“As en educator, a lot of people go into the classroom thinking they know what they’re going to do…but if you listen to those little minds and the way that [children] think, it opens up a whole new world of exploration and discovery,” Nahorney said.

Another component to the centre is that it will be available for the community to utilize when the preschool is not in session.

“In the afternoons or when the preschool is not running, other childcare centres or primary programs will be able to come in and utilize this space with facilitation,” Nahorney said. “They’ve allotted me I think five hours a week of support or facilitation time and the goal is that I eventually won’t be needed.”

The preschool students will learn based on a Reggio Emilia approach, which is a way of teaching children that encourages them to make choices, explore, discover and create. The centre has been created with the premise that the environment acts as a third teacher in the lives of children.

“There’s been a shift with the Ministry of Education towards inquiry based play and inquiry based education. A lot of teachers may dapple with it a little bit but it’s new curriculum and it’s the same thing with early childhood educators, theme-based is very much the practice,” Nahorney said.

Those interested in an application package can contact Nahorney at 250-731-9371 or avlearninglab@gmail.com.

karly.blats@albernivalleynews.com