Good Dharma Preschool
18 months - 5 years
We believe in creating a home-like environment with emphasis on maintaining a nourishing daily rhythm. A well-structured rhythm helps children transition smoothly between activities, promoting a sense of autonomy and self-regulation. This rhythm creates a harmonious environment where children can thrive, explore and engage in their educational journey with confidence and enthusiasm.
Good Dharma is a newly opened international preschool located in Ahangama, Sri Lanka. Our journey began with launch of our preschool on 01st November 2023.
At the preschool, we are excited to welcome and nurture children ranging from 18 months to 6 years of age.
Our commitment to providing a comprehensive education is reflected in our operation, which runs five days a week throughout the year, with occasional breaks to ensure a well-rounded experience.
Our international teaching staff brings diversity and expertise to our programs, ensuring that our young learners receive a global perspective. We are proud to maintain a low teacher-to-student ratio of no more than 1:5, ensuring personalised attention for each child.
A typical day at the preschool
8:00 am | Slow start to the day
As the students arrive at school, they will be immediately met with a tailored and theme-based set-up for the day, allowing them to begin playing and engaging in educational experiences with their fellow classmates who have already arrived. The teacher will take a special moment to personally welcome each child, demonstrating genuine interest and care. The teacher will also extend a warm welcome to their family.
9:30 am | Morning circle
Everyone will then gather around our beautiful “dharma” tree located in our inner courtyard, which serves as the heart of our school, for the morning circle. Morning circle is a precious ritual for each child in the class group as it provides an opportunity for them to share a thought, dream or experience. Morning circle also serves as a chance for the teacher to initiate conversational prompts with the children and to introduce the day's educational activities.
9:40 am | Fruit break
We journey down to the vegetable farm, where we gather vegetables for today's lunch using our small baskets. Each child receives a basket and alongside our gardener, they will personally pick the ripe fruits from the plants. During this experience, they learn the art of selecting perfectly ripe fruits and even assist in watering the plants. As we near the end, we gather some fruits for our daily morning snack.
9:50 am | Who's here? Who's not?
Together, the children will sing a special song called 'Who's Here Today,' helping them recognise who is present and who is absent. In turn, each of them takes on the role of the 'Calendar Keeper of the Day.' This individual is responsible for updating the season, day of the week, weather and month. This task enhances the children's perception of the surrounding world and the changes that characterise it.
10:00 am | Outdoor educational activities
Nature scavenger hunt: children embark on a scavenger hunt to explore and discover the wonders of nature. They search for various natural treasures like leaves, petals, flowers and sticks, fostering a connection to the outdoors.
Using the found treasures they will head back to the classroom for a fun and engaging science experiment and a nature-based maths game. These treasures will then be reused as art tools and stamps in future art classes.
11:30 am | Setting the table
Every day, four children are assigned the task of setting the table before lunchtime. This real task involves the development of logical-mathematical skills and pre-writing exercises, including counting the number of seats, arranging plates, cutlery, glasses and napkins based on the number of seats at the table.
11:45 am | Personal hygiene and care
Every child learns to take care of themselves and their own body, developing increasing autonomy in the sphere of personal hygiene as well.
12:00 pm | Lunch
Every day, a home-cooked, wholesome lunch is prepared in our farm kitchen and the meal begins with a gratitude rhyme. Lunchtime is an important moment for the children to gather, share and appreciate the food we have grown in our veggie garden. It is also a time for them to develop increasing independence, learn important social manners, and cultivate a positive relationship with food. Lunchtime is not just about nourishment; it is a special moment in our daily rhythm.
1:00 pm | Nap time
Nap time for those who need it and quiet time for those no longer napping. The children can rest, recovering the energy spent during the morning. Children who no longer nap will be guided on a small meditation practice accompanied by soft background music. This will be followed by uninterrupted free play.
2:00 pm | Afternoon snack
Time to put some fuel in the tank in order to continue our day! We priorise health snack choices and a varied type of snacks.
2:15 pm | Playground outdoor adventures
In the afternoon the children will venture outdoors for an adventure in our jungle playground. This provides them with the opportunity to interact and play with the broader Good Dharma community as they join children from our weekly kids club program. This time fosters increased social interactions, collaborative play and the practice of cultural inclusion.
2:30 pm | Outdoor body movement
We conclude the day with a fun animal inspired yoga class beneath the palm trees. The students will concentrate on moving their bodies mindfully while being aware of their breath.
2:45pm | Goodbye song
We reconvene around the tree in the inner courtyard of the school and sing a farewell song together
3:00 pm | Dismissal
Reunion with the family and sharing brief information about the children's day
Please note the daily schedule is a sample of a day and may differ to the actual schedule.
Preschool groups
At Good Dharma our groups are separated by age and developmental stages. We have three current groups under the terms- Explore (18-30 months), Engage (2.5-4 years) and Enrich (4-6 years).
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Beginning with our Explore group, for this group our focus is on each child’s explorations of the rich, diverse and ever changing world around them. We promote child led and also guided explorations through a wide range of experiences and carefully curated environments. The main teacher is the authentic natural environment of the two acre organic farm that Good Dharma is set. Children are introduced to a range of modes of art, musical instruments, English and Sinhala language acquisition through song, dance, poetry, fine and gross motor skills, nature based, sensory and construction exploration. Children learn best first hand and at Good Dharma we aim to provide them with deep immersion across a range of fields and senses.
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Our Engage group is beginning to respond to the environment around them and share their experiences and ideas with friends and teachers alike. The focus also moves onto deeper language acquisition as well as team building/social activities. Children are seen to move between parallel and associative play at this stage and we provide children the environment to play and explore in a range of different situations, for example, construction in small groups to painting in pairs. In the Engage group there is also a stronger Sinhala language focus daily, the children grow with their understanding of authentic Sri Lankan culture.
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With our oldest children at Good Dharma in the Enrich group endeavour for each child to be taking their already magnificent experiences they've gathered in their 4-6 years and continuing the journey with their choice and voice. They move onto developing how to ask questions and use their curiosity to guide the units at Good Dharma. We regularly refer to local and global issues and brainstorm solutions and action, for example, while focusing on the environment children shared that there needs to be a rubbish bin placed in the carpark area and took action in implementing this. With play still at the helm of each day, children experience all through their eyes, heart and mind.
