Primary Years
Early learning, as described in the Early Learning Framework, includes children from birth to age 8. As children transition from home and other early learning environments to school-based settings, engaging in play-based programs is critical for success.
Access to full day Kindergarten is available for all eligible five-year-olds in British Columbia. Kindergarten is intended to be a play-based introduction to school settings with demonstrated long-term benefits for a child’s academic and social skills.
As children advance through their primary years (Kindergarten through Grade 3), they continue to engage in hands-on learning guided by the BC Curriculum.
The purpose of the Primary Years is to support children’s learning through:
- Engagement in developmentally and culturally appropriate experiences
- Exploration and play, both indoors and outdoors
- Experiencing opportunities that foster their social-emotional learning, self-regulation, and positive relationships with teachers and peers
- Engagement in enriched experiences that support conceptual, cognitive, and language growth, and foster inquiry
- Learning about their local communities and cultures, and the natural environments in which they live
- Participating in learning activities that extend beyond the school, such as neighbourhood and nature walks, and visiting the local library.
