SEED Program

We are looking forward to the start of our program next Thursday in the D1 learning space with our 2024 SEED participants. Just a courteous reminder for the families of our participants to please ensure that permission forms are returned promptly by the end of this week!

What is the SEED Program? 

The SEED (Social & Emotional Early Development) Program is an intervention program that is currently run by one of our educators, Megan Polson. Mrs. Polson (previously the Performing Arts teacher for many years) furthered her educational interests to include training in Music and Play Therapy practices. This approach allows the guide (teacher) to explicitly teach skills to the children which are then put into practise in the play space. The space has a range of sensory (exploratory), imaginative play and open ended play resources for students to engage in, as well as opportunities to safely strengthen their fine motor and locomotor skills. 

During play, the role of the guide is to follow the students lead. They help the students to problem solve, play with creativity, engage and build stamina in educational tasks, create strong and sequential narratives, guide their questioning, understand their emotions and help to extend their expressive language skills. The role of music in the play space may incorporate the use of sound effects to enhance a play narrative, to contribute to developing onset and rhyme skills, use as an emotional regulation tool, such as a lullaby and help to build strong non-verbal communication skills amongst peers.

As the play space is creative, fun and full of wonder, it is important that our students feel confident to play as their most authentic selves. It is important to create a safe and nurturing space where the children feel free to explore and express their emotions as they need. The role of the guide and other participants is to acknowledge and help the children to understand these feelings, as well as providing strategies and sensory solutions for calming and regulating. 

We look forward to inviting you all to share the journey of our SEED Program throughout 2024 and cannot wait to share our experiences of the benefits of purposeful play!

Watch this space.

Mrs. Polson