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Our Family Early Learning
Welcome Tamariki and Whānau
We begin our day at 7.30am when the centre opens, we welcome our tamariki and their whānau. Our day begins with the children being encouraged to greet their teachers, other children and putting their bags in their lockers. This allows our children to learn about ownership and belonging, affirming them as individuals and gaining confidence in acknowledging others. The children help us set up for our day, making decisions, learning self-directed play, and developing their sense of ownership and independence.
Morning Kai
At 9.30am we come inside for a small morning gathering and shared kai/food. During kai, our children are supported to drink water and serve themselves a selection of fruit and snacks prepared by Julie. Our teachers love to sit with our tamariki, supporting them and chatting, we have some awesome conversations with our tamariki during this time! This is a great opportunity to support their hand/eye coordination, awareness of their own appetite and conversation skills.
Huihui / Group Time
After our morning kai, we have huihui, where our children work in their groups (based on age) and focus on skills such as rhyming, letter / number / shapes through games, social skills through group games, fine-motor skills through art experiences, music and magnet stories and much more! As a teaching team, we use huihui to meet the needs of our specific group of tamariki through fun and engaging activities! This lasts for about 10-20 minutes depending on their age and level of focus on the day.
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Indoor & Outdoor Discovery
After kai and huihui, our tamariki are free to explore and play where they wish, using social play and meaningful conversations with peers and teachers to develop and extend playful learning. The activities offered are extremely diverse, including messy play, art, water play, sand play, drawing, large ball games, board games, books, construction, dramatic play, music and more! These activities support their literacy (sounding letters, drawing, reading and writing), math (number knowledge, cognitive thinking, seriation and patterning), language (speaking, listening and understanding), gross-motor (large muscle movement), fine-motor (small muscle movement), music, art, independence and social skills such as sharing, turn-taking and dealing with conflict.
Music & Movement
At 11.30am we come inside for music and movement, our tamariki are encouraged to participate or watch, helping them to create an awareness and appreciation for dance, drama, singing, puppets and more! During this time our tamariki are learning to appreciate different types of music while developing spatial awareness, body movement, coordination and a sense of melody and rhythm are explored and developed.
Kai Time
At 12pm, we gather together to share our kai karakia before having our kai. Julie prepares our children's lunch, they are nutritious, jam-packed with our 5+ a day and delicious! Tamariki are encouraged to be independent with their eating, serving themselves, eating with a fork and spoon, pouring water and asking for seconds. Our kaiako sit with our tamariki, supporting and chatting with them. Kai is a peaceful and unhurried time here at preschool, encouraging positive eating habits. We typically spend this time at the tables but we love to have picnics outside when the weather allows!
Sleep / Whānau Time
After kai, our younger tamariki sleep and the older children have stories on the mat while they rest their bodies and minds after a busy morning. Stories offer the children to develop skills to concentrate, retain information and retell this to our group. Our tamariki are exposed to new information about the wider world through many types of different print-rich media.
Calm Exploration
After stories, we encourage calm, fine-motor activities as we continue to rest our minds and bodies before re-engaging in the morning's activities. We also have buddy time where our tamariki are encouraged to play with somebody they haven't yet played with today! This time supports the learning of perserverance, concentration, self-choice, developing and extending their own ideas, trying new things and social skills!
Indoor / Outdoor Discovery
At 1pm, our tamariki can choose to continue to explore the activities inside, or go and revisit their play before lunch. The morning's activities are repeated in all areas so our tamariki can have a turn, repeat or extend their knowledge and learning on their chosen activity. This encourages new interests, experiences and confidence with everything they try.
Afternoon Kai & Whānau Time
At 2.20pm we come inside for afternoon tea, we sing our phonic sound song of the week and again our tamariki are offered water, fruit and savoury snacks prepared by Julie. Following this, we come together for stories, a group game or music while many of our tamariki leave for the day. We also use this time to engage in an informal conversation with whanau about their child’s day and generally catch up.
Outdoor Discovery
From 3.30 our tamariki come back outside to continue their own play. This is a calm, relaxing time of our day where our tamariki love to make amazing creations together as a smaller group, engage in dramatic play, creative construction and more! During this time, we also love to play group games like Uno, Giant's Treasure, Musical Chairs, Duck, Duck Goose and more!! It is an awesome time for our tamariki to strengthen their relationships with their teachers and peers!
Tidy Up Time & Indoor Discovery
At 4.30 our remaining tamariki are encouraged to help tidy the centre, close the sandpit and clean up for the day. We then move inside and tamariki are continued to engage in their own self-directed play, winding down for the afternoon, and playing until they are picked up.
Home Time
At 5.30 we farewell our tamariki and close the centre for the day.
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