Mairtown Kindergarten

In my role as a teacher of young children I feel that it is crucial that I allow them both time and space to explore different experiences. One of these experiences that I love to observe is children working with is clay.

At Mairtown Kindergarten we have clay out most days, it is there for children to explore at their own pace, as well as being a resource that we use to extend on children’s thinking and knowledge. I have documented the use of clay previously on our blog where I discussed the role it plays in helping children turn their 2D drawings into 3D sculptures (Click here to view).

Although the end product of clay work is often interesting and beautiful I really wanted to concentrate in this write up on the importance of children having continuous use of clay in our kindergarten. Clay is a great open ended resource that should be celebrated for all the greatness it brings to our learning environment for children of all ages.

“Clay is open-ended, malleable, and durable, which makes it especially fitting for a developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children. Clay supports children’s development and learning by affording children the opportunity to actively explore a very dynamic material, to develop understandings and test those understandings through hands on experiences.” (Berk, 2008; Smith & Goldhaber, 2004)

When children have the opportunity to explore and revisit experiences, like clay, over and over their learning is enhanced and they develop a relationship with the material. Clay is an interesting tactile and intriguing resource. It can be messy and sticky or smooth and silky. It is a great medium that is so versatile. Some children enjoy patting, poking, squishing and massaging the clay, others enjoy using it to create representations of their ideas and thoughts.

I have noticed when children work with clay they are often deeply engaged, their concentration is at a heightened level but at the same time they seem to have a sense of calmness that over comes them.

“While I have worked with students in other art mediums, something magical happens when children work with clay. Whether it is the sensory response to the clay, the ability to be in charge of the medium or, perhaps, the ability to express and articulate their emotions through their physical prodding or smoothing of the clay, all children, even those with high activity levels, become engaged and engrossed in their work.” (Storms)

Some children approach clay with confidence, happily picking up the natural resource and moulding it in the palm of their hands. Other children however, approach it in a more reserved and cautious manner, observing others using the clay first, then carefully engaging with it themselves. It is important in either respect that children are given ample time to explore clay at their own pace, and where appropriate with the support of an encouraging and considerate adult.

When working alongside children who are engaged in clay experiences, I feel as a teacher, that it is vital to find a balance between not being over bearing and providing too many ‘rules’ to making sure you are role modelling techniques and offering gentle encouragement along the way.

“Working to help children develop their creativity requires that we refrain from being overbearing or too directive, but it does allow us be concerned expert coaches, articulate inspirational artists, and encouraging helpers. When it comes to fostering creativity, good open questions are priceless. Good crafts grow out of good thinking, intrinsic desire, and lots of practice; not from external rules.” (Bartel, 2002)

Having clay out all the time also means that it creates opportunitities for children to develop skills and knowledge about how to use this resource to support their interests. This in turn means that we end up having children who become experts in using clay and they often become wonderful role models and peer tutors for their friends. It is always so great to witness this kind of leadership take place within our environment, and it is really supported greatly by allowing our children to revisit this resource over a long period of time.

Recently I have been spending quite a lot of time at the clay table. In this space I have been supporting children in any way that is needed, whether this is just letting them be at one with the clay or whether this is offering them advice in how to develop techniques that they can use to manipulate the clay, to help them create the end piece they are striving for. Clay has many benefits for children’s learning development including, but not limited to, fostering gross and fine motor development, enhancing hand-eye coordination and extending on language and creative thinking. Being so easy to manipulate and create with means that often children’s imaginative ideas are extended on as their clay comes to life. All in all it is an experience that is enjoyed by many, one that fosters many different learning areas and the joy that comes from this space is delightful.

We also like to take clay outside, not only into the kindergarten outdoor area, but also on our Nature Programme in the local Mair Park bush. Here the children enjoy making treasures with the clay that they often gift to the bush. It is always interesting returning in the weeks afterwards to see what has happened to the gifts that they have left. This highlights one of the great aspects of clay, being that it is a natural and versatile resource, and that when the gifts are left in the bush it doesn’t have a negative impact on the environment.

As mentioned above, clay should be available for the children that we work with continuously. The reason for this is so that they have opportunities to revisit, revisit and revisit and in turn develop a relationship with the material that will in turn support and enhance their learning and development. Clay is an incredibly enjoyable and tangible resource that should be celebrated in our world of early childhood education. Clay enables both the hands and the mind to work creatively together and this is summed up beautifully by Thomas Aquinas who defined "human" as, "a being with brains and hands. As such our greatest joy comes when we can employ both our brains and our hands simultaneously in ways which are creative, useful, and productive."

Till next time,

Zair

The thing I love about early childhood is how the curriculum is interwoven throughout play experiences. Intentional teaching coupled with thoughtful planning of the environmental set up, provides children many opportunities to develop their numeracy and literacy knowledge in a holistic manner, and can also include language, physical, and social skills.

It still surprises me when I hear comments about how children get into ‘real’ learning once they start school. As an early childhood teacher I know and support that children learn through play, it is through play that children explore and make discoveries about their world.

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” Fred Rogers

While children are engaged in play there are many opportunities and experiences that help to form connections that are made between new ideas and existing knowledge while gaining an understanding of mathematical concepts, including number sense, measurement, spatial awareness (geometry), sequencing, classifying and sorting, counting, and recognising patterns (algebra).

“Mathematics is a natural activity for children; they demonstrate a great capacity for learning mathematics long before they enter school.” Dr Jean Shaw

Early childhood are crucial years for children to gain an understanding and develop their thinking around the concepts of more or less, biggest or smallest, longest or shortest, near or far, heavy or light and wide or narrow.

“Exploring mathematics can help kindergarten children satisfy and deepen their natural curiosity about sizes, shapes, numbers and relationships they encounter in the world.” Dr Jean Shaw

At kindergarten we are thoughtful with our environmental set up that invites children through their natural curiosity, to be active participants and learners by engaging in meaningful experiences.

“Children’s understanding of mathematical relationships develop gradually over time, and by describing and working with patterns in the world around them, children are starting to use ideas that are foundational to algebraic thinking.” Dr Jean Shaw

These experiences can include water play (volume and measurement), imaginary play selling pizzas, how many would you like? (shapes and number sense), cooking (measurement), sorting and classifying items such as stones, shells or dinosaurs, whānau time singing number songs or a real favourite of counting how many children are in attendance at kindergarten.

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” Fred Rogers

Instead of promoting a culture of worksheets, I believe as an early childhood teacher that I can offer children opportunities to learn through my thoughtful planning and intentional practice which provides play experiences that can incorporate numeracy and literacy skills. It is these foundational skills that children will carry with them as lifelong learners.

“Play is our brain’s favourite way of learning.” Diane Ackerman

Mā te wā

Susie

Recently I have been reflecting on how much joy and engagement happens in our sandpit every day. When I first started my studies in becoming a qualified early childhood teacher, I would have to go on placements. In all my placements over the years I always found myself using the sandpit as a safe place to settle myself into my new surroundings, a space to support me in making connections with children who I had never met before and getting involved at their level in their play. I often notice to this day how children use our sandpit in a similar way, a settling tool, a way to build relationships with others and a place to indulge in wonderful play experiences.

The sandpit is often a space which is hive of activity, fostering individual and group play situations. Even in the busiest of times it seems to be un-chaotic, children deeply engaged in many different games and experiences but all working cohesively together.

Concepts such as co-construction, negotiation, cooperation, spatial awareness, sharing and problem solving are brought to the forefront for children as they utilise all the great qualities the sandpit provides. The benefits of playing in the sandpit for children is immense. The sandpit is a great space for social, emotional and language development. While playing in the sand children use communication skills as they talk about what they are doing and how to do things. They share equipment and learn to get on with others. The imaginary and role play that children also engage in provides lots of opportunities for storytelling and helps them make connections with others who have similar interests. This is wonderful for supporting them in forming meaningful relationships with their peers at kindergarten, which in turn will foster their sense of belonging.

“Sand provides many opportunities and possibilities for mathematical and science learning as children dig, measure, fill, construct, and compare... Sand play also gives many opportunities for children to develop the language of social interaction and negotiation.”
(ECE Educate, Ministry of Education NZ)

It is such a rewarding and wonderful part of my job to be privy to the benefits of such a wonderful resource. The sandpit will always be a space that is supporting and enhancing our children’s learning and development and it will also always be a space that I hold dear to my heart.

Till next time,

Zair

There are many aspects of my work that I love, yet I feel truly privileged and fortunate when I am able to spend time with the families and friends of the children I work alongside. In early childhood education we are especially blessed, as we recognise the importance and value for everyone, when children, whānau and teachers enter into trustful and sustained relationships, and for us at Mairtown our families also recognise this.

Family involvement makes a difference…the family seems to be the most effective…system for fostering and sustaining the child’s development. Urie Bronfenbrener

Of course, family participation happens everyday at Mairtown, but a true reminder of just how wonderful our whānau and community are in supporting their children was our yearly wheel-a-thon last week. The wheel-a-thon is a very special time for us, a time when family, children, teachers, past (and soon to be present) pupils come together in a wonderfully fun community event.

Although the wheel-a-thon began life several years ago as a fundraiser for Mairtown, it has become a bit of a ritual, something we all look forward to each year. The support and turn out this year was the highest I have ever seen. It was fabulous to see all the effort families had gone to in decorating bikes and scooters, to notice how many friends of children attended, and to see whānau catching up with each other and enjoying each others company.

"Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches." Wanda Hope Carter

Of course after the event, back at kindergarten, the children have been doing lots of talking (and drawing) about their evening. For instance, Nika told us she liked riding her bike best, Pippa.L. said her favourite part was ‘when we lined up and the ice blocks’while Alex told us all that ‘bringing my tool box’ was his favourite part.

Through this drawing Aurelia tells us, 'This is me and my sister at the wheel-a-thon. We have pink bikes, we had flowers on the bikes.

Whilst Danielia explains, 'This is me on my bike, I went really fast. I goes that way and round and round and round'.

And as a reminder to my earlier comments about our wonderful whānau contributing to our programme at Mairtown, many have also left us some great comments that we can share.

‘It was such a beautiful event. Love seeing the Mairtown kindergarten community coming together…was cool to hang out with other parents and see the kids outside kindy…love it! Well organised and got some great photos – especially of a proud little girl with her medal…we had a wonderful time.’

This year the money raised from the wheel-a-thon is going to buy resources for kindergarten including a new set of ukuleles. It will be marvelous for the children to know that it was their hard work along with the support and dedication from their families, that will enable these new instruments to be enjoyed by so many, and for years to come.

Thank you once again for everyone’s support. Extra big thank you’s have to go to those people who helped with the jobs of chopping onions, preparing bread, transporting the BBQ, cooking the sausage sizzle, taking great photos and for the donation of the sausages – thank you!

Here is a little video clip of some of the photos we captured:

Until next time,
Christine

There are many things I love about Mairtown, one of them being how there is always something special to look forward to. Last week kindergarten was a hive of activity and excitement with the build up to Easter. Over the years making decorative Easter eggs has become one of those special rituals.

It is wonderful how our older tamariki often remember and ask if we are going to be making Easter eggs again this year. What’s really special is when the older children explain to their younger or new e hoa what they remember and share about their egg making experiences.

Rituals play an important role in society. Rituals remind us of what is important and provide a sense of stability and continuity in our lives. (Cathy Stucker, 2009)

Our Easter egg tree ritual started when a past German family introduced the concept to us several years ago. The creation of the eggs is a process that requires several steps over many days, which is great as it offers children the opportunity to revisit their work through to completion.

The first step of the process was to mix the papier-mâché then form it into egg shapes. This was a very sticky job, however there were plenty of smiles as they all looked happy with their work.

This process requires lots of patience as the eggs can take a while to dry (particularly with our rainy Northland days). Once the papier-mâché was dry we set about painting the eggs with a base of colour.

The next step always seems to be our children’s favourite part as this is when we use the gold or silver pens and coloured sequins to decorate the eggs with stunning details.

Our Easter egg tree ritual was inspired by a previous family’s German connections. Now we have another family who originate from Germany and who also celebrate Easter by decorating trees with eggs. It was lovely to talk to Maximilian’s family, who shared the special significance of having an Easter tree and what it means to them. Maximilian brought in an egg from home to show an example of how they had decorated it, making these connections in such a meaningful way supports their sense of belonging.

The finished products are gorgeous indeed and I hope they beautified our children’s homes over Easter.

Mā te wā

Susie

At Mairtown Kindergarten we have been running a successful Nature Programme since July 2011. This involves 10 of our oldest children heading into our local park for the 4 hour session on a Friday. The children are dropped off and picked up from the Banff Street entrance to the beautiful Mair Park. This has become an integral part of who we are as a kindergarten, giving our early childhood service a point of difference.

Come rain or shine the children brave the elements and head out with a group of their peers, a teacher, Sarah (our nature programme coordinator) and a parent or whānau helper and have their kindergarten session in the bush. The nature programme has been set up to extend on our learning curriculum and provide the children with opportunities beyond what we can offer in our kindergarten. The local park that we have access to is made up of beautiful, dense native bush, full of kauri, manuka, puriri and punga trees to name a few. There are spaces that feel intimate under the wonderful tree top canopy and spaces that are open and airy. It also has the splendid Hatea River that runs through the middle of it. All this natural splendour is something that we appreciate greatly and enjoy during our time in the bush.

Our Nature Programme is about enhancing children’s connection with nature and all it has to offer. Learning is provided spontaneously and organically by Papatūānuku (Mother Earth) and the natural variety that exists in the bush, in addition to its ever changing seasons and endless opportunities for discovery, makes it the ideal location for genuine on-going learning.

“Nature inspires creativity in a child by demanding visualization and full use of the sense” (Louv, 2008)

Every week that we go into the bush the experience is different. The children take the lead and in an un-hurried manner negotiate where they would like to go on the day. Our time in the bush is effected by many contexts, for example which children are in the group, which teacher is on the programme or what the weather is doing. Some days are full of trekking through the beautiful bush, busily finding spaces to explore, to climb, to jump from, to slide down as the children actively interact with the environment. While other days take on a slower pace, sitting down, quietly playing amongst the beautiful bush and taking in the environment. The time in the bush is invigorating for all involved, however it also leaves us a little exhausted by the time we get back to the top of the hill where our families are awaiting our return after a morning in the bush.

“The natural world is a playground and place of discovery for adults and children

alike . . . it is a place for adventure, exploration and imagination as well as generating a deepening care and connectedness with our environment.” (DoC NZ)

Our Nature Programme success is credited to the dedication from our community. To make this programme happen week to week we require at least one parent or whānau helper to join us to keep our ratios in check. We have a wonderful response from our families when filling up our roster of helpers from term to term. We are truly grateful for the ongoing support that we receive from our families.

Some of our kindergarten families have provided feedback for us as to what the Nature Programme has meant to them.

“There is so much to do and it is great that whilst the learning and exploration was self-determined by the kids they had very structured rules and guidelines that are obviously reinforced every week – I saw this as a great strength to the programme and to cement the children’s knowledge of safety and kaitiakitanga.”

“Our kindergarten is a pioneer in the Nature Programme here in the North. It is our point of difference- which in turn gives those children participating a gift that lasts a life time.”

We are also incredibly lucky to have Sarah on the programme every week in the role of Nature Programme Coordinator. This is made possible because we have been successful in receiving a COG’s grant over the past few years. Sarah’s role is invaluable and she is such an asset to the success of our Nature Programme. Sarah is the continuous person every week who is able to share knowledge about what has been happening, where the children have been exploring and what their interests have been.

Being out in community is another aspect of the Nature Programme that we hold dear to our heart. Our Nature Programme is promoting not only our own kindergarten in a positive light but also the Northland Kindergarten Association. We have had quite a number of children enrol at our kindergarten after they have come across our group in Mair Park. We have also had many families enrol specifically at our kindergarten to attend the Nature Programme after hearing about it from others in the community. We have had numerous early childhood educators from within our kindergarten association, as well as from other services in Northland and even as far afield as Australia, come and observe how we run our Nature Programme. This interest is an indicator of how worthwhile and forward thinking this programme is.

In the book ‘Learning with Nature: Embedding outdoor practice, Claire Warden (2015) acknowledges that, “Children need all the adults around them to understand why outdoor learning is essential for them. A practitioner’s attitude, understanding and commitment will be key to the development of child-led experiences. Adults need to harness the special nature of outside and be responsive to the day-to-day changes nature offers.”

We believe that time spent in the bush on the Nature Programme will instil a love of the outdoors in the children that experience it and support them in gaining a meaningful understanding of all the wonderful, magical, beautiful things that nature has to offer. For this reason we will work to make sure our Nature Programme stays the same and stays a part of our high quality early childhood programme at Mairtown Kindergarten.

“Teaching children about the natural world should be treated as one of the most important events in their lives.” (Berry)

Ngā mihi nui,

Zair Taylor

Last week at kindergarten there was extra excitement as we received a special delivery of our new ukuleles. Our tamariki appeared very delighted to finally have these wonderful instruments back at kindergarten and seemed especially happy to know that it was all made possible through their own hard work at the wheels-a-thon and all the tremendous sponsorship they received.

There are many benefits to exposing children to musical experiences, something that we value highly and are passionate about at Mairtown, as research states;

Music ignites all areas of child development; intellectual, social and emotional, motor, language, and overall literacy. It helps the body and the mind work together. Exposing children to music during early development helps them learn the sounds and meanings of words.

More benefits of music for children include learning cooperation, sharing, compromise, creativity, and concentration – skills that become invaluable as they enter school, face new challenges and begin to form new friendships and develop social skills. (Bright Horizons, 2010)

The end of term is fast approaching as this is the last week of kindergarten for term one. On behalf of the teaching team we wish everyone happy holidays during the term break and look forward to seeing you all refreshed and ready for term two Monday 2^nd May 2016.

Ngā mihi nui

The Mairtown teaching team

For the rest of this year I am undertaking some research at Mairtown with the help and support of the rest of the teaching team, our whānau and community and of course the children themselves. This story began last year, when I was fortunate enough to win an eFellowship through Core Education. Of course those that know me, will be aware that the arts and creativity within early childhood education have always been a deep interest of mine and through my research, I feel that the next step for me is to look at the arts in early childhood through a variety of materials (for instance drama, paint, clay, photography, song, dance) observe how children engage playfully with them, and note whether these interactions can lead to children creating stories. Ultimately this research will be focused on whether these playful interactions and story making can impact positively on a child’s oral language development, overall literacy learning and agency (When children have a sense of agency they have the ability to make their own decisions and to control their own lives. Having a sense of agency is an important part of a strong sense of identity).

Currently I am at the very beginning of this research and in this blog I just wanted to share a snippet of what has been happening to date. So to begin, back in term 1, we as a team began some work with the children regarding their stories. Many children enthusiastically begun to explore this idea, creating their own stories using the different materials available to them. However, as I observed the children working, I noticed that the stories created mainly took the form of books which led me to wonder how we could expand the children’s definition of what stories are, what stories can be, and where stories originate from. To broaden their understanding of what a story is, as well as what it means to be a storyteller, I began to investigate alongside the children, the question Where do stories live?

Our conversations together have been thoughtful and very enlightening. At times there has been a fair amount of disagreement, but that has been respectfully discussed and talked through. When we first looked at this question, the answers from all the children were very similar:

Stories live in books, stories live in the library.

Children need time to talk about storytelling and story making and they need good listeners too (Stevens, 2012)

Then several days later as we looked together at maps and how they are able to tell people information, I asked another question ‘Could a map be considered a story?’ At first this question was met with a resounding ‘No’! but after a fair bit of pondering, some children began to say yes - although at this point the consensus was still very much ‘No’. It wasn’t until a few days later, with lots more discussion, and the important creation of their own maps, that each child decided that actually - yes - maps could be a story. Once the children considered a map as a story it appeared to open and broaden their minds and thinking of what stories are and where they live.

Pippa C: Pictures are stories.

Sienna: Clay can tell a story, and photographs, and books. Sculptures are stories and maps.

Wolfgang: Stories aren’t just in books, they come from the Lego as the Lego is magic.

Sienna:Stories can be real and they don’t have to be real…they come from your brain.

As time has passed and the children have been invited to share their stories as they work with different materials, the question ‘Where do stories live’ is certainly being answered in a very different way, and more and more stories are being created with whatever materials the children have to hand.

Storytelling and story making is a truly social experience as children and familiar adults collaborate together (Stevens, 2012)

I would like to share some of these beautiful stories with you – stories that come from children as they play with resources or create drawings.

This is a beautiful heart map created by Sienna.

‘This is my fairy heart map and this is its story. There are fairies, fairy doors and fairy dust – the stars are the fairy dust. There are 5 fairies, they are very special fairies, they do harvesting. They harvest acorns and nuts. Each fairy door belongs to just one fairy. There isn’t just one fairy, there’s a whole family of fairies’.

And this story on dinosaurs comes from Matthew’s drawing:

This Stenonychosaurus, he has long tail for fighting and he has spikes as he is very strong and he spikes holes, his spikes can eat him. He black and white. Velociraptor, he ate other dinosaurs, he ate this triceratops. He is green. Pentaceratops, he ate paper, the head is for fighting, he fight other dinosaurs, he is yellow and brown. Stegosaurus – he ate dinosaur name. He spikes for fighting the Pentaceratops, but he can’t fight it as Pentaceratops is too big and strong.

Kalani played with collage as he told me his detailed story.

Once there was two rocks and then a big big big big a small small thingy came and then a rock came and there was a storm and there was snakes and two snakes and the snakes wriggled each other and the storm blowed them away. And then they were gone forever and then a dancing rubber band came and then it fell over and then there was a big big big big big explosion from a volcano and it blowed everything away. And then a alien came and it hided under a rock and a family of eyes came and they just wobbled along and went on the rocks so people don’t know where the eyes are. Then some more snakes came and there was another storm and they blew away (this is a pretty long story) then there was a big big big big earthquake and then a small rock rolled around all over the place and then it crashed into the big boulder. Then a big big big long long long long long snakehippopotamus came. It’s a pretty funny story! The end.

And finally this beautiful story by Aurelia was created as she worked with clay to make a giraffe.

This is Sparkles.

She is pink cause she’s going to a party.

There is going to be lots of lollies.

There’s going to be lots of people.

There is going to be lots of dogs and cats,

and the dogs are going to be teasing the cats.

And that’s the end.

So to answer our own question – Where do stories live? – at the moment we know that stories live in sculptures, in maps, in collage, in books, in drawings and paintings, in movies, in puppets, in dreams, in songs and in Lego. We certainly haven’t finished with this question yet, and I can’t wait to discover where else we may find some hidden stories.

Stories have the power to bring a community together

(Harris MacKay, 2013).

Ngā mihi nui,

Christine

Recently at Mairtown we have re-established our children’s library. This is where we have a system to put our collection of books on offer to our children. Once a week, currently every Thursday, the children have the opportunity to look through a selection of our books and choose one to take home in a named book bag to read and share with their whānau.

The thing I love about working in a community based early childhood education is all the fantastic parental support we receive at Mairtown. Our library day is made possible and is successful due to our amazing parent helpers who set up and organise the library. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful support from our families who willingly volunteer their time to come in and share the role of librarian.

“The experiences a young child has now effects them for a lifetime. Thus it is never too soon to introduce children to books. Children need to have experiences with books each and every day, including time for being read to and time for reading or looking at books by themselves.” (Angie Dorrell, 2007)

It’s lovely to be part of a teaching team who are all passionate about the benefits of sharing books and stories, and believe that exposure to books is important for all children and their future learning and education.

Te Whāriki states that children develop an expectation that words and books can amuse, delight, comfort, illuminate, inform, and excite.

Not only does our library day create exposure to books it is a great way to support our children with transitioning to school. Upon entering primary school children will be expected to have a book bag to take home reading books. Our library day creates a wonderful opportunity for our children to gain familiarity with book bags and taking books and returning them, as well as assisting with the transition from kindergarten to school.

Experts agree that the prevalence of books in the home fosters a desire to read in children. The more books and other reading materials that are available, the more children will value reading. (Lynn Dean, 2007).

Library day is always an exciting time, where our children seem thrilled about being able to choose a book to take home and share with their whānau. At Mairtown we treasure books and stories as it is such a great way to encourage an early interest and love of books, so important for future learning and literacy development.

Literacy learning does not ‘begin at school’; it begins at birth. Caring families foster and applaud children’s early achievements and early childhood educators complement and enhance this important learning which underpins school and life success. (Jenni Connor, 2011).

Here are some of our children’s thoughts about books and our library day:
Sadie: “I like our library day. I got a kittens and cat book. I like cats and dogs so I got it. Sometimes I have stories in bed when I go to bed early. Sometimes my Mum and Dad make stories up’.

Pippa C: “I like taking books home, my Mum reads to me at night time. Sometimes my sister reads to me when Mum does the dishes.”

Danielia: “We take a book home then we have to bring it back. My Mumma and Dadda read to me, I’m going to take that book home.”

Maximus: “I like book day, we only take our library books home not any of the other books. We don’t take our library bus books home.”

Kaden: “My Daddy always reads to me every night and my Mum reads to me in the daytime.”

Lali: “My book was about a chocolate. The sun found the chocolate it melted, then the ants found it.”

Milla: “My book was about hide ‘n’ seek. My Mummy read it to me. I really really love books.”

“There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.”May Ellen Chase

Mā te wā

Susie

The children at Mairtown Kindergarten really enjoy our family corner. It is a favourite space, always busy, full of role play, children reliving experiences and playing with their imaginations. It is an engaging place, where children delve into expressing themselves through their pretend play in both social and individual situations. The play that happens in this space is beautiful, rich and real.

I just thought I would give a little bit of history behind our family corner area. A few years back, after engaging in self-review around the family corner, the team at Mairtown Kindergarten decided to design a space to help enhance the type of play that happened in this space.

The team wanted to make this a more concrete and functional space, which was inviting and aesthetically pleasing. It was dressed with some delightful wall paper, intriguing furniture was added and some solid wooden framing and a swinging door was constructed to give this space a real sense of ‘place’.

Over the years this has proven to be very successful project, creating many positive outcomes, supporting and fostering many of our attending children’s learning and development, especially through the amount of role play, dramatic play and imaginative play that has taken place.

“Dramatic play engages children in both life and learning. Its’ real value lies in the fact that it increases their understanding of the world they live in, while it works to develop personal skills that will help them meet with success throughout their lives.” (Cecchini, 2008)

The family corner and the way it is set up like a small house with cups and sauces, pots and pans, beds and tables is wonderful for creating many opportunities for extending on children’s interests in imaginary play. This type of play allows children to explore the magic of being creative with their ideas and knowledge in a safe but meaningful way. The roles that they chose to play with in this context are mostly realistic.

Davis (2011) acknowledges that, “Imaginative play is essentially when children are role playing and are acting out various experiences they may have had or something that is of some interest to them. They are experimenting with decision making on how to behave and are also practising their social skills. Children learn from experience: from what happens around them, from what they see, hear, smell, taste and touch. To absorb those experiences and make sense of the world, they need to be engaged in imaginary play.”

The family corner is popular with both girls and boys. Family situations like ‘Mum’s and Dad’s’ is one of the more regular role play scenarios that are played out. As we are well aware of though, families come in all shapes and sizes and it is really lovely when observing children in this play explaining the different ways that their families are made up. For example one group of children were deep in play and they realised they had lots of girls in the game. They started negotiating who was going to be the ‘Mum’ and after a bit of negotiating one of them piped up saying, “You know we can have lots of Mum’s our house and an aunty and a sister with all their babies. We can have a dad too, but don’t need one if we can’t find one!”

For young children, their family and home are the biggest parts of their world. The imitation of what happens there and in the world around them is the central focus of how they play. We often see our children acting out and exploring the lives of people they are influenced by through acting out their work, their feelings, and their words.

The family corner is a place where children like to quietly play by themselves, however it is also a place full of wonderful social interaction. The children invite each other into their play and soon there are many different roles being played out. The children are always so engaged in their play and take their roles very seriously. The dialogue shared amongst peers during this type of imaginary play is often like a running commentary of what was happening, for example, “I better feed my baby so it is happy and then I better give it a big cuddle. Waa waa waa. It's ok baby. Mummy is here. Is your baby good Willa? I think she needs a feed too, and a bed and then you should cuddle her till she is so happy.”

“Through role play children cultivate social and emotional intelligence. How we interact with others is key to our lifelong success and happiness. Knowing how to read social cues, recognize and regulate emotions, negotiate and take turns, and engage in a long-term activity that is mutually beneficial are no easy tasks. There is no substitute for creative and imaginative play when it comes to teaching and enhancing these abilities in children.” (www.brighthorizons.com)

The joy, magic and creativity that happens during this type of play is so wonderful to be a part of. The children involved are incredibly good at being free and thinking outside the box through their play. As a teacher I recognise the value of imaginary play and the important role it plays in terms of lifelong learning. It is great for helping develop strategies that support problem solving in real life situations.

“Dramatic play encourages children to put themselves in someone else's shoes. Such role-playing helps them to improve their ability to do this in real life. They learn important social skills, such as empathy. Dramatic play also encourages expressive language. Children are motivated to convey their wishes to others and speak from the perspective of their pretend roles.” (Yalow, 2014)

Role play and imaginary play is important work for our children and as their teachers it is so important that we foster this. We do this here at Mairtown Kindergarten by providing a beautiful, interesting space, full of resources that capture the imagination. I know that I will always continue to make sure that our children have the time and space to engage in this type of meaningful play at kindergarten.

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.” (Albert Einstein)

One of the things I love about my work at Mairtown kindergarten is the fact that nature plays an integral part of our curriculum. Yes, we run a nature programme, but we also utilise nature in our kindergarten environment as much as we possibly can.

Ephemeral art is a wonderful opportunity for the children at Mairtown, and myself, to get really close to nature, to study its beauty, its patterns, its colours, its texture and smells in minute detail whist also creating stunning art works.

So what is ephemeral art? Basically it is art that only lasts for a short amount of time and is often used to describe creativity based in and from nature. The Tate art gallery tells us ‘There are many forms of ephemeral art, from sculpture to performance, but the term is usually used to describe a work of art that only occurs once, like a happening, and cannot be embodied in any lasting objects’.

From my perspective as a teacher, ephemeral art is an unstructured and free form of art which invites the artists to engage with Papatuanuku, as they utilise materials created in and by nature. What I really enjoy witnessing is children fully exploring, with all their senses, the materials laid out for them – be it shells from a local beach, pine cones from a nearby park, flowers from a garden, leaves from deciduous tress etc. I feel it is in this process that many children, and also myself, learn about our New Zealand identity, our culture, our place and our community.

From my experience children seem to be intrinsically drawn to ephemeral art, they often collaborate together on pieces, looking for just the right shade of leaf, or shape of stick to finish off a creation. Personally I encourage the unhurried approach to this aspect of art. Much is discovered in the making of these natural art pieces, there is a richness to the learning that cannot be rushed. Working with nature is enchanting, each leaf or petal is different from the one before, it is fascinating to sit back and observe the children as they express wonder and ponder over each observed detail.

We noticed that teachers who facilitate ephemeral art create a banquet for the senses and give children the freedom to touch, get dirty and messy, smell, listen, observe and think (Napier kindergarten Association).

And although, so far I have discussed ephemeral art in relation to being inside at kindergarten, this isn’t the only place where ephemeral art occurs for us. In fact, one of the most special places has to be outside as nature intended, hence on our nature programme this is something the children often choose to engage in. They take time out of the busyness of their morning to collect fallen items, to sit, relax, sort and create. We also love to return a week a later, sometimes more, and notice how the rain, wind and sun has altered our original creations, often creating something we can further add to.

Another aspect of ephemeral art that is perhaps even more important is that of ecological literacy. This is a term I heard for the first time when I attended some professional learning with Ann Pelo (author and master teacher). Ann talked about how if we want the next generation to save the world, we first need to teach them how to love the world. By introducing ephemeral art, children learn more about the world around them in a scientific manner and also from a literacy perspective as we name acorns, compare colours of moss, talk about different tree species and their leaves, and examine stones and shells.

Giving a name to something is a way of knowing it. People are unlikely to value what they cannot name (Elaine Brooks)

As I watch the children create their art I am always delighted by just how gentle and respectful of the delicate resources they are. I can’t help but feel this is a true indication that the children of Mairtown have learnt to respect, appreciate and value nature…to love the world.

Art helps us build our vocabulary by participation, by helping us see emotionally, relationally, and imaginatively. It invites us into being in the world (Ann Pelo).

Mā te wā,
Christine

If you have a passion for providing excellence in Early Childhood Education, love your career and want to make a difference in the lives of children and their families here is your chance to join our team of dedicated professionals (beautifully illustrated above).

For more informtion about applying for this position please see the details below for links to application forms etc.

Mairtown LTR teacher vacancy 637288

One year (fixed term) LTR Full time K1 Teacher, Mairtown Kindergarten, 21 Princes Street, Whangarei. This four teacher all day model kindergarten operates Monday to Friday with a roll of 40. Applicants must hold a minimum Dip. Teaching (ECE) or higher qualification, current registration & first aid certificate.

Download an application pack and position description from the website www.nka.org.nz. Or phone 09 4359 099, email appointments@nka.org.nz Closing date for applications & referees reports is 2 pm Friday 8 July, 2016. Email Applications to: appointments@nka.org.nz OR Post to: Appointments Secretary, Northland Kindergarten, P O Box 4005, Whangarei 0141.

We have some wonderful big logs in our kindergarten playground that the children use to climb on and jump off. They are used to foster imaginary play as the children turn them into castles, boats, forts and so on. We love our logs as they support our children’s learning and development in so many complex ways; physically, emotionally, socially, as well as providing a direct opportunity for the children to connect with nature in a fun and dynamic way.

Lately one of our logs (a large piece of kahikatea) has created another learning path as we discovered that it was starting to rot. When it was revealed that the wood was quite soft the children, Christine and I started to scratch around. At this stage in the experience Christine and I could have shut down the learning that could come about from this due to the rotten wood being a risk in our environment. Instead of this we both embraced this treasure that had been found and began encouraging the children involved to explore, question and think about what they were finding. This is what we refer to as a ‘teachable moment’ and is something that we like to utilise in our work with children.

“Teachable moments are times when something unexpected occurs and the teacher helps to guide the unexpected occurrence into a learning opportunity.“Pre-schoolers are discovering the world around them. Their natural curiosity and need-to-know creates many opportunities for teachable moments. The teacher has to develop a teaching perspective in order to not miss out on unexpected learning opportunities. Every preschool teacher should have an understanding of what a teachable moment is and how to look at every moment from a teaching perspective.” (Stewart, 2009)

This lead to some great findings, most excitingly was the unearthing of what we thought were baby kauri snails. The children were so engaged as they carefully started to pull away the rotting wood, closely sifting through the pieces for these precious snails. After finding about twenty of the snails, it was decided that we needed to do some more research about what to do next. Christine contacted DoC who informed us that they wouldn’t be kauri snails as they don’t live in logs, however they would be a native New Zealand snail that should be returned to native bush if possible. After doing some more research on native snails of New Zealand it was discovered that there was thousands to choose from. So with all this in mind and the fact that we run our Nature Programme once a week, the children made it their mission to save the snails by delivering them back to the bush in Mair Park.

Alongside the inquiry of finding out more about the snails, some of the children also started to embark on representing their findings through drawing and the use of clay.

They shared their thinking about how the snails made their way to kindergarten saying things like,

“Well I think they slide from Auckland, but a person had to pick them up and drive them some of the way because it is long from Auckland. They dropped them at kindergarten. The gate was locked but they are so small they just slided right under and came to our log.” (Franchi)

It was lovely hearing the children sharing their thoughts and ideas with each other during this process.

This rotting log also created a scenario that required a ‘health and safety’ assessment as the rotting wood was a place where the children like to climb and play. After completing a hazard report we came to the conclusion that the learning and engagement that was happening around the log was very beneficial for the children involved. Therefore, instead of placing a cordon around the area and not letting the children go near this space until we had ‘removed’ the hazard, we decided to celebrate this happening. Yes, now this area was full of more potential risks when children were playing there, however we know that great learning can come from letting children be involved with their own risk assessment.

The children helped make ‘be careful’ signs, outlining the fact that it wasn’t ok to walk or jump on top of the log. We discussed what was happening at group times and reminded the children while they were playing in the area to be mindful of the rotten wood. By this hazard being monitored and managed in this way, the flow on effect was that the children were able to explore, engage and interact in meaningful ways with such a wonderful natural resource. I love the fact that I work amongst a team of teachers that embrace experiences like this, rather than instantly shutting things down.

“Risky play is an invaluable part of childhood. Research shows that not only does it increase children’s physical and motor skills but also teaches them about their own limits, and how to deal with risks in the future. Children´s safety however is an ever increasing issue that some teachers are anxious about. This worry about children injuring themselves (or others) during risky play is preventing some children from having the opportunity to engage in such activities. Thus, it is important that teachers provide children with an environment where they can engage in risky play that is as safe as necessary rather than as safe as possible… The more children are free to engage in risky play the better they will be at managing risks, judging what they are capable of, and keeping themselves safe. The role of the teacher is to provide a challenging and risky learning environment that will support all children as they become more motivated, curious, able, and adventurous.” (Wilkinson, 2015)

After the children have finished showing an interest in this rotten log, our plan is to get it removed. This is also exciting as it is going to open up a new place that we can plan and play with to create a new and inspiring play space.

Hei konā mai,

Zair

This week we were blessed with a wonderful new decked platform in our outdoor area. This has come about by the wonderful support from one of our families, the Procter’s. When they found out we were going to be fundraising to upgrade our outdoor dry space, Renee Procter kindly asked her friend Camden Andrews from NZ Natural Timber if he would help us out.

It blew us away when he offered to supply all the materials and organise the labour to put the deck together. This weekend just gone Camden, along with Patrick White from ‘Think Water Northland’ and Mike Procter from ‘Mike Procter Real Estate’ worked endlessly to complete this decked platform made from beautiful natural Macrocarpa. It smells and looks amazing!

For this we are so grateful. The new decked space has already been put to such great use this week and enjoyed by many on the rainy days in particular. We are so thankful to have such wonderful and thoughtful support from Gracie Procter’s family and friends. This space will be enjoyed by the Mairtown Kindergarten community for many many many years to come.

Once again, thank you so much to the Procter family for thinking about Mairtown Kindergarten and thank you hugely to Camden Andrews from ‘NZ Natural Timber’ for such a lovely, generous donation.

Over the past month we have been busy at Mairtown Kindergarten celebrating Matariki (Māori New Year) with three significant events. Matariki is a special time of year that the teaching team enjoys planning for and our tamariki enjoy participating in what has become an important period of reflection and sharing at kindergarten.

Each year we start our tradition with our delicious Matariki breakfast. Our Matariki breakfast is greatly anticipated and a real highlight, it is wonderful to see our tamariki who have previously experienced our breakfast share their experiences with our new tamariki. Fortunately for us Donna has been back this term, as she has exceptional skills in the kitchen and always prepares a delicious selection of kai to share with our whānau and tamariki.

Matariki symbolises the coming of the Māori New Year. Matariki has two meanings, both of which refer to the cluster of stars. Mata Riki means Tiny Eyes, and Mata Ariki means Eyes of God. Matariki appears in the eastern sky sometime around the shortest day of the year, and is thought to determine how successful the harvest crop will be in the coming season. The brighter the stars, the more productive the crop will be.

There has been the usual build up to the breakfast with the tamariki helping to choose and create our magnificent menu. It certainly was an awesome way to start the day with healthy kai including, eggs, sausages, spaghetti, baked beans, selection of cereals, muesli, yogurt, fruit salad, toast, all served with milo, coffee or tea.

Matariki celebrates the diversity of life. It’s a celebration of culture, language, spirit and people.

On June the 21^st we continued our Matariki celebrations with our ‘Harvest Day’. This is such a lovely day of sharing any abundance produce, preserves, pickles or home baking with others. For Māori in years gone by Matariki symbolises the time for planting and harvesting. The Matariki star constellation marked a time for starting all things new, this was a particularly important period for new crops to be planted and the preserving of old crops to be finished. The timing of Matariki fell at the end of a harvest and food stores were full. Meat, fruits, herbs and vegetables had been gathered and preserved and the migration of certain fish ensured a great period of feasts. Matariki was seen as a time to share with each other, for family and friends to come together and share in the gifts that the land and sea had provided for them. (Tai Tokerau Tourism)

We are so fortunate to live in Northland where there are plenty of citrus trees, and other produce. That’s the great thing about Harvest day, it is an opportunity to share abundance with others and exchange for something else. The focus of Mairtown’s Harvest Day is about sharing our abundance, random acts of kindness and nurturing the body and soul of our community.

Our tamariki and whānau were invited to bring an item to share from their garden or pantry. On Tuesday morning kindergarten was full of excitement as our children brought in their offerings and place them on the exchange table. The gifts included citrus, avocados, plants, honey, kumara, pumpkin, eggs, home baking, pickles, jams, herbs, and vegetables. Some had lovely messages attached, including;

‘Plant the seed of desire in the field of imagination to grow the harvest of invention’

‘You do not have to be rich to be generous’

‘Sometimes’ said Pooh, ‘the smallest things take up the most room in your heart’

At the end of session our tamariki were invited to choose something from the harvest table to take home. It was so lovely to see them excited and full of eagerness as some had been looking at the offerings throughout the day and had clearly made a decision of what they wanted to take home and for others the choice was a little tricky.

Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi

With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive

Our celebrations always finish with our annual hangi and lantern parade. As this is the last event of our Matariki celebrations we spend the month counting down to it and practising our lantern parade song. So it would be fair to say it is also a highly anticipated and well attended event.

The wonderful thing about our Matariki hangi and lantern parade is that it is enjoyed by many including our current attending families and those who have left. It is lovely to catch up with old friends and make new.

It is truly a time that our kindergarten community comes together to share energy, time and support to help with the preparations. The evening’s success is due to the wonderful whānau support we receive to help with many jobs including, lanterns to be made, and food to prepare and cook. Also a special thank you to JK Siteworks and Pro-dig for the very generous donation of the meat for the hangi, to the Andrews for the kind sponsorship of their fantastic Multi Kai cooker and to Barfoote Construction for the fantastic lighting. Thank you all very much.

Ma tini, ma mano, ka rapa te whai

By many, by thousands, the work will be accomplished.

Many hands make light work. Unity is strength.

Fortunately for us Christine has exceptional skills in creating a wonderful video of this year’s hang and evening celebrations. Watch it below.

The lovely music on the video is titled ‘Whiti Te Marama’, here is the link to view the entire link.

On behalf of the teaching team I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported, helped, participated and shared in all of our Matariki festivities over the past month. We hope you all have a lovely term break with your families and we look forward to seeing you all on Monday 25 July 2016 ready for the start of term three.

He wā motuhake

A special moment

Ngā mihi nui, Susie

The Northland Kindergarten Association (NKA) asked every kindergarten within the association if they would like to make a short video about themselves. The idea behind this was for each kindergarten to explain what makes them unique and special, to share experiences offered to our tamariki and whānau, and to promote NKA kindergartens as offering exceptional quality within the early childhood education sector. So, here is our video at Mairtown Kindergarten. Please enjoy it, and let us know what you think.

Welcome back to term 3 at Mairtown Kindergarten. We hope all our whānau enjoyed some relaxing and much needed time together enjoying the warm winter weather we are having. This blog post is about something I wanted to share with you all last term, but time got away. Here is the story of the wonderful work of the Hundertwasser Happy Faces.

A couple of months ago we were approached by local group HAC (Hundertwasser Art Centre) to create some Hundertwasser inspired happy faces for a community building. For our readers outside the Whangarei area here is a bit of the background story:

‘In 1993, Hundertwasser was invited by the Mayor of Whangarei to design an art centre for the city. He chose the former Northland Harbour Board building in the Town Basin and made a number of visits to study the building and sketch his ideas.

More than 20 years after inception, the HUNDERTWASSER ART CENTRE with Wairau Māori Art Gallery project is now in the final pre-construction stages.

Now a fully community-led project, the completed art centre is scheduled to open by 2019 (HAC).’

This community building – the Old Harbour Building – will soon be transformed into a Hundertwasser art centre, but in the meantime, it definitely needed some attention. At Mairtown kindergarten we thought it was a fabulous idea to support the initiative of beautifying the building with children’s art and soon many of our children were creating Hundertwasser faces, in a self-portrait style.

The children at Mairtown are very familiar with Friedensreich Hundertwasser as an artist. Hundertwasser uses a lot of bright colours, often leaving no hint of the white paper he began with and this tends to naturally appeal to children. He also represents many aspects of his work, in an almost childlike manner and as the children of Mairtown know, Hundertwasser was not a believer in straight lines! With their knowledge of Hundertwasser art, the children immediately fell into creating their faces with enthusiasm, understanding and a great deal of expertise.

As always when I support children in their creative work, there are moments when children can get ‘stuck’, sometimes they may make a mistake or complete half their work and have problems imagining ideas to help them move forward. When moments like this occur I always invite the children to ‘Think like an artist’. This simple phrase, is one the children instinctively understand, as of course, they are already artists. When they begin to really ‘think’ as they feel an artist would – answers comes readily and easily. One such example I can share was Sadie’s Hundertwasser face, she was well underway and delighted with her progress when she made a mistake! She clearly wasn’t happy with her mistake and asked if she could begin a new picture; but instead I invited her to think like an artist, ‘If you think like an artist Sadie, what might an artist do with the mistake you just made’. Within moments she had clarity and her mistake became her mouth. Her finished Happy Face is spectacular.

Sadie's completed Happy face

Thinking like an artist is a technique I use a great deal as it encourages children to look more closely at things, to make connections between different things and ideas, to find beauty in everyday objects, to persist where others may give up and (as Sadie demonstrated) to take risks exposing yourself to mistakes or failure and learning how to cope with these (Art Junction).

We know many of our Mairtown artists have been down to visit their own work on display as well as appreciate the faces created by some other local schools. This in itself is also a wonderful learning opportunity for them, as Friedrich Froebel suggests, young children should be involved in both making their own art and enjoying the art of others…as this encourages each child's "full and all-sided development" (Froebel, 1826).

The Hundertwasser Art Centre told us before we began this project alongside them 'we think it is very apt to put happy children's faces in Hundertwasser style smiling out from that wall. It gives the right message that this is all about the future of our children in this city. '

Mairtown's art on display (photo HAC)

I think you can see from these pictures that this building has gone from, in all honesty, a bit of an eye sore to something, bright, creative and inspiring as well as letting our children know that their work is precious, something to be valued and respected. For anyone wishing to find out more about HAC you can visit their Facebook page here or webpage here.

From this.....

To this!

Some more of the completed Happy faces.

By doing art, students can create and communicate new ideas. By seeing art, students can be inspired by new directions and new ideas (Haydock)

When we dream alone it is only a dream, but when many dream together it is the beginning of a new reality (Friedensreich Hundertwasser).

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Edgar Degas

Ngā mihi nui,

Christine

We often get asked how we support children in getting ready for primary school. How do we teach them their ‘ABC’s and 123’s?’ and there is the occasional question thrown our way in regards to whether we run a ‘four year old or school prep’ programme. The response that we have to these queries is often meet with surprise and astonishment.

As a team at Mairtown we are very clear about how we view ‘school readiness’ and how this is implemented into our programme and the environment. This view is underpinned by a number of aspects which include building on children’s social competencies, developing independence, and developing good attitudes towards risk taking and learning.

This is supported by plentiful opportunities for free play, lots of hands on ‘real’ experiences, using the arts as a language for children to express their ideas and knowledge, allowing children to revisit learning experiences over and over and through having an environment that is predicable (to name just a few things).

We believe that if we support children in a holistic manner then they will thrive, their self-confidence will grow, which will in turn give them an array of skills that they can utilise not only during their transition to school but also throughout their lives.

I thought I would break a few of these aspects down briefly. So firstly, why is developing social competencies important for getting ready for school? Developing positive social competencies supports children in working well with others, it helps with self-regulation and communicating feelings. All these skills are welcomed warmly when children enter their new entrant classroom.

Rubin and Rose-Krasnor (1992) define social competence as, “the ability to achieve personal goals in social interaction while simultaneously maintaining positive relationships with others over time and across situations.”

As teachers of young children we foster developing strong social competencies by celebrating and giving a lot of positive praise when we see children working hard on regulating their emotions, communicating their feelings, listening, negotiating, sharing, turn taking and showing empathy. Play is one of the best ways that children explore different ways that social competencies work.

Play is something that we celebrate and don’t take for granted as we know that children use play to explore many different concepts, life skills and learning areas. It is disappointing when we hear comments about how children are ‘just playing’ so we will defend play and its greatness by explaining the importance of it, how this supports learning and preparation for school. Play involves working together, concentrating and following through with tasks, being creative, exploring language and self-expression, building on confidence, developing gross and fine motor skills to name just a few things.

Davis (2014) acknowledges that "Play isn’t some sort of soft approach before the ‘real’ learning begins. That idea is a hangover from education’s industrial era. Play has been consistently described across time as central to cognitive, language, cultural, and social development.”

At Mairtown Kindergarten we thoughtfully provide an engaging environment, follow children’s interests, actively listen to the child, give them time and space and allow children the access to authentic and real experiences. By doing this we are showing that we value them and the flow on effect is that they feel empowered and encouraged to give things a go. Having a positive attitude towards trying things out is also going to be of great value in the classroom and through out life.

“Children understand and remember concepts best when they learn from direct personal experience.” (Joseph Cornell)

Having a positive attitude towards risk taking and doing things that make you feel a little worried creates lots of empowering learning experiences. We create an environment that promotes risk taking, encourages children to assess risk and work out what is appropriate etc. We gently assist them through these experiences, small steps to large leaps.

"Risk perception is like a muscle that needs to be developed and flexed." (Blincoe, 2015)

Risk taking is not only tree climbing and rock jumping, risk taking can be supported in many areas for example the simple act of putting pen to paper, asking another child to play with them and using the hot glue gun after burning the end of their finger. All of this helps develop a positive attitude towards risk taking and is wonderful for lifelong learning.

“Successful learners have positive beliefs and attitudes towards learning. They are not afraid of new experiences and can see learning opportunities in many different settings.”

(Alberta, 2002)

A predictable environment, full of open ended resources is another tool that we use to support our children in developing skills and knowledge to support their ‘school readiness’. By providing an environment that is predictable this nurtures a strong sense of belonging for our children and their families as they quickly learn where they can find things and access resources to support their interests. Open ended resources are so wonderful because they support creative thinking and meaningful engagement for our children.

Along with this we also leave resources and experiences set out for lengthy periods of time to allow children to revisit experiences over and over again. We know that new learning is influenced greatly by past learning and children’s developing knowledge is fostered greatly when they have the opportunity to continually revisit learning experiences. “If we continually change the materials, experiences and resources that children play with, then we risk short-changing children’s experience. While some change is important to maintain children’s interest and introduce new ideas, change for the sake of change reduces the chances children have to re-engage with and master materials and ideas. Children will benefit more from deep involvement with a few well-chosen experiences than from superficial involvement with many.” (NQS-PLP, 2012).

So while children are involved in all this play based learning in our thoughtfully set up environment they are engaging with many different learning concepts that they will take with them to primary school. They are playing with mathematical, scientific and literacy concepts to name just a few things. Children are more motivated to engage in meaningful learning experiences when they are having fun and their interests are acknowledged.

We want our children to leave Mairtown Kindergarten capable and competent, with a wonderful attitude towards learning and risk taking. We want them to have a bag of tricks full of skills and knowledge that will give them the confidence to ‘give things a go’ and not be afraid to not always succeed at a task, knowing that in failure comes rich learning.

One of the biggest and most frustrating comments that we hear every so often is, ‘Now my child is heading off to school to do real learning!’ At Mairtown we have children who are living and breathing meaningful learning every day and we are proud to be providing them with these opportunities. This is the time when children are developing lifelong learning skills, attitudes and ways of being that will support them for many years to come. We take our jobs of fostering this very seriously, we are professionals who care deeply about what we do and in no way want to stifle our children’s desire to learn about and question their world. Yes we want our children to know how to write their names, recognise colours, shapes and how to count to ten. However more importantly we want them to feel empowered and valued and we whole heartedly try our hardest to accomplish this.

“The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn.” (Maria Montessori)

Hei konā mai,

Zair

Woohoo! We just wanted to express our huge thank you to the Community Organisation Grants Scheme. Last week we found, once again, that we have been successful in receiving a COGS grant for this coming year. Receiving this grant is instrumental to the success of our nature programme. It enables us to have Sarah on our programme, weekly, as our Nature Programme Coordinator.

Sarah’s role is invaluable to us, and of course she is such an asset to the success and longevity of our Nature Programme. Having Sarah as the continuous person every week means she is able to share knowledge about what has been happening, where the children have been exploring and what their interests have been, with everyone; she is a font of knowledge!

“The natural world is a playground and place of discovery for adults and children alike . . . it is a place for adventure, exploration and imagination as well as generating a deepening care and connectedness with our environment.” (DOC NZ)

Christine

Times are changing at Mairtown Kindergarten, as we farewell our wonderful reliever Donna and we celebrate her time with us through a very special day. We were inspired by a favourite book of our children titled ‘Wacky Wednesday’ and that’s what we certainly were.

Anyone who knows Donna knows that she loves a good laugh at crazy funny stuff, that’s how we celebrated her time with us, wacky! It was such a fun day and it was wonderful how so many of our children and their families got into the spirit of the day.

I loved how there were endless ways to be wacky, it was such a joy watching our children arrive at kindergarten in a variety of costumes including weird hair, wigs, pyjama’s, onesies, crazy hats, clothes back to front or inside out, strange glasses and mix matched shoes. Not only did the children arrive dressed up, some of the parents joined in the fun.

At whānau time we all joined in a fashion display and walked around kindergarten and returned to the mat to finish off with dancing.

To continue with our wacky theme at lunchtime we incorporated a sausage sizzle to collect gold coin donations for the Cancer Society annual Daffodil Day fundraiser. Thank you to all our families who supported this cause we raised $89.10.

It certainly turned out to be a wacky Wednesday, here are some of our children’s comments about what they enjoyed about the day:

Inura: I like playing with Arlo and liked the party dancing.

Sienna: I liked the fashion parade that was my favourite part.

Jack: Having a sausage sizzle.

Elsie: I liked dressing up and dancing.

Dre-Varn: I liked dressing up in spider man jarmies.

Milla: I loved the dancing.

Alex: I gave my money for a donation bucket.

Tamsyn: I liked everything about wacky Wednesday.

Thank you to everyone who arrived at kindergarten a little wacky, it was a fun way to celebrate Donna’s time with us. Thank you Donna for being an amazing teacher and for relieving with us. We are all going to miss your joyfulness but we are all happy to know that we will be seeing you again soon.

Mā te wā, Susie

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Wacky Wednesday