Kia Ora Kids Newsletter
Kia ora koutou,
Kia ora Parents, Guardians, Educators and Teachers
It’s hard to believe that we are halfway through the year already. At Kia ora Kids at Home we have had an extremely busy time with both ERO (Education Review Office) review of our operations, which included ERO officials visiting some of our homes. We would really like to thank our educators who were part of this review. We look forward to sharing the report with you all once it is released.
Transition to school:
Over the past few months, we have been looking at the importance of transitions from ECE to school. What does it mean to be school ready and how can we achieve this? Some children might adjust to school very quickly, whereas others might take many months before they settle into school life.
At Kia ora kids we want to make sure your child has the best start when this time does come. The key to a successful transition is resilience. Resilience is the ability to adapt to change, to work through problems that arise, to look for solutions, and to keep trying even when it is not easy. Children grow and develop resilience through the relationships they make and through their play experiences.
School life requires a lot of children’s social and emotional development. Social skills are behaviors that promote positive interactions among people. Children again grow and develop these skills through the relationships they make and through their play experiences. The low adult to child ration in homebased childcare means better supervision and care. This provides children with more opportunities to develop social skills by allowing them to consistently interact with a smaller group of children. Within a small group it is easier for children to, form friendships with other children, listen to each other talk, and engage in lots of shared interactions and collaborations.
Here are just some of the social skills your educator is helping your child to develop to support them in school readiness as well as in life:
- Managing conflict
- independence
- Following the rules and respecting others
- Seeking help
- Showing empathy
- Participating in group activities
- Generosity Helpfulness
- Communicating with others
- Negotiating
- Problem solving
- Listening
Each of our educators supports their children in there own unique way, recently on my educator visits I have observed a variety of learning experiences to support our big 4 year olds who are preparing for their school transitions, some of these experiences are letter recognition games to help develop letter knowledge, threading activities to support fine motor skills and to strengthen the pincer grip which is needed before a child starts to write, baking which helps promotes maths and literacy. Our educators attend playgroups, visits to the library, the gym and to their local schools, all of these will be helping your child to become school ready.
Policy review schedule:
August: Parents communication policy
September: Privacy Policy
Kia ora kids Playgroups: Whānau Welcome
Mondays: Weekly YMCA Mt Albert Mini Gym
Tuesdays: Fortnightly Kia ora kids Playgroup held at Meadowood Community Centre, Unsworth Heights, Rosedale
Wednesdays: Fortnightly Kia ora kids Playgroup held at Kia ora Kids house 88 Brightside Road, Stanmore Bay, Whangaparaoa
Thursdays: Weekly Kia ora kids Playgroup held at Mangere Bridge Playcentre.
Upcoming Trips:
Thursday September 12th, Butterfly Creek.
At butterfly creek the children will experience the Dinosaur Kingdom, Kiwi Forest, Mythical Creatures, Buttermilk Farm and New Zealand’s only saltwater crocodiles. There are 9 daily animal encounters including our popular crocodile feeding encounter. The children also have the opportunity to have a hands-on experience in Buttermilk Farm where they can feed and pet rabbits, guinea pigs, goats and other animals.
Heoi anō tāku mō nāianei