Bright Beginnings Glendowie

• Beautiful boutique center located in Glendowie
• Providing easy access from St Heliers, Glendowie and Glen Innes
• A stable team of three Childcare educators and center cook work
• Providing quality childcare and education to the children
• Catering for children aged from 2-5 years of age

What has been happening?

• Recently we have had an influx of younger aged children enrolling at the centre. This has lead to the older children taking on board a leadership role.
• The older children will often assist the younger children with various tasks such as putting their hats and shoes on, turning on bathroom taps and tidying up together.
• This in turn, is leading the younger children to emulate caretaking practices in their role play as well as when interacting with their peers
• We have also noticed that along with the recent renovations, children are now taking pride in their centre environment helping the teachers by watering the plants, gardening and picking up litter found on the ground.
• One of our centre parents from the local community garden has also suggested that we implement a Bokashi composting system to further reflect our Reggio inspired philosophy.

Kaitiaki for Our World

Through this we have lauched our ‘Kaitiaki for Our World’ project in which:

• The children are role modelling self care, social and co-operative skills important in the development of respectful and inclusive behaviours.
• The children are fascinated with and curious about the study, exploration, transformation, adventure and experiences with natural elements.
• In the Māori worldview, people are closely connected to the land and nature. Katiaki (guardian) is based on this idea of humans as part of the natural world and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) is a vehicle for rediscovering and applying these ideas.
• “Nature is an invitation that is full of provocations… The outdoor environment builds on children’s capacity and enhances their learning in authentic and meaningful ways” (Kashin, 2016).
•  “Toitū he whenua, whatungarongaro he tangata” (As man disappears from sight, the land remains). This whakatauki applies to the mortality of people in relation to the enduring land.

We are so excited to see where this project will take us and the learning journeys we will embark on!

Key Dates:-

23rd February 2018: Centre Trip

6th March 2018 : Parent Evening