What are the Different Types of Early Childhood Centres?
There are many early childhood education options available so choosing the right type of early childhood centre that is the best fit for you and your child is important.
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What is Meant by Early Childhood?
Early learning starts from birth and consists of everything a child learns through various actions and activities such as talking to your child, going to the park, singing together or spending time in fun activities like cooking.
Activities like these enable children to learn strategies that will determine how they will relate to learning throughout their lives, and allow them to see themselves as skilled learners and communicators.
Early learning has a significant impact on children’s growth. An appropriate type of early education in an early childhood centre that suits their needs becomes essential in providing children with the opportunity to develop their full intellectual, emotional and physical potential.
What are the main benefits of early childhood education?
Early childhood education (ECE) enables children to:
- play and explore;
- make friends;
- learn to share, negotiate and wait for taking turns;
- be (more) creative;
- think and reason;
- acknowledge their feelings and the feelings of those around them;
- develop reading and language skills;
- gain the skills they need for attending school;
- listen to others;
- formulate and communicate their ideas;
- learn how to relate to those outside their immediate family circle.
An early childhood centre is focused on providing children with the skills and tools that will enable them to develop into positive and confident individuals who like to learn, socialise with other children and adults, explore, nurture a curious mind and understand themselves and the world around them.
The main types of early childhood centres are teacher-led and parent-led. As their names suggest, each type of centre indicates the person deciding what the children will learn during their activities at these centres.
Teacher-led early childhood centres
This type of early learning education is led by fully qualified teachers.
The teacher-led centres:
- can be dedicated solely to children younger than two years;
- provide flexible or all-day programmes;
- teach in certain languages and cultural backgrounds;
- use different education approaches such as Reggio Emilia, Montessori or Rudolf Steiner;
- teach children from birth to specific age or until they enrol on school.
New Zealand’s regulations stipulate that depending on the number of those attending an early education centre, at least one teacher must be registered, ECE-qualified and have a valid and current certificate for practising.
Kindergartens
Kindergartens offer a wide range of ECE services. They:
- can provide different start and finish hours;
- teach children ages between two and five years. Some of them also receive children younger than two years;
- provide holiday programmes for summer vacation;
- offer bilingual teaching services for promoting culture and language such as Māori and Pasifika;
- involve parents and whānau in their sessions, to work with teachers in planning and managing the kindergartens.
Home-based early childhood education
This type of early education can be provided in the educators’ or the children’s homes. The educators must be part of a licensed home-based care network and guided by a coordinator registered as an Early Childhood Education Teacher with a current practising certificate.
The coordinator periodically checks the children’s learning progress and wellbeing and can support parents in choosing the suited educator for their children’s education.
The educators teach up to 4 children providing:
- part day of full-day education and care;
- resources to facilitate the learning process;
- regular outdoor walks and activities;
- access to mobile toys and books libraries.
Parent-led early childhood centres
The main types of parent-led ECE are organised in the form of playgroups, play centres, Ngā Puna kōhungahunga and Te Kōhanga Reo.
Playgroups are early education groups organised inside communities and run by parents and whānau volunteers. Pasifika playgroups focus on teaching and preserving Pasifika languages and cultures such as Samoan, Fijian, Cook Island, Tongan, Tuvaluan, Tokelauan and Niuean.
Playcentres:
Playcentres are early education groups organised inside communities and run by parents and other family members.
Ngā Puna kōhungahunga
These sessions include in their structure elements of the Māori language and Tikanga.
Te Kōhanga Reo
These centres provide tamariki and their whānau a Māori cultural environment and care for children from birth until they enrol on school.
Other Early Childhood Education services:
Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (or The Correspondence School)
It addresses children ages three and five. Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu provides learning programmes to children who;
- cannot attend another type of education due to health problems
- live too far away to benefit from alternative forms of early education services
- change their home once a term, at least.
Hospital-based services
Hospitals or hospital play specialists can provide you and your child access to a playroom inside the hospital. These services do not require enrollment and are free of any cost.
Questions to ask Early Childhood Centres
Selecting the right Early Childhood Centre for your child is very important. As they will spend a lot of their time in these learning spaces, feeling comfortable here is paramount.
Before choosing the education centre, we recommend visiting its location so you can see the learning environment and resources the centre provides.
You can also prepare a list of questions to ask the centre’s staff. This list can include questions such as:
- What is the enrollment age?
- How many children have every teacher in their direct care and monitoring?
- Are you allowed to ease the transition of your child to the centre’s routine by bringing comfort toys or objects, at least in the first days after joining the centre?
- What time do the children eat and sleep?
- Do children have easy access to water?
- How is the centre supporting your toilet training efforts?
- What actions or techniques will the educators use to address your child’s non-positive feelings or behaviours? (such as sadness, fury, self-separation from the rest of the group, etc.)
- What will your child study, and how will you be informed about their learning progress?
- How much will the whānau be involved in the centre’s activities or sessions?
Bright Beginnings Early Learning Centres provide your children with the best start on their preschool learning journey. The stimulating learning environment is a key feature of all our early education centres, and our educators and teachers are guided in their activities by the core values and principles of the Reggio Emilia educational approach.
Book a tour to meet our team and see the environment your child can learn in!
We've put together some helpful articles about childcare and daycare in New Zealand
Meet the Team: An Interview with Lu Li, Toddler Room Team Leader
Helping Your Toddler Adjust to a New Sibling
Meet the Team: A chat with Sudha Sharma, Mount Roskill
Natural Materials in Early Childhood Education at BBELC
20 Hours ECE NZ: How the Childcare Subsidy Works for Parents in Auckland
Quick, healthy meals that kiwi kids will actually eat
Our Early Learning Centres
Our early childhood centre environments strongly reflects our inspiration – The Reggio Emilia philosophy, from Reggio Emilia, Italy.
We provide a creative and open ended environment that encourages infinite learning for the children and strong relationships between teachers, children and families.
The day’s routines are flexible. At the same time, care is taken to recognise and respect each child’s needs.
Why Choose a Bright Beginnings Early Learning Centre?
- Encouraging the use of natural materials
- A strong transition into school
- Teaching team inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach supports your child’s creative potential.
- Healthy, tasty hot meals cooked fresh on site
- 20 ECE hours available/free sessions for 3 year olds
- A boutique, homely feel to our centres
- Strong connections between teachers and whanau.
Here's what our parents say about our childcare centres
Come and visit one of our childcare centres and see for yourself why your child will love it
Talk to the Centre Manager, meet the team, see the natural outdoor play areas and educational rooms, learn about how we develop our programs and find out more about our unique approach to partnering with our families.
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