news&viewsviviewsviewviewsviews

geraldinekindergarten1.blogspot.com

Explring our identitySupport your child with changes at Kindergarten The Silent CuddleReflecting on 2015

ISSUE 22 December 2015

ContentsEDITORIAL:

Support your child with changes at Kindergarten 2

ALWAYS MORE TO LEARN:

Exploring our identity 3

HABITS OF MIND:

The Silent Cuddle 5

THE AFTERNOON SESSION:

Messy play 6

FROM THE TEACHING TEAM

Reflecting on 2015 7

BOT - BEHIND THE SCENES: 9

HOME & KINDERGARTEN COMMITTEE: 10

NEWS & VIEWS Issue 22

GERALDINE KINDERGARTEN

News & Views Magazine25 Wilson Street, Geraldine 7930

HEAD TEACHER: Tracey NelsonPHONE: 03 693 8888

EMAIL: geraldine.kindy@xtra.co.nzBLOG:

geraldinekindergarten1.blogspot.comGK NEWS & VIEWS ARCHIVES:

kindergartengeraldine1.blogspot.com

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Fi McCafferty24 Hislop Street, Geraldine 7930

PHONE: 03 693 8237EMAIL: fi@saltmines.co.nz

A FAMILY PICNIC was held on the evening of Wednesday 18 November. The children lovereturning to Kindergarten at adifferent time, and it allowsteachers and families to meet andgreet each other, developingwhanaungatanga/relationships.

We were entertained withwonderful stories from Liz Weir, a storyteller and puppeteer fromChristchurch. One parent shared,‘I’m enjoying it [the story] too!’

Greatcommunity.Great

education.Greatkids!

Greatcommunity.Great

education.Greatkids!

IT IS EASY TO FORGET how resilient thechildren in our lives are to change. Thesechanges may include, family arrangements,moving house, or a change in daily routine.

A change that will affect almost all childrenthat are enrolled at Kindergarten at themoment is the change in our hours ofoperation (see BOT article on page 9for more details). Next year approximately 30 children will stay at kindergarten until2.15pm and the younger children will gohome at lunch time (12.15pm).

We see it as being important that you share theses changes with your children.You know your child the best so you willknow the best way to do this, and howmuch or how little time your child may need to build their understanding aroundthis. Some ways that you can support your child with the change to our hours of operation are:

• The change in our hours of operation will affect your child in the number ofhours that they attend kindergarten. For those children who attend ourafternoon session currently, a good way to explain the change in times is that they will now go to Kindergarten afterbreakfast. For those who currently attendmorning sessions and who will be stayingon for the afternoon, it could be explainedthat they won’t be coming home in theafternoons anymore, instead they will get to stay on at Kindergarten after lunchand mat time.

• Come in to Kindergarten and spend sometime in the morning session.

• Whanaungatanga/relationships aresomething that we value here at

Kindergarten so it may be nice to sharewith your child that their friends willbe going after breakfast, or stayingafter lunch too!

• Most importantly, when sharing with your children, help them recognise what will remain the same. For example, they will still be going to the same Kindergarten, with thesame playground, toys, and the sameteachers.

• Some children may need time toadjust to the longer hours.

TEACHERS RESPONDING TO CHANGE AT KINDERGARTEN

We now have increasing numbers of three-year-olds in our morning session.

• There will now be two group times at the end of our morning together, allowingthose children who will be leaving to saygoodbye together.

• Just like we always have, the teachingteam will discuss individual children’slearning and development at the end ofeach day, as well as at weekly meetings.These discussions are focused on what we as teachers can do, or provide in ourenvironment, to further support eachchild with their individual learning needsthrough meaningful play experiences.

• The teaching team will continue to providethe responsive learning environment thatextends on all children’s individualinterests - one that we are very proud of!

• Playgroup will now be at 2.15pm-3.15pm on Wednesdays.

ASHLEIGH McPHERSON

Supporting your child withthe changes at Kindergarten

Editorial |2

OUR CURRENT SELF-REVIEW around ‘Ko wai tatou?/Who are we and what areour stories?’, has highlighted somesignificant learning for our morningchildren this term.

We noticed that children are exploring theiridentities and making strong connectionsbetween home and Kindergarten. Forexample, children identify strongly with theJohn Deere tractors we have here to theirfarming life at home. These links betweenhome and Kindergarten give children asense of belonging and identity throughhelping them to role-play their personalexperiences, and what they see happeningaround them. Much time is spent by various groups transporting calves aroundthe mat or making fenced areas for thefarm animals.

Just recently many children wereidentifying what was important to themand their families through the Rugby WorldCup. One morning, Tracey hung up an AllBlacks flag and set up an area for childrento explore making their own flags. This ledto discussions amongst the children aboutwhat team they supported. As we exploredfurther, we found that children had a senseof pride around the rugby teams that theirfamilies cheered for at home. Through the rugby, children were able to gain a real sense of identity and connection totheir country of origin whether it was New Zealand or overseas.

We also continue to establish our identityevery morning through our mihi atKotahitanga, when we come together. This is an important routine to us here at

3| Always more to LEARN

Exploring ourFeel free to come and share

what is important to you at home. As families in our community, you

have a wealth of expertise. Come inand share a skill such as weaving,

cooking, music, art or introducing usto a different language.

This will he build on whanaungatanga,wānanga/relationships and

reciprocal partnerships.

Help us grow

at Kindergarten

your children’sidentity

Kindergarten as it unites us with theGeraldine area as we recognise featuresthat are important to our people/manawhenua, such as our mountain Mt Peel/Tarahaoa and our river, Waihi.

Children continually have the opportunityto develop a strong sense of belonging. Te Whāriki, our Early Childhood Curriculum,outlines that children will experience anenvironment where connecting links withwhānau and the wider world are affirmedand extended.

Children are making connections betweenevents and experiences at home and atKindergarten. Through their play, they havethe opportunity to contribute theirknowledge and ideas at Kindergarten,related to their own unique and special

cultures at home. They are also developingthe Habit of Mind of drawing on pastknowledge and using it to problem-solve orplay creatively at Kindergarten. This thenhelps them to communicate their ideas withclarity, another important Habit of Mind todevelop.

Children are also learning about importantfeatures, such as local playgrounds orcommunity libraries, and how to utilisewhat surrounds them in Geraldine toextend their knowledge. Keep an eye out onthe displays up on the wall to see thechildren's progress in this area.

SANDRA LAMBERT

identity

|4

DURING THE LAST TERM BREAKAshleigh and I attended a workshopat the ECE Convention in Rotorua on‘The Boring Cuddle’. I have renamedit in my title, because it reflects aconnection that is anything butboring. It is a way of building your

child’s emotional resilience through anopenness and an invitation for your child’sfeelings to have time to be expressed andacknowledged. It is a very special cuddle thatis about connection, aroha/love and...silence.

When a child is upset or angry, imagine theiremotional tank as being drained, completelydepleted of any ability to reason orunderstand. In those moments when a childis upset it is natural to try and settle thechild’s feelings with words, whether we try to reassure, distract, soothe, dismiss, fix oradvise. As parents and teachers we have ahuge kete of resources; however the key is to know when to effectively use them.

A child’s brain during this stressful time isnot physically able to make sense of thestrategies we are trying to use to settlethem. The brain receptors say to go intofight or flight mode. What a child is seeking is to have their emotional tank

refilled - and the most effective way to dothis is through ‘the silent cuddle’.

Some children will naturally want a physicalcuddle. So hold your child gently and just bethere for them... quietly. Other children maylike you sitting close by, with your handsgently open, ready for a cuddle if they arewanting it, but more importantly knowingyou are there for them, refuelling their tank.

When you see or feel your child ready tomove, they have been emotionally rechargedand have a little extra resilience for the nextchallenge that comes their way. It is at thistime that some of the strategies sharedearlier can be most effectively used, becauseyour child is now ready to listen.

The silent cuddle can feel awkward as wenaturally want to soothe with words. It is the silence that validates for the child thatwe care, that we are comfortable with theirfeelings and that they are not alone.

Feelings and children’s range of responses to them, whether they are toddlers orteenagers don’t always make sense, butbuilding emotional security and resilience byjust being there through the ‘silent cuddle’ is what matters.

TRACEY NELSON

5| Habits of MIND

The Silent Cuddle

AS A TEAM WE REGULARLY provideopportunities for our children to exploremessy play and manipulative mediums suchas slime, play dough and clay. Children arenaturally curious - exploring messy playthrough all their senses allows them toexperiment with different mediums wherethere is no right or wrong.

This term our afternoon children have also been using these activities as a placeto watch other children around them, todevelop whanaungatanga/relationships withteachers and other children while alsohaving the time to build a sense ofbelonging here at Kindergarten. Our EarlyChildhood Curriculum Te Whāriki states that children and their families experiencean environment where their emotional well-being is nurtured, and where there are opportunities to be independent whileknowing that comfort, emotional securityand familiar adults are available.

Each afternoon we are ready with somesort of manipulative/messy play mediumthat the children can explore when theyarrive. Over the last few weeks theseactivities have been a busy place wherechildren start to settle alongside a teacher - a place to happily play alongside others,exploring in a way that they feelcomfortable until they feel settled enoughto move to another area.

According to Ministry of Education (2015),messy play/korihori pōrehe can helpchildren to relax. It is a soothing activity, it allows children to develop hand-eyecoordination as they tip, pour and fill

different sized containers or naturalresources. As a teaching team weintentionally set up the activities in anexciting way, often using resources we knowengage and settle children, such as tractors,cars, ocean creatures and pouringequipment. These change regularlydepending on our children's interests.

Often parents are unsure about theprovisions of messy play, making commentssuch as ‘eeew yuck,’ or ‘that looks messy,’not realising that how they react has animmediate impact on their child’s reactionsto the activity. A great way for adults tosupport their children in exploring differentmessy play activities is to engage with theslime or gloop themselves, showing thechildren it is okay to get messy. Dressing your children in old clothes to come toKindergarten is great, then there is no needto worry about your child getting messy.While playing, use descriptive word such asslimy, runny, warm or lumpy. This is a greatway to develop your child’s language as yourole-model different types of descriptivewords as well as helping your childunderstand the different textures ofdifferent mediums.

Remember that while your children arehaving fun with the messy play mediums,they are also learning and exploring,developing a sense of belonging andbuilding relationships.

HEATHER MORAN

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātaurangamō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa Early Childhood Curriculum.Wellington: Learning media.

the AFTERNOON session |6

LUX FLAKES SLIME1 cup lux flakes2 litres hot waterFood colouring or dye

Dissolve Lux flakes in hot water. Add colouring (optional). Allow themixture to stand until it becomesthick and slimy. Beat with eggbeaterto make it froth.

CORN FLOUR GLOOP1 cup cold water2 cups corn flour

Slowly add cold water to cornflour in a bowl. Stir until the water isabsorbed by the cornflour. Add colouring (optional).

FINGER PAINT2 cups cornflour1 cup cold waterBoiling waterFood colouring or dye

Mix cornflour and cold water in alarge bowl. Stir slowly and addboiling water. Keep pouring andstirring until the mixture turnssmooth and thick. Split the mixtureinto different bowls/pots. Add adifferent colour dye to each pot.Can be kept in the fridge for acouple of days.

Messy play

Messy Recipes

ITS IMPORTANT TO CELEBRATE the thingsthat are significant for the children andfamilies as the year comes to an end. We can look back on the year of 2015 andhighlight the special events and times the Kindergarten has undergone.

At the beginning of the year Tracey andAshleigh were able to share what we do inGeraldine Kindergarten globally byundertaking a presentation on ‘Habits ofMind in Early Childhood’ in Hawaii. Theyreturned with new knowledge that ishelping to develop what we do in relationto our learning programme, and theKindergarten’s Strategic Plan, a continuingvision and direction for the next few years.It is immensely satisfying to know the workwe do in delivering a dynamic learningprogram is unique and highly respectedacross the world, one that we believereflects the changing times of education, of how children learn in an increasinglytechnological way. We cannot sit upon whatwe already know but need an awareness ofthe much wider world of educating ouryoung children.

The teaching team then attendedprofessional development, sparking lots of

ideas that would follow our self-review(2014) of ‘Ko wai tatou/Who are we?’Richard Manning, a speaker fromChristchurch University, highlighted ourown awareness of understanding, and ofknowing the history of the places where welive. He inspired our thoughts, and wequestioned, ‘What do we know aboutGeraldine, South Canterbury, or evenCanterbury?’ It triggered a new self-reviewto discover the stories linking the placesand things prior to the Europeansettlement that make Geraldine unique.Interestingly, at first we found there wasvery little that was documented locally.This gave us even more motivation to be a Kindergarten that can find local stories,stories of our place and mana whenua thatcan be shared with the community by ourchildren taking the stories beyond theKindergarten. We celebrated our localheros like Hayden Paddon and mostrecently, The All Blacks. But also wediscovered the cultural heritage of ourlocal area by having reciprocal visits withTe Ana Māori Art Centre, celebratingMatariki, going on bush walks to discoverthe birds and fauna, and by taking a risk at the Flava Festival by providing a cultural

Reflecting on 2015

"A feature for the Kindergarten's

curriculum andphilosophy is the

emphasis given todeveloping children'sskills for learning."

ERO, 2014, P1

7| from The teaching TEAM

performance to share with other EarlyChildhood groups. There are so manymore possibilities to follow throughwith that finding our roots is becomingembedded in our group and individualplanning as we venture into 2016.

These significant happenings haveallowed the teaching team to create avisual metaphor to represent what and howteaching and learning happens at GeraldineKindergarten. The piko piko represents whowe are and what we see as important forthe development of our children into thefuture. The first draft is placed inthe children's profile books as wedetermine the many factors thatinfluence how we learn and what is learnt and this visual metaphordevelops further.

2015 has been an exciting and eventful year that we can look backupon with great pride and continueto watch our children thrive in avibrant and unique Kindergarten.

LOUISE SHERRATT

|8

Traditions are an important part of family culture, something thatcan make your family just a littlebit different from another, andgiving your children a wonderfulsense of belonging to a specialfamily. Want to have fun creatingnew traditions in your family? Here are some great ideas to getyou started:

• Give your children a parcel toopen on Christmas Eve containingnew PJs and a book.

• On Christmas Eve, read ‘TheNight Before Christmas’ underthe tree with a hot chocolate.

• Create a decoration out of card for each member of your family to draw or write their highlight ofthe year.

• Buy a decoration for your child,write the year on it. Add oneeach year to a special box forthem to take with them whenthey leave home.

• Create an advent calendar that isall about ‘giving’ to others - notnecessarily gifts e.g. pick flowersfor the neighbour, help brothermake his bed, etc.

• Have a Christmas singalongevening with family/friends.

traditionsChristmas

9| BEHIND THE SCENES from the BOT

RESPECT • EXCELLENCE • LEADERSHIP • TEAMWORK • PERSEVERANCE • ACCESSIBILITY

Thanks to all those who attended theinformation meetings on the change fromsessional to all day. If you have furtherquestions please don’t hesitate to contactme: gm.gdfka@xtra.co.nz or 027 259 7160.

GDFKA HOME BASED LEARNING

We welcome Emma McDonald as acaregiver but unfortunately have had to saygoodbye to Jo Bell. We are also farewellingLeah Wheeler at the end of the year.

LOOKING BACK OVER 2015:

• Tracey and Ashleigh have presented onGeraldine Kindergarten story not only inNew Zealand, but in Hawaii, too. Theywere the only Early Childhood Teachers tobe accepted to present at the EarlyChildhood Conference in Rotorua (onlyheld every four years). Congratulations tothe whole team for the work that they

have all put into this, the results of whichyou all see with the work they do with thechildren.

• The BOT has been working hard on theStrategic Plan with input from thecommunity and teaching team.

• The Home & Kindergarten Committeehave worked tirelessly on not only raisingfunds for the Kindergarten but also somefun events for families. With the fundsraised they have purchased over $4,000dollars worth of new resources for thechildren to use, plus put some aside forthe playground redevelopment.

Thank you to all our families and to thecommunity for your ongoing support. Have a very merry Christmas.

HELEN MAY

2016 TERM DATES

TERM 1: 26 January - 15 April

TERM 2: 2 May - 8 July

TERM 3: 25 July - 23 September

TERM 4: 10 October - 22 December

2016 SESSION TIMES

New session times in 2016

ALL DAY SESSION

8.15AM–2.15PM

MORNING SESSION

8.15AM–12.15PM

Kindergarten was a hive of activity forthe 2016 House & Kitchen Trail. Thanksagain to all our sponsors and volunteers.

RESPECT • EXCELLENCE • LEADERSHIP • TEAMWORK • PERSEVERANCE • ACCESSIBILITY

A SUNNY YET BLUSTERY Sunday in Octobersaw the Home & Kindergarten Committeerun its main fundraiser, the Home & KitchenTrail. The Committee are delighted toannounce that we raised almost $6,500, with all funds earmarked for our playgroundrenovation project. This fundraiser is thelargest that the Home & KindergartenCommittee co-ordinate and this year’s eventhighlighted for us just how many businesses,organisations and individuals are willing tocome together to form the great team whichensured the success of this event.

Our committee take this opportunity to give a massive shout out to all those whohelped support this year’s trail. We had asuper local team of sponsors; Dale LilleyPlastering, Geraldine ITM, Jennian Homes,Earthworks Aoraki and Laser Electrical whowent well beyond the call of duty to ensurewe had everything we needed to organise,advertise, and market this event; and 12superstar homeowners who very generouslyopened their homes (and lives) to the public,allowing the 200+ ticket holders to gleanideas and gain inspiration for their ownprojects. Our super-generous friends atSimpson’s Flooring Xtra stepped in at the11th hour with sponsorship of the DevonshireTea served at Kindergarten.

Anyone who visited Kindergarten that daywould have seen our ‘sponsors thank-youboard’ acknowledging the many local

businesses who donated items for raffleprizes, or product used on the day of theevent - such as delicious Barkers products inboth raffle hampers, and brambleberry jamon top of those legendary FreshChoicesconeskindly donated by Garry and his team.Then there were the stall holders who gavetheir time on the day to set up a great arrayof market tables, and the generous ‘Friendsof Kindergarten’ who donated silent auctionitems ranging from lawn makeovers andhorse rides to birthday cakes and TiptoeDance vouchers - all of which generated anextra $680 in funds. Big thanks, too, to oursuper-kind ticket outlets (Pin Tin, ParksideDairy, Jennian Homes and i Site Ashburton)who promoted and sold tickets at no charge.

I have always thought of Kindergartenas a kind of net which brings familiestogether in a Kindergarten community,but it seems the net is cast far widerthan just its families. The supportreceived when organising an eventlike this highlights how valuedKindergarten is in our widercommunity. To all of those awesomebusinesses and individuals, a verysincere thank-you – when you seethe playground renovation start totake shape take a moment to patyourself on the back forcontributing to a resource whichis so important in our community.

TRACEY MCKAY

Home & Kitchen Trail

From the HOME & KINDERGARTEN Committee |10

If this event has inspired you to build a new home, our friends at Jennian homeshave offered the Kindergartena $500 voucher for anyconfirmed new build. Pleasespeak to any of the teachingteam if you would like toknow more.

Reminder: