Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It was a year to remember but 2021 is just around the corner for all to look forward to. Thank you to all the parents/whanau for the support and aroha, we collected 4 boxes of non-perishable food for the Salvation army and the Clareo team with their tamariki made cookies and cards for the residents, later we made a special effort to drop some goodies to the rest home, it feels absolutely good to be part of a community and to contribute to it too.
Be safe everyone and take care god bless from all of us.
Last Friday we had our children's Christmas Party and it was a blast, we had the merry-go-round, balloonist, music, food and dancing also Santa. Thank you once again to all the parents/whanau and teachers for making it a special day for the tamariki.
Diwali celebrations at the centre with music, dance and yummy shared morning tea. Performances from parents and whanau.
Diwali celebration last Friday at the centre and it was an amazing day with dance, music and food, with parents/whanau participation. We had some dance performances from our parents/whanau.
BrightSparks children and kaiako doing the earthquake drill inconjuction with the NZ SHAKEOUT DAY yesterday. Surely many of our preschoolers would have explained to their parents/whanau what they did. The whole centre participated in the drill. Ka Pai kaiako and tamariki.
As the 2-3 yrs are exploring Spring as their interests, the teachers decided to do sun catchers with them, the parents contributed flowers from their gardens and here the children had the opportunity to choose the flowers to decorate their own sun catcher. Well done to our tamariki.
Safe, responsive, and nurturing environments are an important part of supporting the learning and development of toddlers, here in the 2 -3 yr old room - Clareo which is the name of the toddler room - is the latin word for " to be bright, to shine". It surely does as the teachers have arranged an enriching and stimulating environment which fosters healthy growth and brain development by providing a child with love, emotional support, and opportunities for learning and exploration. If you or your friends need childcare, this is the place to be, come and visit our centre where we create a place of home away from home.
Our Under 2's environment is called "Tiaho" which means "Emit Rays of Light" where our parents come to drop us and we are welcomed with open arms, our place is cool because we have so much fun, we explore, and most of all we feel loved. Our parents are happy to send us here so why not come along if you and your family are looking at a daycare, it is our second home and family and you won't be disappointed. Time to look at our environment ☺️
Outing with our 2-3 yr old tamariki to Arataki Information Centre. The trip would not be possible without parent help and our parents were there to support the team for this outing. The children loved the big bus journey to the centre as along the way the enjoyed the sight seeing. We went for a short bush walk, enjoyed the views and had our lunch but most of all the tamariki had a lovely experience during the outing. Thank you Belmira and Sreeja (kaiako) in Clareo for organising the trip.
Fun times with Rhonda who comes fortnightly to visit the centre to do active movement/aerobics. The children gets very excited to see her as she come with different activities that promotes dancing and music & movement. Children learn from movement and physical activity. Movement is important for child's healthy brain development. Your child's early experiences of movement and physical activity can help them develop the skills, attitudes and confidence to be active throughout their life. These extra curricular activities helps with these developments.
We are looking for 2 teachers to join in the preschool team. Qualified and registered or in your last year of training, if you know someone who is looking for a change or job please let them know, send the cv to susan @bscc.co.nz.
Hailstorm fun, our playground was covered with them the tamariki and teachers were having fun exploring !!! The children were excited to see such a heavy down fall of hailstones. We have so much fun here at our centre if you are looking for a place to put your child in daycare go no further than BrightSparks Childcare we have vacancies in all the rooms pass the message to all your friends and whanau who are looking for childcare.
Celebrating Matariki in the centre. Over the past few days children in all the rooms were very busy with craft activities, cooking and most all we had the pleasure of having Leslie who came along to the centre to sing some waiata and talk about Matariki. Thank you to Cushla (Riley's nana) for introducing Leslie. With that note a Karakia
Kia hora te marino
Kia whakapapa pounamu te moana
Hei huarahi maa taatou ie rangi nei
Aroha atu, aroha mai
Tatau i a tatoki kata
Hui e taike e!
May peace be widespread
May sea be like greenstone
A pathway for all this day
Let us show respect for each other
For one another
Bind us all together.
Sharing stories with your child doesn’t mean you have to read.
Just by looking at books with your child, you can be a great storyteller and a good model for using language and books. Your child will learn by watching you hold a book the right way and seeing how you move through the book by gently turning the pages.The special time you spend reading together promotes bonding and helps to build your relationship.
Creating the love for books as you can see how the children in the toddler room (2 -3 yrs) enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to the sounds of the words which is great for language development.
Our under 2's children were having so much fun as they were exploring the cotton reels - open ended materials are items that do not have one designated purpose and thus, they are incredible tools for learning,they provide multiple uses and endless play. It enables children to be creative and express themselves in play.
As you can see how much fun our children are having inform your family and friends about us as we have spaces available if they are looking for childcare. Come and see our purpose built centre that caters from 0-6 years of age .
The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experience – Loris Malaguzzi. Often, we are unsure of carpentry ourselves as it is not something that we grew up with or were encouraged to play with as a child. There can be different cultural barriers for teachers and whanau but the teachers and tamariki here at preschool have been very enthusiastic to explore and experiment carpentry with and alongside each other.In fact, if loose parts play is defined as “materials that can be moved, redesigned, put together and taken apart in a variety of ways” then carpentry is loose parts play at its core. It is the very essence of a holistic learning experience. We are proud to share these experiences of learning that happens during this play.
Celebrating Samoan Language week, as diversity means understanding each individual is unique and here at the centre it showcases the aspects of celebrating it. We had a special visitor who came along and sang songs and danced for the children.It was a week full of activities where teachers exploring the culture with children via food, language, music ,tapa cloth making and storytelling. The teachers and children dressed up for the occasion and thank you to the parents who came along last Friday to celebrate the culture with us.
As children and parents started their "new normal" this week, it was wonderful to see them all catch with their friends and teachers. It was also interesting to see how much over the lock down period our children have grown. During this period we also had some children turned 5 yrs old and was off to the "big school" too.
But nevertheless the children who are here, had and has been having a great time. It was awesome to have our tamariki and parents back.
Creativity and imagination, as Einstein said that the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. Your child’s ability for critical thinking and creative problem solving evolve from imagination. As the Stellar children were working with natural materials i.e leaves and started to create their very own creation. Imagination is fostered through play. Allowing our children to play freely with various toys or other objects gives them the opportunity to engage in their own creative and imaginative thoughts. Ka Pai tamariki love your creations and well done kaiako for extending their creativity and imagination.
Yesterday we had the pleasure of having Kanoa's dad coming along to do some carpentry work with the children, he also made a table for the Astron room where the children will be using it in the family area.Why carpentry isn't it dangerous for children to handle hammers, nails etc you may wonder.... but the benefits of carpentry i.e children gain increasing control over their bodies through the development of hand-eye coordination, manipulative skills and muscular strength. Express their creativity in a three-dimensional way.
Learn to share and cooperate as they work together with the materials. Also handling materials in an appropriate ways. Thank you Aviti for sharing your skills with the children as they all enjoyed the session with you.
Last Friday we had a visitor from the Henderson library and he was really cool as he read stories about Chinese New Year and played some interactive games with the tamariki and kaiako. The children really enjoyed listening and participating, here at BrightSparks children are also provided with opportunities to experience other languages and cultures which are integrated into our programme.
Clareo teachers and children went for a walk to Te Pai Park and they also met our past children from Edmonton Primary School who were also there. It was amazing to see how the past children remembered Sreeja. Our Clareo tamariki had a wonderful time at the park exploring, looking at the flowers and most of all connecting with the community.
Playing outside is fantastic for helping children to practise their physical abilities. Exercises such as running, jumping, skipping and playing ball games not only strengthen little muscles, but they can also help with gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination and overall health and well being. Our new under 3 playground has been designed with that in mind so that our little children can extend and challenge themselves climbing up a hill, navigating a bamboo maze, and exploring the obstacle courses that has been set up for them. You will be amazed how our tamariki use the outdoor spaces.
