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Lockdown bubbles both at home and at the centre
During November, we are operating in different bubbles in accordance with Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health guidelines to ensure our children, parents, and teachers are safe. So, in spite of the COVID restrictions and while remaining compliant to the policies around this, we dug into our reserves of resilience and used this ‘a meadow of opportunity’. Our weekly plans included Diwali celebration where our centre bubbles gathered around ‘Zoom’ alongside our whānau to celebrate this cultural event. It certainly was a different way to celebrate and while this is one way to adapt to the change due to COVID, it was fun with the dress-ups, songs and dance - such a resilient bunch here at BestStart Kenderdine!
We also engaged in the spirit of ‘kaitiaki’ and ‘rangatiratanga’ – exposing and empowering our ākonga in the concepts of being carers of our environment and being responsible learners. Monday is our ‘clean up’ day as part of the planned activities. Then as the weather prompts there was the need to care for our gardens, to plant reawakening the creatures of the garden prompting more learning and discovery; what creatures did we find in the garden? We are also avid constructors and builders; while our ākonga take the lead in their learning, as Kaiako we are co-constructors alongside our ākonga. We have begun to learn about the process of propagation of plants. While we have learned that seeds become plants we’re also learning that there are other ways to make new plants – propagating. This is currently a learning in progress so look out for the ‘pua siale’ (gardenia) propagation we have begun and look forward to how this story will unfold.
Our babies and toddlers are on the move and extending on their gross motor skills – learning to move and moving to learn, to discover what their body can already do!
Lastly, we have begun with our Christmas activities which included a brainstorming of ideas for activities and making decorations – fun, fun, fun!