Our Programme
We at Little Hand Childcare believe that tamariki (children) grow and learn at their own unique individual pace therefore our role becomes to provide a learning environment that enables them to do so. We believe in the importance of play, in the immortal words of Maria Montessori “Play is child's work”. Our program is play-based and influenced by tamariki (children’s) interests, dispositions, skills, and parent and whanau aspirations. We strive to give tamariki an environment that helps them to grow as a competent, capable, and confident learners at their individual pace.
We provide tamariki with a range of indoor and outdoor experiences that are developmentally appropriate and build upon the tamariki interests and facilitate their confidence and independence.
Meals
We believe ‘Healthy Mind Lives in a Healthy Body’ Our aim is to provide fresh and nutritious meals to our children. All meals are prepared by our trained cook that provides over 50% of your child’s recommended daily intake of all nutrients. We follow the healthy Heart foundation guidelines and have a 4 weeks rotating menu. We also include food from various cultures to celebrate festivals and special occasions. Parents are able to view our changing weekly menus at the reception desk. If your child has a specific dietary requirement please inform the Centre prior to enrolment so we can provide suitable meals for your child.
If your child is on breast milk or formula, Instructions need to be provided to the Centre at the time of enrolment.
Transition to School
When our tamariki are ready for school, it is a time of a lot of excitement as they are about to embark on a new journey. We believe that the foundation of this journey is laid well before their fifth birthday, therefore we have in place a very robust transition to school program. This program is deeply embedded in parent aspirations, communication, and links to the local primary school, tamariki (children) disposition, and play. We have a special graduation ceremony, a celebration of their journey with us before they move onto the next phase of their journey at primary school.
Physical Literacy program
We believe that for our tamariki (children) to grow up as happy, healthy, confident, capable, and competent individuals they need to explore and enjoy a variety of learning experiences. We therefore on a weekly basis provide our tamariki with dance, sport, and yoga sessions. We have discovered that our children thrive on these experiences and the learning benefits them across all curriculum areas
Nurturing Curriculum babies
In our baby room (Curious Minds), we have placed a system of primary caregiving. Primary caregiving is a system where a designated educator assumes the individual responsibility for child’s care and education, this includes nappy changing, meals and other routines, observing and planning to meet the child's needs, getting to know the child's family, and working with the family to ensure the best experiences and the best developmental outcomes for the tamaiti (child) . Once the tamaiti (child) settles and feels a sense of belonging within the centre, the primary caregiver then encourages other kaiako to bond with the child.
