Where do we come from?

One of our core values at Geraldine Kindergarten is Tangata Whenua, knowledge of where children come from. We work alongside whanau to discover our backgrounds and our heritage.

Every morning when we come together at Kotahitanga we introduce ourselves using our mihi that descibes our local area. Tarahaoa or Mt Peel is our local mountain and Waihi is our local river. Children gain a sense of belonging as they learn about the special features of Gerladine.

We also explore our identies further afield as we learn about each others heritages, countries and people who lived before us. Children develop pride in what is special and unique to their family. 

Kia maumahana tau mana ake. Remember your uniqueness.

The Disco

We had so much fun on Friday night all dressing up, going out at night , twirling glow sticks , chasing balloons, catching up with friends and dancing .......when we had time . 

The school hall was transformed in to a magical place and the wonderment and awe was evident on our faces as we stepped into the darkness that was lit by the colour of the glow sticks and kaleidoscope of colours on the screen.This was great , he rawe tēnā!! 

Our costumes were varied reflecting what we love to pretend to be ( our teachers weren't surprised what we chose as we often engage in creative and imaginative play depicting the characters we were dressed up in for the disco) Even some of our parents dressed up. Āe mārika How about that!

Making popcorn

This afternoon we had to spend the afternoon inside, so Louise decided it would be fun to explore the idea of making popcorn. The children were all excited to explore how popcorn is cooked and eagerly washed their hands and sat down round the table to join in the fun. 

As they watched they had to manage their impulsivity to not eat the popcorn untill it was all cooked, this was very difficult as kindergarten smelled so yummy. As they sat and watched some of the children began bobbing up and down as if they too were popping popcorn. 

After the popcorn was ready we all sat together on the mat and enjoyed sharing some time together eating the popcorn. The children did a fantastic job of sharing the popcorn and waiting patiently till the bowl come back round to the, to have some more.The children showed Manaakitanga/ respect towards each other as they shared the popcorn.

Rainy day fun.

Today some of the morning children began exploring how to make Pom poms, they worked with Ashleigh and Brenda to cut out the circles out of cardboard and then began watching with curiosity as they got shown how to begin making their very own Pom pom.

The children showed how well they could perservere with difficulty as they took their time threading the wool through the small hole and around the cardboard. We noticed as they worked alongside each other they were very busy concentrating on what they were doing so that they could achieve their goal of making a Pom Pom. You have worked hard, kua mahi kaha.

The children really enjoyed choosing the colour of the wool they wanted to use and then waited patiently for it to be connected to the previous colour for them to start treading again. When things are difficult don’t give up, ka pakeke te haere kaua e hemo.

The children tested their hand eye coordination and patience as they worked for a long period of time alongside each other on a common goal. 

We look forward to seeing if the children will return to their half made Pom poms tomorrow that are ready and waiting to be finished.

An easter hunt

Our last day of term 1 today and the teachers had a special surprise for the children.

As soon as children were told about eggs that were hidden 'out the back' at kindergarten they were excited to begin searching. As children searched for the eggs some found them instantly while others took a bit longer to find one. It was great to see that those who had trouble finding one were supported by their peers, displaying manaakitanga/care and respect. As children found eggs they shared their excitment with others, through the espressions on their face and body language. For example jumping into the air holding the egg up high!

Showing Manaakitanga - A Snail's Castle

This morning a small group of children were huddled close together in the sandpit, there was complete silence as they watched a snail move across the sand and onto a shell.

"We're making a home for the snail, its a castle" Ben suddenly called out in excitement!

"Don't touch him" said Grace

"Yeah, we need to be gentle" Ben added. He pai koe ki te whakaaro pēna - Thats good thinking.

We continued to have a conversation about caring for our natural environment and lots of children were using the words 'care' and 'respectful' when talking about how to look after the snail. This is reflective of manaakitanga, something that is important to us here at Geraldine Kindergarten.

As we sat around watching the snail slide along the shells and onto the stones Eli said...

"I know turbo, he goes faster than racing cars, its so cool". It became obvious to us that Nathaniel was sharing knowledge from home, about another snail that he knows.

Grace found humour as we watched and she began to laugh "ahahaha hes crossing the road".

What a special experience today as this group of children communicated with clarity and precision, found humour and shared their knowledge all while showing manaakitanga toward the snail and each other.

Developing whanaungatanga/relationships in play

This afternooon a group of children enjoyed using some of the cricket equipment. Initally James found a bat and was instantly on a hunt for a ball, after finding one Hugo joined in and together they took turns hitting the ball. The smiles on both boys' faces after they hit the ball shared the pure excitement they felt. They continued to take turns hitting the ball toward each other for quite some time, the ball wouldn't always be hit on the first go so perseverance was key as they tried and tried again.

Guy, Elliot and Myra had been watching James and Hugo in play for some time, so when they had finished they were quick to have their turn! They had a slightly different approach to their play, a tee was used to hit the ball off. Ke tahi te whakaaro pai -  That's a good idea. Once Guy had his turn hitting off the tee, Elliot had his turn and this continued. Myra wasn't wanting to have a turn with the bat, she was happy to watch - smiling each time the boys hit the ball.

Throughout these experiences the children involved spent valuable time together, building trust that supports the development of their whanaungatanga/relationships. Turn taking was clearly evident in the games played and allowed the children to get to know one another a little better.