Our Philosophy
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Our belief
The five strands are: well-being, belonging, contribution, communication, and exploration.
At Littlest Learners
We at Littlest Learners believe that each child, in his/her uniqueness, is a gift to society and our learning programmes must be primarily led to nurture these unique and natural gifts the child holds.
For this, we believe in emergent curriculum, in which we follow the child’s lead to extend and enrich their strengths, interests, capabilities and to address their developmental areas. We have also been inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to teaching and learning. For more information please visit www.reggiochildren.it and click on the Reggio Emilia link. In partnership with our own learning programme, we incorporate Te Whāriki, that states “Children should grow up as competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body and spirit. Secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society.” Our curriculum is based on goals and learning outcomes that are directed from the interests, learning and development of each child.
- Te Whāriki is the New Zealand early childhood curriculum document published by the Ministry of Education in 1996. Teachers use the goals of the curriculum to help plan for children’s needs and interests during their early childhood years.
- Te Whāriki is a Māori term meaning “the woven mat”. It refers to the principles and strands of early learning being woven together.
- The four principles are: empowerment, holistic development, family and community, and relationships.
- We also strongly believe in parents’ participation in the care and learning of children, thus we have an open door policy for our parents to come in and discuss or participate in the activities at the centre.
- To keep our children in touch with the community and extend their knowledge, experience and provide stimulation for their creativity, we organise for learning and fun trips to outside facilities.
