OUR PHILOSOPHY
We believe in the Teina/Tuakana approach...
"The Tuakana-teina relationship, an integral part of traditional Māori society, provides ( brother, sister or cousin) helps and guides a younger or less expert teina (originally a younger sibling or cousin of the same gender) in a learning environment that recognises the value of ako, the Tuakana-teina roles may be reversed at any time" (MoE, 2017)
We value this by naming our infants 'Teina' and our toddlers 'Tuakana'. Our Teina room is located in the front house, we have a maximum of 12 babies (0-18 months) with 3 teachers. The back classroom also shares the same numbers for or older tamariki (18 months to 3 years)
Each day we support transition by ensuring the older Teina children spend time in the Tuakana area. We also help transition children to either Wilde Meadows or Kidd Inn once they are ready; around the age of 3.
Here are some key concepts of the RIE philosophy which sums up our key values:
We communicate authentically. We speak in our authentic voices (through a bit more slowly with babies and toddlers), use real words and talk about real things, especially things that directly pertain to our babies that are happening now. We encourage babies to build communication skills by asking them questions, affording them plenty of time to respond, always acknowledging their communication.
We invite babies to actively participate in caregiving activities like nappy changing, meals and bedtime rituals and give them our full attention during these activities. This inclusion and focused attention nurtures our parent-child relationship, providing children the sense of security they need to be able to separate and engage in self-direct play.
We encourage uninterrupted, self directed play by offering even the youngest infants free play opportunities, sensitively observing so as not to needlessly interrupt, and trusting that our child's play choices are enough. Perfect actually.
We allow children to develop motor and cognitive skills naturally according to their innate timetables by offering them free play and movement opportunities in an enriching environment, rather than teaching, restricting or otherwise interfering with these organic processes. Our role in development is primarily trust.
We value intrinsic motivation and inner-directness, so we acknowledge effort and take care not to over-praise. We trust our children to know themselves better than we know them, so we allow children to lead when they play and choose enrichment activities, rather than projecting our own interests. We encourage our children's passions and support them to fulfil their dreams.
We encourage children to express their emotions by openly accepting and acknowledging them.
We recognise that children need confident, empathising leaders, and clear boundaries, but no shaming, distractions, punishments or time out.
We allow children to problem solve, experience, and learn from age appropriate conflicts with our support.
We understand the power of our modelling and recognise that our children are learning from us through our every word and action about love, relationships, empathy, generosity, gratitude, patience, tolerance, kindness, honesty and respect. Most profoundly, they're learning about themselves, their abilities and their worth, their place in our hearts and in the world.