A day in the life of a Step Ahead child
Ever wondered what it’s like at Step Ahead once you drop your child off? From 8 am - 4.30 pm, our dedicated and passionate teachers are here to make your child feel like they are at their ‘home away from home.’ Our door is always open to parents and caregivers - we love visitors!
We ensure a very consistent routine each day so that our children can learn what to expect and can mentally help prepare for their own days (getting excited at outside playtimes and getting ready to rest at quiet times). Our daily routine provides consistency around everyday activities, such as:
- Settling:
We take the time to ensure each and every child at Step Ahead feels comfortable after their parents or caregivers have dropped them off and left for the day. This can involve lots of hugs and nurturing words, distractions and provocations, depending on what each child needs at the time.
- Kai time:
Our children have ‘rolling kai’ from 9.30am to 10.30 am, where they can eat food from their lunchbox from home. At lunchtime, we all eat together as a whānau, again with kai from home. This ensures your child’s unique dietary requirements are catered for and also helps to reinforce the positive nutritional values that you have established at home. It also allows for children to make their own food choices as well as becoming independent in opening their own lunchbox, containers and food.
- Learning and play:
Our children learn through play and we encourage and support solitary, small group or large group play. We follow what is known as the ’emergent curriculum’ where children play, research and explore areas of interest to them. As teachers, we extend the children in their interest areas through rich conversations, helping them to undertake their own research, provocations and invitations.
- Quiet and reflective time:
It’s important to balance play and active times with quiet and reflective times, which helps our children learn how to pace themselves. It helps to give them a chance to rest and emotionally unwind and it also helps them to stay alert during the rest of the day. This could involve napping, completing quiet puzzles or books, or quietly sitting and talking with one of our teachers or each other about their day.
We encourage you, as parents and whānau, to take time at the end of the day to learn about our day’s activities to better understand the achievements and discoveries of your amazing children each and every day.
P.S – Would you like to visit our centre? Book your tour now! Call us on 09 435 2825