Childcare options in Laingholm

Sustainability is a key focus at Laingholm Kindergarten – we were recently runners-up in the Auckland Community Zero Waste Awards in the ‘Power of the People’ category!

We participate in the Enviroschools programme and have achieved Green-Gold status. This programme aims to create a healthy, peaceful and sustainable world through people teaching and learning together. Laingholm Kindergarten fosters strong links to the local community, which is deeply embedded within our philosophy. We are proud of our ‘Plastic Bag’ free environment and work hard to support our community in many sustainable practices.

We have an amazing, expansive outdoor play area providing children with natural areas to explore. We venture outside every day as the outside is a classroom without walls, where children learn about the natural world and opportunities for risk and challenge are promoted.

Our Kindergarten offers the best practices that support learning through play. The teaching team notice, recognize and respond to children’s emergent curriculum to support their learning and build on their strengths and interests.

Family and community are an integral part of the experience here, and we encourage parents and whanau to be involved in every possible way.

We delight in providing a rich and challenging environment in which children can explore and lead their own learning. Our Kindergarten has a strong focus on environmental education and sustainability. The teachers have developed a strong bi-cultural curriculum that influences the kindergartens documentation and practices.

Our learning philosophy

For the past 110 years, the Auckland Kindergarten Association has been igniting young minds by encouraging them to explore their imaginations through play. For many of us, kindergarten was where we began our life of learning; it was where we started learning skills like sharing, tolerance, patience, respect and self-confidence.

We view children as capable, competent, life-long learners, and our philosophy encourages children to make their own learning choices, problem-solve and observe and explore at their own pace…with support from teachers, parents, wider whānau and their peers. We value the importance of child-initiated, play-based experiences. Our kindergarten teachers nurture your children’s interests and natural curiosity by working alongside them, expanding language and introducing mathematical and science concepts, as well as literacy, digital technology and sustainable practices.

Our centres have gardens and natural outdoor spaces where children can create, explore, be imaginative and expressive. There’s plenty of room to safely run about, being imaginative and physically active. In fact, the natural world is essential to free-range play. AKA encourages each kindergarten community to explore and enrich their diversity and uniqueness. Some have regular excursions into the local community; some are Enviroschool kindergartens that live and breathe sustainable practices; while others engage in long-term research on child interest-based programmes of learning.

As an organisation, we formally acknowledge the dual heritage of Aotearoa / New Zealand, and work to uphold the spirit and intent of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in each kindergarten. We are accessible, secular and welcoming to the wide diversity of tamariki and whānau who attend our centres, and value ongoing partnerships between teaching teams and leadership staff with families and whānau. We value ongoing learning for teachers, parents and whānau, and the sharing of knowledge, skills and attributes is fundamental to achieving the best learning outcomes for children. Teachers and staff can access collegial professional time to ensure that quality practice is enhanced so current theories of learning and development within New Zealand’s world-class Te Whāriki early childhood curriculum are shared and understood.

Children learn

Children in our kindergartens have the opportunity to:

• Feel confident, develop responsibility and a sense of independence
• Play meaningfully alongside other children and adults
• Develop effective communication skills
• Persevere, problem-solve and take risks
• Explore limits, boundaries, routines and conflict resolution strategies
• Practice fine motor skills such as threading, writing, cutting and grasping
• Develop gross motor play such as physical games like climbing, throwing, kicking, balancing and lifting
• Develop creative expressions through painting, music, collage, movement, dance, finger-painting, drawing, cutting, pasting and story sharing
• Develop early numeracy, literacy and science skills
• Learn techniques through trial and error
• Explore the world through experimenting, questioning and curiosity
• Develop confidence and celebrate both attempts and successes
• Develop a passion for learning and a love of life
• Have fun!

Older children will be supported in their transition to school to make this process as simple and seamless as possible. Book a visit here on Kindello today, we’d love to meet you.

Does your 0-6 year old love painting, playdough, obstacle courses, clay, swings, dress-ups, music & science, sand & water, carpentry & collage? Well these things (and more) are available on EVERY session (and wont take over your house!)

Are you looking to meet like-minded parents in your community? (adult conversations,  a ‘village’/home away from home) We understand that Playcentre doesn’t suit everyone – but we hope it might suit you 🙂

We are open every Monday, Thursday and Friday. Sessions start at 9.15am.

So come and see what Playcentre is all about – pop in for a visit/chat & coffee is always available! 

We currently have spaces across all sessions and would love to welcome you and your whānau into our village – see you there!