In Home Early Learning Environments with Nurtured at Home

At Nurtured at Home, children make sense of the things, places and people in their world by interacting with others, playing, investigating, questioning, and forming, testing and refining ideas.  They use their senses, their minds and their bodies to find out about and make sense of what they see, feel and experience in the world around them.

Through gathering information and developing new skills, including thinking skills, they are forming ideas and theories and testing these out.  They refine their ideas through exploring their environment actively and through interacting and communicating with adults and with other children. 

Much of this happens through play and other experiences, both in Homebased education and within the wider community, allowing children to be creative, to take risks, and to make discoveries. As they learn, they retest their theories adjusting them to take on board new discoveries and new experiences.

In early childhood, most children develop physically and cognitively through exploring their environment.  As well as building knowledge and developing skills, children also need to develop positive dispositions and attitudes towards learning. They have an innate drive to get to know the workings of their world.

Each term, Nurtured at Home organises a day for Educators, tamariki, family and whānau to discover, play and learn together.  ‘Discovery Days’ provide an opportunity for Educators, children and their families and whānau to explore what the local community has to offer, fostering a sense of belonging whilst at the same time exploring, learning and having fun.

Our local communities offer a range of services which we encourage children and Educators to explore, fostering in children a lifelong love of learning.  Community services such as the local library, community centre, and sports and recreation facilities provide a sense of belonging and offer children the opportunity to engage with others within the local community.  In addition to this, local communities have a range of significant cultural sites, historical learning sites, and many beautiful recreational parks for us to learn about and discover together.

Nurtured at Home Educators, children and their families visit our local libraries to promote a love of language and literacy within a language-rich environment.  We also attend mainly music sessions for preschool children to enjoy an interactive morning of song/waiata; dance and storytelling.  The sessions are rich in New Zealand/Aotearoa culture, thereby embedding a strong sense of belonging for our children.

Current research shows that:

Parents and whānau play a critical role in supporting their children’s learning right from the start. Evidence shows that learning outcomes are enhanced when parental involvement in early childhood is sustained and focused on learning activities.
Identity, language and culture count – knowing where children come from and building on what children bring with them. Productive Partnerships – Māori students, whānau and educators sharing knowledge and expertise with each other to produce better outcomes.

Engaging in a routine of visiting local community services and sites, children can experience the wider community and interact with a larger social network, whilst returning to the safe and nurturing environment of the Educator’s home to recount and share their experiences. A child’s connectivity with the wider community can then be strengthened with families also visiting these sites and services, and spending time sharing their knowledge and retelling stories.

Visit us at www.nurturedathome.co.nz