At Roskill South Kindergarten we have taken a multi-layered approach to our distance learning. During the long rāhui (lockdown) our online whānau chats have been a highlight for our children and a way for them to connect with their teachers and their friends twice a week. This has evolved to us offering one-on-one or small group sharing sessions, as we found the children often have a lot that they want to share with us!

Very early on in this rāhui many of our kindergarten whānau expressed their need for ideas and resources for their children to engage in at home. So as soon as Level 3 hit and we were able to access kindergarten again, we began to plan and put together learning packs for our tamariki. Our aim was to incorporate fun and interesting open-ended resources with no predetermined outcomes that would encourage children’s creative and divergent thinking. In other words, bringing a little bit of kindergarten into children’s homes. For the learning packs we made many batches of play dough, enough for everyone. We put together jars of baking ingredients with a cookie recipe for the children to bake at home, and we included lux flakes for children to make their own slime and enjoy some messy play fun. We put in bound books of paper for children to create their own stories, and personalised scrapbooks which promoted meaningful literacy learning. We also added coloured paper, craft supplies, beads, felt pens, chalk, sellotape, scissors, and glue sticks to stimulate children’s creativity. There was even a treat for each child inside their pack. Delivering the packs provided a way for us all to connect again in person, even through contactless and socially distant delivery we were still able to see and chat with the children. The values of aroha and manaakitanga were felt by us as kaiako, as well as the tamariki and whānau, and the response that we got from the learning packs was amazing. Here are some comments from whānau:

“Thank you all so much for all the love and effort you all put towards these craft bags and making sure the kids are still learning and being busy bees during lockdown! I swear teachers do not get the recognition they deserve you guys are awesome! All love from the Fa’atea family!”

“Thank you so much to you all for preparing such an awesome pack for the kids. Amazing mix of everything they love!”

“Thanks SOOO much Karen, Kim, Nadine & Yasu. What a thoughtful package and it has been so appreciated and loved. James loves having his own sellotape roll (a definite highlight for him) and yes the kinder surprise egg went straight away!”

“RJ just loves his pack from kindy, the joy on his face when he saw he had his own pair of scissors. Thank you so much for your efforts – we really appreciate it!”

“We hope this message find you and all your families well. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into the learning packs. Abbey loved all the items received. It was like Christmas in our house! Your hard work and daily communication doesn’t go unnoticed. We appreciate you all. Thanks so much Karen, Kim, Nadine and Yasu.”

Now that we are back at kindergarten with our small bubble, we have been putting together a ‘mini’ learning pack to accompany the more comprehensive pack. Another cookie recipe and ingredients, clay, water colour paints, a ‘treasure bag’ for children to collect natural materials and a mat for them to create ephemeral art, another scrap book, and more paper and craft supplies were included in this pack. In both the packs we had information for parents on what learning their child would engage in with the resources in the pack, and ideas on participating in learning from home in a fun and meaningful way.

Ahakoa he iti kete, he iti nā te aroha.

Although the basket is small, it is given with affectionate regard. 

This whakataukī reflects on the importance of reciprocity within te ao Māori. The act of giving is regarded as an expression of aroha, which is more important than the gift itself.