The amazing Ilona (and Mike) (ok Ilona's the ideas and mikes hard work)

This is hard work! - my office for the day -the beautiful Taipa

Inspirational Ilona

Here is the other side of the cot that Ilona has got Mike to turn into a book shelf! He added the slats from the base to make the shelves, removed some of the slats (so the books can slide in) then added a ply backing and painted it. Screwed to the wall it's totally earthquake proof :)

Another great idea from the amazing Ilona in Kerikeri.

A shirt box $29.99 from the storage box and some Xmas lights from her cupboard. Line the top of the box with wax paper to defuse the light. Find treasures from the $2 shop or X-rays and watch the fun. Ilona has it up against a mirror which added another dimension :) Thanks for sharing Ilona.

Positive encouragement goes a very long way!

Here are some great ideas about what children deserve in a early childhood service. what do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5P-hBxLxc0&sns=em


Sent from my iPad

What a great idea - straight from Ilona's kitchen - just an old cot side ...........but Mike has other plans for the remaining bits :) whatcha this space

What should 4 year olds know before they go to school?

Just found this and I thought I would share. It's a homeschooling preschoolers page and therefore very relevant to us at BJs Homebased Childcare. They are only little for such a short time. Don't push them to be older than they are, know more than they should or grow up too fast. Just let them be kids! :)

Korero Maori

Kōrero Māori is for everyone who wants to speak the Māori language, or learn more about it.
You can find interactive conversations, language resources, and advice to help you increase your knowledge of reo Māori.
Make yourself at home – and give it a go!

http://www.korero.maori.nz/

New Technology

Jenny with her new laptop windows 8 that she will be using to also take photos as it is a touch screen as well. we look forward to see the new adventures of the children captured to be treasured forever.

Awareness- Give it ago

Please leave comments below

http://eceonline.core-ed.org/file/download/102302

Best ipad apps for children

Just doing some research on ECEONLINE and found a list of the best ipad apps. Thought I would share- check them out. Dont forget to join ECEONLINE as they have great forums that you can join in or watch out for the virtual conferences or webinars! 

Here At Last

Well what a great Friday to be given out our brand new tablet/laptop. The most lovely boss in the world has just handed out these new hybrid technological masterpieces. These are the new way to go if you want to the best of both worlds of both a tablet and a laptop. They are supposed to save us time as coordinators and open up the communication between our service and the many Whanau connected to us. Well at the moment I can see it taking a bit of time and experimenting to understand and work out the new way to do things! Friday night 'play time' here we come! :)

Look at Kia here with her new 'toy' that's not a toy :) Lets see over the next few weeks who can come up with the best tricks!

 

here is some interesting research regarding Homebased Childcare

http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/891898/ncb_rsch_summ_10_final.pdf

Piano stairs - TheFunTheory.com - Rolighetsteorin.se

hi all

check this out on a polar bear

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Play-Create-Explore/262198577146154

Hoildays and Learning - Through The Ages

I was lucky enough over these holidays to spend a sunny 10 days at the beautiful Ruakaka Beach Camp. We had a group of 3 sites all next to each other, a group of 10 children, ages running from 3-19! As we were just hanging around the camp site we noticed that the two youngest (3&5 years old) and one of the older children(18)had taken themselves off to a quiet spot and were reading a book. But on closer inspection they wernt just reading, they were in fact taking turns, acting out the story. The learning that was occurring was in huge quantities as the younger children gained the social and linguistic knowledge and the older one was able to learn and connect with younger children, adapting his language and body movements to suit the situation  It made me reflect on how we separate the children in centres and schools - so they can 'learn better'! Can they? What do babies learn by being in a room with only babies? What do 2 year olds learn by just being with 2 year olds? Where did this practice of segregation start? I have known for many years that I didn't like it, it just doesn't sit right with me. Homebased education is a great way to mix the ages, socially in the most natural way. See the holidays as a great time to encourage this type of  interaction. It doesn't have to be hours and hours but pull those big kids away from those screens and involve them in your younger childrens play.

The Fun Theory

Why dont you click this link - it made me smile. Sometimes good things come out of 'fun'

ICT in Early Childhood

I have come across some interesting information about blogging in ECE so check it out by clicking on this link

Welcome Return to Sandy

Everyone at BJs would like to welcome back Sandy to her coordinator role. She seems to have toughly enjoyed her time at home both as an educator but more importantly as a mother.