Child Care, Day Care, Auckland North Shore

At Mariposa Kids we know that your child’s care and education excels their whole self.  Their physical, intellectual, emotional, social and language skills are developed to their highest potential in order to grow their self-esteem and provide a positive foundation for their future years.

Care:

All parents want to know that when their child is placed with other caregivers, they are well cared for in a safe and nurturing environment.  At Mariposa Kids this is what comes first.  The Owner of Mariposa Kids is a mother and a qualified early childhood teacher herself who has her own children in the centre and has actively set out to make the facility the best home away from home possible.

We are a licensed childcare centre which means that we are overseen by the Ministry of Education who must approve our equipment and policies and will periodically inspect us to make sure we meet their high standards.  We must exceed their requirements for staff to child ratios and with regards to safety, our building and playground must meet their safety standards. The centre is always run by staff that are qualified and registered in early childhood education and all staff are trained in first aid.  The centre is an established part of the community having operated in Birkenhead for over 30 years.  

Children need all of these skills to grow into a happy, healthy, well rounded little person. 

Education:

Research has proven that good quality early childhood education increases the academic abilities of children in later life.  From recent studies it has been shown that children perform better at school, achieve higher marks and outperform those children that haven’t attended childcare services.  The government has recognised this and offers funding to childcare centre’s that implement their high quality early childhood curriculum.  We also have a transition to school program for the older children designed in conjunction with local primary schools to give your children the appropriate skills for when they are ready to start school. 

How will Mariposa Kids give your child’s education a head start?  The way children learn is through play, so we provide an encouraging environment and set out the activities for them to enjoy learning.

Some other things your child will do at Mariposa Kids include:

1. Music - At Mariposa Kids all of the children sing songs and play music games daily.  We also provide over 30 musical instruments to play with.  Through this they develop a sense of rhythm, a good memory and a creative way to express them. 
2. Puzzles - Mariposa Kids has over 40 puzzles & mathematical games.  Through these they develop hand eye coordination, problem solving skills, memory and concentration.
3. Nature & science - Mariposa Kids has its own science area with ever changing projects.  We also have a variety of pets.  Through these children begin to learn all about the world around them.  We visit the local park for nature walks.
4. Sand, water, dough & clay - Children love these activities and through playing with them they expand their imagination and also learn basic science and mathematical concepts.  This is also good for developing their hand muscles and sense of touch.
5. Art - Important for children to express themselves creatively in their own way.  Skills developed include cutting, sorting, writing, painting and drawing.
6. Blocks - We provide 100’s of blocks and construction toys of all shapes and sizes to develop building and balancing skills.  Great for basic mathematical concepts as blocks are wholes, halves, circles, quarters, triangles, etc.
7. Adventure play and movement - Children love to move.  Through this they learn how to use their bodies as they grow physically and develop their co-ordination.  They learn to organize and direct their play and in movement games they learn co-operation.

There are 1,000s of things learnt at Mariposa Kids that will give your child’s education a good foundation.  Take for example mathematics.  Children will start learning to add, subtract and multiply at school but a lot of skills are taught at Mariposa Kids so that they are ready to achieve that level, for example: 

1. The names of numbers and be able to say them in the right order
2. Being able to match each number with the correct amount of things
3. Being able to put items that are alike into sets and categorize them
4. Learning that things can be put into order i.e. from biggest to smallest
5. About size and amount - more than, less than, big, small and equal
6. About weight and height
7. About space - in, on, behind, through, over, under
8. That things are constant e.g. water in a tall cup is the same as water in a small cup

The things we take for granted as adults all need to be learnt from scratch by children.  All the activities provided at Mariposa Kids are designed to meet your child’s educational needs as well as caring for them in a warm, supportive and nurturing environment.  It is our aim that when your child goes to school we have helped develop a happy well rounded individual with a love of learning.