Planning, Evaluation and Assessment

At Smart Kids Educare, teachers observe the children’s interest and plan accordingly. The curriculum Te-Whariki is planned by careful observation, identification of needs and capabilities, provision of resources, assessment and evaluation. Planning is based on children’s interest. Teachers listen to children’s ideas and questions and encourage them to feel positive about themselves. Teachers extend on children’s interest by taking into account children’s prior knowledge of what they already know and what they don’t know. A wide range of teaching and learning methods are used ranging from art to technology like reading books, researching more information on the internet, discussing during mat times and recording it in their portfolios. Children’s work is also displayed on the walls where they get the opportunity to revisit and also discuss about it with their parents & whanau at the end of the day.

The circle of assessment, planning and evaluation process enables us to get access to a good and deep understanding of each child’s development and their individual needs; therefore, we make different learning plans for them accordingly which helps all the children develop at their own pace. We regularly look at the children’s strengths, needs and behavior, and then evaluate to look at the quality and effectiveness of the programme.

Moreover, we evaluate each child according to their development, not following the same standards for all the children. We do not compare one child to another as we believe that every child has their own special strengths and they develop at their own pace. So when assessing the learning, we focus on individual children over a period of time; as we aim to support every child’s development not only academically and physically, but also emotionally and psychologically.

Mat Time:

Planning is extended through mat times for all age group of children. At Smart Kids Educare we have two separate mat times. The Kea Group( 0-2 year olds) usually have simple magnetic stories, music and movements, their favorite books, greeting songs, counting, learning about colors and the weather. These activities support our toddlers’ language development, gross motor skills and build on their vocabulary.
The kiwi group’s mat time (3-5 year old) consists of greeting songs, sharing news, reading stories based on their interests, discussing about various topics of interests and current topics e.g. Earthquakes, fireman, police as well as ambulance. These activities support their language development. They are able to sit and listen for a short time, learn to listen to instructions, develop social strategies and take turn’s  and contribute to discussions as a group.