Chinese New Year – Feb 17, 2026, 新年快乐

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This article offers many appropriate activity ideas for celebrating the Chinese New Year with children, parents, grandparents, and teachers in early childhood education settings.

It also explains the legend of the beast Nian, who threatened crops, describes traditional family customs for Chinese New Year, and outlines how contemporary festivals are celebrated today.

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Young children have the right to inhabit optimal early childhood outdoor environments.

Optimal outdoor environments have the potential or power to promote and sustain meaningful relationships.

The location of spaces and equipment, and how welcoming the outdoor area is for adults, along with the aesthetics are highly influential on what children do. Poorly designed and maintained environments can be detrimental to children’s development.

This article focuses on the characteristics of optimal outdoor environments within a New Zealand context.

It is based on the findings of the qualitative research I have done over the years on early childhood outdoor environments.

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Gifted in Reading

While most children who are turning five years of age may at most recognise their name and perhaps a few other words, a gifted child at the same age may already be capable of reading books at Year 2 primary school level and above. 

Identifying a Child Who is Gifted in Reading

A child who is gifted in reading has most or all of the following characteristics:

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Parent-Child Attachment

Supporting Parent-Child Attachment.

A strong attachment with an adult is as essential to a child as air, food and water.  Healthy child development is unlikely without it. 

The Ministry of Health reports that mental health and behavioural problems are rising across all socio-economic groups.  

What effect could stronger pa

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Curriculum Policy

Use and adapt the following curriculum policy to suit your service and meet regulatory requirements.

Your curriculum policy must be consistent with the curriculum framework and be informed by assessment, planning, and evaluation (documented and undocumented) that demonstrates an understanding of children’s learning, their interests, whānau, and life contexts.

As well as providing a curriculum policy template for you, we’ve included the questions the Ministry of Education commonly asks and focuses on when it is checking an ECE service’s curriculum policy and implementation.

RATIONALE:
To ensure the process of planning, evaluating and delivering a localised curriculum is consistent with

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