June 2013
Poutama Time to celebrate
Footsteps hold a year's worth of birthday celebrations
Pom Pom Caterpillar
Learn how to make this great learning resource from an egg carton 0800 366 878
Book Worms
Teaching your child to be a successful reader
Nau mai haere mai Welcome to our latest edition of Poutama
footsteps.co.nz
Latest news - articles - free resource ideas - expert advice - ara poutama
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Stepping it up for New Zealand's vulnerable tamariki At Footsteps we believe, and research supports, that high quality in-home educational support can make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children in New Zealand, who would potentially face limited outcomes. The Footsteps home-based early learning programme is funded by the Ministry of Education for children who meet set criteria. Unfortunately, sometimes the children who need us most are not eligible for this funding. Unable to accept this, we are committed to seeking out these children, who without help, can often fall into further vulnerability, with little or no access to the care and attention they desperately need. This edition of Poutama is devoted to the Footsteps Foundation - established 3 years ago to offer an educational component as part of the solution in an area of real need. Since this time, the Footsteps Foundation has funded over 55 tamariki and its whānau across Aotearoa, providing specialised early childhood support, appropriate to each child’s individual situation. Now we are taking it one step further and over the next year will be investing thousands of hours in community outreach with our key partners. Through volunteering in the community, we will use our educational expertise to empower the communities we serve. We are already off to a great start with events in partnership with Fostering Kids and Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. I am hugely excited about the Footsteps ‘Birthday Celebrations’ we are providing to children through our Foundation and the unique take we are offering to create an important piece of history for each child. With an exciting few months ahead, I invite you to walk the journey with us so that together, we can inspire children through early education.
KEVIN CHRISTIE Big Boss Man
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pon
(aka Founder and CEO)
Footsteps hold a birthday celebration every day of the year
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Footsteps is privileged to work with children and communities throughout New Zealand, and values children for the unique individuals that they are. We understand that a child’s self–worth lays the foundation for their future, and that we have only a few years in a child’s life to get this right. A child’s self-worth comes from a sense of belonging; believing that they are capable, valued and worthwhile. To ensure a child develops pride and self-respect we must give them the skills they need to handle life’s challenges. The Footsteps Birthday Celebrations have been created to reinforce to a child that they are unique and there is no one just like them. It is a celebration of the day they were born and who they are. As a part of this celebration Footsteps documents, in a unique way, the child’s birth-day, whilst reinforcing positive memories through learning experiences. Each child will receive a personalised celebration centred around their natural interests and current developmental stage. A ‘My Memory Book’ is created for each child, incorporating photos, stories, and the voice of the child. This is centred around who they are and their cultural roots. The one-off copy of this Memory Book will be gifted to the child for future reflection and enjoyment. The number of children receiving a Birthday Celebration equates to one for every day of the year. The Birthday Celebrations are one of the ways Footsteps is investing in children’s lives and the community by giving back through community outreach, one day a month. The celebrations will be offered to the children that the Footsteps kaiako journey with through Child, Youth, and Family as one of our valued partners. Paul Nixon, Chief Social Worker said “The book is beautiful and child centered and recognises cultural differences”.
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Footsteps and Fostering Kids treat 200 families to a day out at Rainbow Springs We celebrated this year’s National Children’s Day by sponsoring a trip to Rainbow Springs for over 200 children and carer families in partnership with Fostering Kids and local Fostering Associations. The event provided a memorable experience for the families and raised awareness of how our organisations can support them. Activities included a live bird show, unlimited big splash rides, sausage sizzle, whānau portraits, goodie bags and the creation of a giant hand painting made by all of the children attending. Local tourist attraction Rainbow Springs was part sponsoring the event alongside Footsteps and Fostering Kids as a way of giving back to the community. Donna Elliot, Footsteps Regional Director said “We are really glad to have been involved in yesterday’s event by volunteering both our time and educational expertise to local foster families. By giving back through the Footsteps Foundation, we are inspiring children’s lives through early education.” Lynne Matthews, Central North Coordinator for Fostering Kids said “Our organisation aims to give children in foster care a stable, loving home by providing support and training to foster carers and their families. We are really happy to have worked with Footsteps and Rainbow Springs to provide this fun day out that our families will remember forever.” Footsteps is looking to hold more events in partnership with Fostering Kids in the coming months which we will share in our next edition of Poutama.
Footsteps caregivers and kaiako get 5 minutes of fame Over the last few months we have been updating our look and feel, and creating some new photography to bring our fun learning service to life. The photos feature some of our kaiako and caregivers from across the country and make use of the learning experiences that we create when out visiting families in the home.
whakaahua
Zoe Sizemore, one of our local Tauranga caregivers said “It was great fun to be involved in the photos. Ryder, my little boy, was exhausted by the end of the shoot but for his first taste of modelling, I think he did pretty well!” There is a different photo for the 4 main areas of our organisation - learn, play, share and care.
learn
explains the importance of early childhood education and the lengths Footsteps go, to ensure that every child gets the best start.
play reflects our unique one to one approach to learning that unpacks children’s potential through play.
share
is about our committment to the community and how we give back through our educational expertise.
care is our philosophy and how we lead by example through early childhood education.
Many of the learning resources that feature in the photography have been made into free learning resource videos to show how to have fun learning experiences from recycled materials and everyday things found in the home. These can be found at footsteps.co.nz/learning_resources. So why not have a go and share your efforts on our Facebook page?
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Understanding the importance of early childhood education
Top tips to help your child to become a successful reader The years leading up to school strongly influence your child’s attitudes and abilities towards reading. Equally those first few weeks and months at school are important for your child in developing an enjoyment of reading, a positive attitude to learning and starting off as a confident reader. If you create a calm and positive environment where your child wants to read and feels confident in their abilities, these positive attitudes will flow on to their future years at school.
Some tips for correcting your child’s reading mistakes positively: • Wait for your child to get to the end of the page or sentence rather than interrupting them. Revisit the word they got wrong. Ask, “do you know what this word is?” If they get it right this time then offer praise, if not, say the word for them. • Encourage your child to use pictures and memory as clues. This is not ‘cheating’ in any way and is actually an important reading cue. You often hear people criticise “They’re not really reading they have just memorised the book” - but memorising a whole book, what a skill that is in itself! Memorising helps with recognising familiar, high frequency words. • Look at unknown words in chunks and sound them out together. • When you have finished a book ensure your child has understood what they have read, by talking about what happened in the story.
How do I know what books my child should be reading? • Your child will often let you know if the books you have selected are too hard, which will lead to frustration and
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loss of confidence, or too easy, which can lead to boredom. • If English is not your first language ask about books in your native language, both at school and at your local library.
How do I encourage my child to read? • Model an enjoyment of reading yourself. Children are more likely to do what they see, not what they are told. • Broaden what you define as reading. Comics, e-books, maps and recipes could be alternative reading materials. Reading can also be poems or song lyrics. • Create your own books using photos as children love to be the ‘star’. For example use photos to make a book about ‘My 5th birthday’ or ‘Our beach holiday’. Have a photo on each page and then a sentence below using your child’s words. • Children often relate to, and look for, how to behave with their own gender, so boys will benefit greatly from reading with Dad/Grandad or Uncle, and it also reinforces the idea that reading isn’t just for girls. • Try not to compare. Comments such as, “but your big brother is such a good reader”, will only create further negativity. • Give specific praise to your child. Rather than “well done”, or “good girl/boy”, you can say, “you knew every word in that sentence, fantastic”. Let them ‘overhear’ you saying how well they are doing with their reading, for example when talking on the phone to grandparents. Do you have a success story to share about your child’s reading or some strategies that you have found really useful? Jacqueline Taylor - Footsteps kaiako, Auckland
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Unpacking children’s potential through play
How to make a Touchy, Feely Book You will need: • • •
One blank sturdy ‘book’ such as a photo album or scrap book Strong glue – non toxic PVA Varied textured ‘treasures’ to glue into your texture book.
You could use: • Material scraps • Tin foil • Cotton balls
• Sand paper • Natural materials • String/wool
Directions
1. Choose a blank book for your texture book. This could be a scrap book or, for a longer lasting book, a photo album. 2. Collect items with the children to glue into the book. 3. You may need to leave pages to dry before turning the page to do more. Safety note : As with all young children, play should be supervised. If pieces are pulled off they could be a choking hazard.
What the child learns
• Young children learn primarily through their senses. • Tamariki develop the confidence to choose and experiment with materials, to play around with ideas, and to explore actively with all the senses. • Children develop and use mathematical concepts when they collect, organise, compare and interpret different objects and materials. • Language is enhanced by linking words with what they can feel and see. • Fine motor skills are enhanced through the use of scissors, glue sticks, brushes and hands as tools.
How to extend learning • • • •
Ask the child to describe each page and how it feels, then write their own words down. This develops vocabulary and literacy skills. Wear a blindfold and guess what sensory page it is by touch alone. While making the book, sort objects by size, colour, texture. Focus on the process not the product. Let the children do as much of the activity as possible.
How to make a Pom Pom Caterpillar Directions
You will need:
1. Cut out a long row from the egg carton to make the body of your caterpillar. 2. Paint the holes of the egg carton different colours to match the colour of the pom poms. 3. Allow to dry. 4. Place the pom poms in a small container. Depending on your child’s ability or what you have at home, either tweezers or mini tongs can be used for picking up the pom poms. Now you are ready to go! 5. Encourage your child to use the tweezers/tongs to pick up a pom pom and match it to the coloured hole of the egg carton.
• • • • •
An egg carton Paint or felt tips Mini pom poms Tweezers or mini tongs Small container
6. Continue until all the pom poms have been matched correctly.
What the child learns
This resource encourages colour recognition and matching which are early mathematical concepts. It also encourages the use of a pincer grip when using the tweezers which is a fine motor skill used for writing as your child gets older. There is also the option of using mini tongs to challenge your child further.
How to extend learning • •
Encourage your child to match other objects around your house or garden of the same colours. Introduce counting skills by counting with your child how many pom poms of each colour they have sorted.
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Using our educational expertise to support the community Footsteps kaiako are given the opportunity to spend a day a month volunteering in the community to give back through their expertise. Below is some of the fantastic work we have been doing to inspire children, caregivers and the community through early education. ANZAC Pride: Footsteps and Grandparents Raising Grandchildren share stories of the past with tamariki Local families turned out for a special ANZAC morning tea to bring together pre-school children, caregivers, whānau and members of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren to share stories, medals and memorabilia of the past to foster learning in our future generation. Kevin Christie, CEO of Footsteps said, “This event is a great example of how we inspire learning through storytelling. As our grandparents shared their memories and medals, our tamariki learned about one of the most important events in New Zealand’s history. This shows how the community can work together to inspire learning, and we believe our role is to foster these experiences. The richness of a nation is the stories it has created and we are helping ensure they are not lost.” Footsteps kaiako hosted a free medal and poppy-making workshop for children and their caregivers. By creating fun experiences from the iconic symbols of ANZAC, the children learnt about this historic event through play. “This enabled the community to get a feel for the type of work Footsteps early childhood teachers carry out in homes across the country, creating personalised learning experiences through play” explained Toni, Footsteps Auckland Regional Director. Virginia Peebles, from Grandparents Raising Grandchildren said, “It was a very enjoyable day. So nice to be recognised as grandparents for the work we do with our grandchildren. Often people say it, but it’s nice that Footsteps have actually done something.”
Footsteps brings together Papakura Community for Children’s Day
Toni Waetford, Auckland Regional Director for Footsteps said, “The event was a real success - it was great to see so many of the Papakura community getting involved in Children’s Day. Papakura has a low uptake of early childhood education so we really wanted to give the community a sense of the fun learning experiences we provide at Footsteps and encourage them to give it a try.” Kevin Christie, CEO of Footsteps said that the Children’s Day event was a great way to bring the Papakura community together and share the different services that are on offer to support them. The services that attended included Papakura Marae, HIPPY Papakura, Strengthening Families, The Gate, South Auckland Family Violence Prevention Network, Transitioning Out Aotearoa, Fostering Kids Auckland, Raukara Hauora o Tainui Smokefree and Child, Youth and Family Papakura.
Footsteps celebrated Children’s Day with a free fun day out for over 250 Papakura children, parents and caregivers. The celebration included a bouncy castle, sausage sizzle and several learning workshops to show families how to make fun resources from simple things found around the home.
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“Papakura is such a special community to Footsteps - we support more than 50 families in the area with our free educational programme and free drop-in centre, Te Pōtiki, for tamariki aged 0-5. Today, 10 community services joined us in our celebration – to us, this is the meaning of true community collaboration.”
Leading by example in early childhood education We have sponsored over 55 children during the last 3 years through our charitable arm: the Footsteps Foundation. Here is the story of one of our wonderful families and how our early childhood teacher, Trish, made a vital difference in their lives. Dee-Dee was born into a volatile home environment saturated in drugs, alcohol and physical violence. Her early life was characterised by neglect and isolation. When her older sister made an allegation of sexual abuse, Child Youth and Family (CYF) removed the girls from their mother’s care and placed them in the home of their great-grandmother, Judy.
would respond to Dee-Dee in different situations. “We talked about Dee-Dee’s ‘triggers’ in the light of her history, and the need for Judy to spend some time looking at how those behaviour situations come about,” says Trish. Through noticing patterns, remaining calm and responding quickly, Judy was increasingly able to understand and address the behaviour before it escalated.
Dee-Dee was 2 years old at this point. She had no language skills, severe eczema, and had never experienced a healthy attachment with an adult. She had no routines or learning opportunities. Over the next few years, as Dee-Dee grew, she
Step-by-step, changing lives
"Judy was desperate, she told me that Dee-Dee’s behaviour was out of control and she needed support and guidance" became very aggressive in her behaviour. At home she would kick, bite, scream, throw things, and hurt her older sister. Outside of home, her aggressive behaviour towards other children escalated to the point where she was expelled from her local kindergarten.
Referral to the Footsteps Foundation Dee-Dee was referred to the Footsteps Foundation by a CYF social worker, after Judy reached out for help. Unfortunately, because Dee-Dee was living with a family member she did not meet the Ministry of Education’s eligibility criteria for the Footsteps ‘Learn’ programme. Aware that there were no other support services involved, and that this family might slip through the cracks in the system, the team at Footsteps decided to sponsor Dee-Dee through the Footsteps Foundation, which had been set up for children just like her. Footsteps kaiako Trish, believes she entered their lives just in the nick of time. “Judy was desperate,” she says. “In tears, she told me that Dee-Dee’s behaviour was out of control and she needed support and guidance in helping her. She felt that she had hit rock-bottom.”
First steps, the early days Trish began the Footsteps ‘Learn’ programme with Dee-Dee, visiting Judy’s home for monthly visits. “On my first visit, DeeDee was quietly reserved towards me,” says Trish. “She sat at the table with a colouring-in book, snapping the lead in her coloured pencils, one by one. Slowly and surely, I gained her trust.” In the early months, Judy spoke to Trish about Dee- Dee’s current behaviour. Together they formulated a plan about how Judy
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“Over five months, Judy and Dee-Dee have both changed dramatically,” reports Trish. “Now, Dee-Dee is fully involved in our visits together, excitedly sharing with me her adventures and her learning experiences. Judy and I have encouraged her in her writing skills in readiness for school and she is very interested in writing her own name. She practises by using a stick to write in the sand when she goes to the beach, writing with chalk on the concrete and by arranging cut-out letters. I have also recently introduced her to some wooden number blocks so she can begin to play some simple maths games. We have fostered a love for books and stories in this home, and Dee-Dee loves to act out the stories from her books, especially when she can recruit her Pa and give him parts to play. She has a great imagination and is a strong director! Through reading and writing experiences, Dee-Dee is developing an understanding that symbols can be ‘read’ by others and that thoughts, experiences, and ideas can be represented through words, pictures, numbers, sounds, shapes, models, and photographs.” Judy is doing a wonderful job. Footsteps has given her back her belief in what she can achieve and helped her see the strength that lies inside her, which has been the catalyst for the family’s success.
The next chapter Dee-Dee is now attending morning kindergarten in preparation for school and has also joined the REAP learning programme at the school she will attend. She has a ‘best friend’ whom she met through kindergarten and has this child over often to play. Through the support put in place through Footsteps visits and the other services now being used, Dee-Dee has grown in confidence and competence towards her start at school later this year. In Judy’s words, “Dee-Dee has blossomed.”
Future prospects: Bright “I can now leave Judy and Dee-Dee knowing how far this family has come, and in the knowledge that they are in a good place to continue their journey together. I feel if we had not been there to provide educational support in Judy’s home, to help and support her with Dee-Dee, this family would have slipped through the cracks and fallen apart.”
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55 gold stars for Footsteps In February, Footsteps held a Fan Reviews competition on Facebook, to encourage our parents, caregivers and community workers to share their positive experiences of our service to go in the draw to win a children’s bike. Chloe Smith, aged 3 from Te Atatu, Auckland was our lucky winner, featured here with her favourite dolly! Below are some of the great reviews we received so thanks to everyone who entered.
“We love Footsteps for our 3 year old. She has a wonderful caregiver who is supported by a great teacher. The monthly updates and focus on education, play and development has been the perfect combination for us.” Mia McGregor
“I love getting guidance on new ideas that might help at home to develop my children further. I know my children will have no problems moving on to school with confidence.” Kath Beston
“Footsteps is amazing, the teacher is great with my son and it's awesome to get a letter after the visits so I am kept up to date on my son's development. Our teacher is able to find a great resource to bring along to the visit based on his interests at that time. Definitely love Footsteps and would recommend it to anyone.” Melinda Reece
“Since starting with Footsteps, my granddaughter who I care for, has gone from strength to strength with her language, social development and mathematical concepts. Our teacher is totally attuned to my granddaughter's interests and brings activities that promote growth and development.” Jenny Hoffman
"I can't say just one good thing about what Footsteps are doing. They are helping make the 2 children I am caring for so much more confident. They talk about Lindy, our Footsteps lady almost everyday. She is wonderful for the two kids, I would recommend Footsteps to everyone.” Annjanette Carson
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Ara Poutama
Kia ora koutou, We have all enjoyed a fantastic summer. I hope you all had a chance to use some of our summer greetings from the last news letter. One of the key events in the Māori calendar is coming up - Matariki celebrations of the Māori new year! This is a great opportunity to participate in local celebrations and learn more about this special time of year. In particular making kites using natural resources, and flying kites, is a very popular activity around Matariki and can be a lot of fun to do with our tamariki. Check out the following links to find out more and see what else you can get involved in during Matariki: www.korero.maori.nz/news/matariki/factsandfigures www.teara.govt.nz/en/matariki-maori-new-year www.matarikievents.co.nz www.tepapa.govt.nz/education/onlineresources/matariki/Pages/overview.aspx
One small step for your child, one giant leap for their education Want to know more about the Footsteps ‘Learn’ Programme or our free childcare service? Call 0800 366 878 to speak to one of the team.
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