Immigrants guide to Pre-school Education in New Zealand
One of the primary reasons for immigrating to New Zealand is for a better future for your children. New Zealand has, arguably, one of the best education support systems in the world.
Pre-school are not left out either. In new Zealand pre-school centers are called kindergarten, but most people just say “kindy”.
Kindys tend to cater for 2 to 5 year olds, but some of them will take babies too. From age 3 there is also a government subsidy available which will cover the first 20 hours of kindy per week. Most kindys however will still charge you a little extra per week.
At kindy the children follow a curriculum called Te Whaariki (pronounced Tay Faa-riki) which is aimed at building the children’s knowledge and confidence in preparation for their entry to “big school”.
Facilities vary from one Kindy to the next, so it is always a good idea to “shop around” before enrolling your child. There can also be pretty long waiting lists at the best kindys, so don’t wait till the last minute to find a suitable kindy for your child.
