BestStart Lynmore  

BestStart Lynmore (formerly TopKids Lynmore), is a quality childcare centre situated in Lynmore, Rotorua.

Our teachers are committed to bicultural development. We honour Māori ways of doing, being and knowing. Sharing the stories of Māori orally, through books, waiata and karakia. The story of Papatūānuku and Ranginui is an important one for Māori as it explains how the world came to be and links Māori to the earth and nature by right of their whakapapa. Teachers acknowledge family and community literacies and invite whanau to share this with them through korerorero and/or written form through the child’s individual portfolio.

We have a specialised baby room with three experienced and professional teachers. Children learn best by doing, through their senses they smell, taste, listen, feel and explore with their eyes. Teachers respond to babies with expression language, a contextual language which involves eyes, hands and body language. We sign with our hands, our eyes and our voices and children learn actions which help them to be heard. Engagement is by choice so the teachers regularly offer new and inviting activities.One on one time is spent communicating and building confidence within the babies. Teachers offer comfort through stories, building a strong relationships and by offering the children choices.

Infants and toddlers - Wall Displays of children at work encourage tamariki to revisit previous learning while encouraging oral language through conversation with each other and Kaiako. Puzzles help children decode, sequence, and understand symbols. Engaging in art such as painting, transforms children’s creative ideas into expressive works that communicate meaning. Early experimentation with art begins this process. Teachers share music and nursery rhymes with a focus on rhyme, rhythm and alliteration along with expressive action songs.Having meaningful interactions with special people in a babies life enables them to develop an understanding of and practice verbal and non verbal communication.

Older children - Teachers engage children in investigations based on their favourite stories, such as ‘The Gruffalo.’ These investigations incorporate dramatic play; expressive arts such as paint, collage and drawing; puppets and magnetic stories. Messy play, finger paint and dough represent familiar things from home life such as cooking and in doing so children use the fundamental literacy skill of representation in a range of contexts. Children are involved in their own assessments. Teachers read and discuss their learning stories with them. They encourage children to revisit their learning by recalling what they have done, enabling them to ‘read’ the stories to themselves and others. Teachers encourage the exploration of obstacle courses and opportunities for climbing. They see this as developing directionality and spatial concepts such as up, down, in front and behind. These are crucial concepts for reading print and writing.

We offer a Be School Ready initiative which incorporates a transition programme with Lynmore Primary School – every Tuesday, a small group attend a class to experience the school environment. Literacy and learning are present thoughout the day in many forms.

Come and visit us to find out how we can best support you and your family.