Today Is Daffodil Day

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30555, 25 September 1964, Page 7

Today Is Daffodil Day

Kindergartens under the control of the Christchurch Free Kindergarten Association aim to provide a bridge between the home and the school for the young child. The association does not charge parents for the work done by its kindergartens and relies almost entirely on donations. The general public will have an opportunity to show their generosity today—Daffodil Day—when the association will have some 400 volunteers collecting on its behalf in the city.

There are in the associations district, 37 kindergartens and although these cater for many hundreds of preschool youngsters, there are still an estimated 1000 on the waiting lists. To meet this growing demand, more and more kindergartens are being planned and within the next few years, their services should be available to parents in the Wainoni, Aranui, Isleworth and Avonhead districts.

Although the Government meets two-thirds of the cost of new buildings and the provision of initial equipment as well as the teachers' salaries, the association relies solely on public support for the maintenance of their existing kindergartens and meeting a portion of the costs of teacher training. Children may be enrolled when they are two years old, but because of the heavy waiting lists, they rarely start before they are three.. Kindergartens offer the child new experiences with a group outside the family, under the control of teachers who are specially trained to plan the children's activities, to guide and direct play and to help the children to overcome any problems. The kindergartens feature sunny, airy and spacious buildings that give scope both indoors and out for young children to move about freely and happily. Equipment is carefully planned to assist muscular development and to lead creative play. A review of the work undertaken by the association over the last years shows clearly the scope of its activities, the responsibility it carries, and the faith its members have in the importance and value of pre-school education in the community.