Kindergartens

As in China, kindergartens in New Zealand are divided into public kindergartens and private kindergartens. Public ones are called Kindergarten, private kindergartens are not uniform, some are called Child Center, some are called Early Learning Center, and there are some also called Pre School. Public kindergartens are cheap and short hours, and private ones are flexible and costly.

Public kindergartens
The age of admission to public kindergartens is 3 years old. However, due to the limited number of public kindergartens, it is generally necessary to wait for a while after registering the registration information for admission. It is more likely to enter the park after 3 and a half years old for children.

Private kindergartens
The age of admission to private kindergartens varies, and the age of children allowed to enter kindergartens is determined by the government’s license to the kindergarten, the license will clearly state the age and how many children of each age the kindergarten can receive. Larger private kindergartens generally divide preschool children into three categories:
Infants and babies (4 months – 18 months), Toddlers (1.5 to 3 years old), Preschoolers and young children (over 3 years old). However, the specific ages will be slightly different for each kindergarten. This information can be seen on the kindergarten’s official website, but more information is needed to go directly to the kindergarten.

Every week, the government will give children over 3 years old 20 hours of free admission benefits. Most kindergartens will provide this benefit (but also need to ask), so in the case of providing 20 hours of free admission benefits, public The price of the kindergarten is 50-70 NZD per week (6 hours per day for 5 days); Full Day for private kindergartens is around NZ$200; the fee for private kindergarten “school hour” is 80-90 NZD per week; half a day is exactly weekly 20 hours (consistent with the free 20-hour benefits), this fee is called Donation, about 20 New Zealand dollars a week, this money is used to buy consumables, is the things or toys that children will use in the middle of the kindergarten.

All of the above are prices for children over 3 years old, and there are two types under 3 years old: under 2 years old and over 2 years (between 2 and 3). The price below 2 years old is around 350 New Zealand dollars per week. Between 2 and 3 years old, around 320 New Zealand dollars per week.

Finding kindergartens is mainly done at https://www.aka.org.nz/. There is a simpler way, which is to search for keywords like “Kindergarten”, “child center”, and “early child” directly on google map, and you can see which kindergartens are available near your home (or company). Write down the address, go directly to the kindergarten to knock on the door, say that you want to ask some information about the children entering the kindergarten, the teachers will generally be happy to explain, if the time is not convenient, they will also make an appointment for you.

The government will review every kindergarten and school, and then issue and publish the ERO (Education Review Office) report. The online information can be easily found for the total number of students, gender ratio, number of people, and the proportion of teachers who have qualifications. Of course, in addition to kindergartens, there are Play centres, Home-based services, and other pre-school educational institutions such as Te Kōhanga Reo and Pacific Islands Early Childhood groups.