Gems Newsletter June 2025
In last month’s newsletter, Marianne discussed the Pikler Philosophy and some of its key ideas. This month, we are looking in depth at what Settling and Primary Care Teaching mean at Gems.
Sharing the Love: Why we believe in slow settling and primary care
He tangata ako ana i te mātauranga mō te aroha, mō te oranga
A person who learns through love learns for life
The most important things in life take time and love. At Gems, we know that infants, toddlers and young children have complex emotional, social, and communicative systems that require special consideration and knowledge.
The basis of our philosophy on settling and primary care is Relationship. Some theorists refer to a child’s first relationships as “Attachment.” From the moment your little one is born (and for quite some time before that even), they are building a strong attachment to you and creating the foundation for their future relationships, self-view, and worldview. You spent every waking (and non-waking) moment responding attentively to their needs and learning their unique ways of being. You are the world’s top expert on this very new person.
Research shows that infants are capable of forming multiple attachments in their early years, but that their parent attachment is primary and pivotal to their development. As Early Childhood Educators, we know that a responsive relationship is also vital to a child’s well-being when they are in out-of-home care. At Gems, we carry on from the nurturing love you have provided at home with a system of Primary Care Teaching. We know that Primary Care Teaching is one of the key features of high-quality early childhood education and that it provides a base of safety and trust from which your child will begin to explore and take the risks necessary for learning.
How we build relationships with infants, toddlers and young children:
We learn all about them from their primary caregivers (you!)
We watch closely to gauge their temperament and dispositions
We read and respond to their subtle non-verbal communication
We communicate to them with our eyes, bodies, gestures and tone
We recognise and respect their emotions
We allow them to have boundaries
We provide predictable boundaries and routines for them and their peers
We play, laugh, hug, dance, and share moments of joy
Our settling process takes time and builds from your child’s attachment to you. It may not look like much, but as we sit together quietly getting to know each other and earning each other’s trust, your little one looks on and senses a growing connection. We need to know all your secret tips for helping your child through each day. Kaiako and whānau start to become a team, and we work together to make your tamaiti feel safe, seen and loved as they move between their home environment and Gems.
Your child’s primary care teacher is their key relationship when you are away. They are the person who looks after all of your child’s care needs during the settling period and up to the point that your little one becomes comfortable with other teachers. This responsive relationship creates a unique bond that supports your child even as they become more confident and independent.
Our founders built Gems on a deep-seated value of Community. We believe your child’s first steps into their community begin with the relationships built here. You can help us to foster these relationships by stopping for a chat, sharing your wins and struggles in parenting, telling us what you want for your child in their early learning, or offering your skills and knowledge wherever you think they might be useful. We welcome you, and we thank you for sharing the love of your whānau with us.
