As a private, non-profit preschool serving the families of the Big Island’s Hamakua Coast and nationally accredited by N.E.C.P.A., we strive to provide the most nurturing beginning possible as a foundation for a lifetime of learning and growth.
Our Mission
At Ka Hale O Na Keiki it is our mission to help children develop a lifelong love of learning through a program that encourages freedom, individualism, and creativity.
The education of a child is also the education of the family and community, and is a life-long process. Through a positive interaction among the children's developmental characteristics, their school, practices, family, and community, our children will be ready to have successful learning experiences that will last throughout their lifetime.
Above all, our children come first.
To ensure quality care and education for our children, we maintain a maximum student/adult ratio of 8:1.
At Ka Hale O Na Keiki it is our Vision that all preschool-aged children on the Hamakua Coast be offered a quality, Montessori-based preschool education regardless of family circumstances or economic ability to pay.
90% of brain growth occurs before age 5, and every keiki deserves a good beginning.
Children who attend preschool enter kindergarten ready to learn. They later have better test scores in reading and math. And, they are less likely to be involved in crime as adults and less likely to become pregnant as teenagers.” (Honolulu Advertiser, 12/19/01).
At Ka Hale O Na Keiki our carefully prepared environment provides children with an opportunity to explore their thoughts, and enjoy and love the people and world around them.
Ka Hale O Na Keiki introduces children to the joy of learning at an early age and provides a framework in which intellectual and social discipline go hand and hand. We have created a rich, safe and stimulating environment for the children, to enhance their growth.
Our philosophy is designed to assist, teach and guide the child through experience, example, and instruction. We seek to develop the “whole child”, including mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially. As a result, a child who has the opportunity to learn and develop in wholeness would be able to:
1. Reason, choose, and think; not just counting.
2. Speak with comprehension; not just recite
3. Communicate; not just write words.
4. Learn to read out of curiosity and enjoyment; not to read out of assignment or to please
5. Experience art with creativity and joy; not just color in a pre-drawn whale.
• Qualified, Educated, and Experienced Teachers who love children
• Developmentally Appropriate Materials and Activities
• A Carefully Prepared Environment which allows children to learn at their own speed, according to their own capacities, in a non-competitive atmosphere.
• Thematic Curriculum Units
• Music and Movement
• Science, History, Geography, Pre-Math, Pre-Reading and Pre-Writing
• Quality Children’s Literature
We provide resources, opportunities, and materials to increase children’s cognitive (or thinking) skills, assist in developing their physical coordination, exercise their imagination and fantasy, build their social skills, support healthy self-concepts, and allow them to participate in the decision making process, all in the atmosphere of trust and caring for each other.
Our Montessori-based curriculum encourages independence and concentration. Instruction is individualized and depends on a child’s needs and interests. Children learn phonics and reading and writing skills, using words and stories from their own experiences. Daily they learn the basic concept of numbers, sizes and shapes as well. They do simple science experiments which answer basic questions of what, why, and how. Our children are exposed to music through songs, dances, and musical instruments. Outdoor play, both structured and free, helps develop physical coordination. A healthy self-concept is encouraged through acceptance and positive communications.
7:30 Arrival, free choice - learning activities in the classroom, table and center activities; Snack
9:00 Circle time; Calendar: large group activities, sharing, music, reading, monthly theme activities & instruction, etc.
9:30 Small group enrichment
10:00 Outdoor learning, large muscle activities
11:30 Lunch
12:15 Clean up, toileting, tooth brushing
12:45 Nap time, rest
2:15 Free choice, centers. Snack time
3:00 Circle, story time
3:15 Outdoor Learning
4:30 School closes
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit, relying on donations from people like you. All contributions are tax-deductable. We appreciate financial support, and we are equally-grateful for volunteers, including parents of enrolled students. Mahalo for your support!
There are always jobs to be done at our schoolhouse! If you have a skill to share and time to spare, please reach out. We’d love to hear from you.
Add Ka Hale O Na Keiki as your nonprofit of choice at https://smile.amazon.com/ and Amazon will automatically donate a portion of all purchases to fund our school!
Your generous contribution will support the foundation of learning for the keiki who attend our school and whose own contribution to society begins with us.
