Ke Ao Ākea

Ke Ao Ākea is essential to every early childhood setting as it is considered the "second teacher." Due to the three principles of early childhood education: individual-appropriateness, age-appropriateness and social and cultural context; the designing of the learning environment is intentional and developmental. Each child has to be considered in order to have an engaging environment where keiki-centeredness, curiosity, self-regulation, imagination, attentiveness, safety, and scaffolding are practiced as they grow and develop within an educational setting. Our preschool learning environments should support keiki interests, reflect their kaiāulu and ʻāina, be safe and comfortable, promote thinking, exploration and self-engagement; encourages individual and group interactions to build pilina between keiki, ʻohana and staff; and addresses diverse learning and teaching styles.