Is this what all kindy’s are like??

yep, I think so for afternoon kindy. I get the impression that they just let them go for it! Then once they start morning kindy at around 4, there is some more structure and learning to get them ready for the move to school.

I found it to be a shock after creche where it is 16 children to 3 teachers and and then kindy is 43 (I think?) children and 3 teachers !!!

kindy are all based on the principles that they learn through play... there should be tables set up with activities, like playdough, paint, collage etc. for mornings they dont make them sit and do activities, but if a kid came up and wanted to do something they would probably help them find the tools. the kids probably wont interact that much with each other in the beginning, they will slowly start to play much closer to each other and take note of what the other kids are doing and then progress to playing together. there is normally one teacher for the outside area, one for inside and another who "floats". also too the policy is that if a child needs to be changed then there has to be two adults with the child.
To me the afternoons are more about getting to know the other kids and teachers and the environment and getting used to being away from mum.

You should talk to your head teacher if you have any concerns, mine is great and always willing to answer any questions i have. Take a look at the art work on the walls, see if they do scrapbooks for the kids (where they take pics and write a story of what was happening for you to have at the end of their kindy time), hang around outside where maddie cant see but you can hear and see, come early to the end of the session to help the kids with tidy up time ... theres lots of things you can do to ensure that she is in the right kindy for her.

I think Kindys are good in the fact they usually meet children who they will be going to school with

I think the afternoons are less structured as the under 4's often have trouble ocncentrating on a "set" lesson, and find it difficult to sit still at mat times etc. All as a group anyway. I found that hard to begin with, but once he got bigger and felt less "out of depth" I realised how good it is for him and how much he enjoys it. He is in mornings now, so much more "structured" but still alot of free play. They set lessons round what the kids are interested in - today the kids all had clipboards and were "surveying" each other ie do you like red or blue best? then counting them up.
Ours preschool (rund like kindy) has awesome learnign profiles for the kids and the walls in the "discovery room" are covered in these learnign stories with photos etc and the walls in the main room are covered in artwork and lessons etc. Its a great place to be. If you are still not sure, ask lots of questions, talk to other parents or look at other kindys and choose what you thinkis the best fit for you. Good luck (and congrats on the baby!)

Yeah sounds similar to ours, although there are some set times during the session in terms of when the teachers sit down with them and sing songs and play together. Overall it sounds like what Bizzy described though.

12:45 Start
2:00 Mat time then Fruit time
3:00 Mat time/Story time
3:15 Finish

One teacher is always outside, and the other inside and they sit down to encourage kids to take part in activities which are set up in various areas (play-doh, painting, water table, sand-pit) Alyssa also didn't interact with other kids at all at the beginning, but seems to have found her way now.

And yeah, she definitely acts differently when I'm there compared to when I'm not. I have watched her from outside the gates and she interacts A LOT more with other kids and the teachers when she knows I'm not around.

i think before you pull her though you should talk to the head kindy teacher. ask her when a good time to talk is so she isnt involved in set up or anything else at the time and run through some of your concerns.   if as you said she wasnt stimulated enough then how can sitting at home be more beneficial... ?

I wondered about our kindy being a bit the same, but thomas is thriving there so i'm not worried anymore. The under 3's dont have set things to do at all except for morning tea / lunch / afternoon tea. They do what they want and always have things on offer to do. On rainy days they have singing on the mat, but I wouldnt expect them to have my child sitting still in one place for any length of time! It just wouldnt happen.

The biggest thing i learned when THomas started going was, no matter how much he screams or dislikes it - we HAVE to give it a go. What if he was like that for all the kindies? We'd be no better off than we were in the first place. Maybe just stick it out for a few weeks and see how she goes.

Our kindy has recently changed from morning and afternoons to days. 3 year olds go WED and FRI from 8.30am to 12.40pm and 4 year olds go MON, TUE and THU from 8.30am to 2.30pm. I think that is fine for the 3 year olds but it is very long day of unstructured activities for the 4 year olds and not a lot of work is done prepping them for school (well thats what I've heard). I lot of parents that have had there kids change from the morning and afternoon kindy to the new structure have expressed there concerns but it is not changing.

Paws - it is a real shame that this is what your first experience of a KIndergarten is like. I am a Kindergarten teacher and have read everyone's comments with real interest as up until this term we have had two mat times for our afternoon children (one at 2pm and one at home time) but when ERO (the ministry) came in we were basically told off for stopping the children's play and making them come to a mat time. Since then we have been reviewing our mat time and it is great to see parents out there who want a mat time.   We have tried to get around this by having a voluntary mat time but this is not working anywhere near as well. The teachers should be able to show you how their planning works and the children's portfolios as well as this shows how the teachers are working with the children and what the children are getting out of the environment. The afternoon sessions are more of a time for the children to socialise and often more of the structured stuff does come into the morning sessions but the teachers should be monitoring where all the children are at and building on their interests. Sorry this is a bit of a novel but go by your gut instinct and do what is best for you. All places are different and will suit some but not others.

Hey, I'm not offended at all . I worked for 3 years in childcare before moving to Kindergarten and because of that I could never send my little girl to one! There are also Kindergartens out there that I wouldn't go to for different reasons. It all comes down to what is best for your child and for your family. Good luck on you hunt for somewhere to send Miss M