Parents family and whānau stories

Braille club Curriculum day based around the Expanded Core Curriculum goals

October 30, 2019

Each term in 2019 BLENNZ Northland Visual Resource Centre Braille Club Curriculum Day has been held for Zaria and Chevarni who work hard on their Expanded Core Curriculum Goals. These goals focus on Independent Daily Living,… Read more

Living Independently

Gary Veenstra, RNZFB Child and Family social worker talks about providing opportunities for all young people to leave home and live independently. Gary talks about the importance of thinking ahead… Read more

BLENNZ Taranaki official opening

September 10, 2015

We were thrilled to have had the official opening of BLENNZ Taranaki on the 19th of March 2015. The BLENNZ Taranaki community celebrated the opening of our new building with… Read more

National Assessment Service visit to BLENNZ Otago

July 7, 2015

In March 2014 we had a visit from the National Assessment Service (NAS). They used rooms at the Forsyth Barr stadium and over the course of three days 16 children… Read more

The Vision Book – My Child, Our Journey

September 25, 2014

On Friday 19th September BLENNZ hosted the launch of The Vision Book – My Child, Our Journey, a resource produced by the Ministry of Education in partnership with the Ministry… Read more

Beth – In the beginning with Molly

December 6, 2010

Many thanks to Beth for sharing her story. This is just Part 1, so over the next few days and weeks, keep an eye out for more installments. You can… Read more

Online songs, stories and activities for young children

This is a link to Caspar Babypants YouTube channel. Caspar makes music for young children and their parents that is simple fantastical stories and sing along songs to enjoy at home and in the car. Continue reading Online songs, stories and activities for young children

BLENNZ

3 months ago

LEGO® Braille BricksBLENNZ is excited to be an official partner of the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO® Braille Bricks toolkit. The LEGO® Braille Bricks concept is a play-based methodology that teaches braille to children who are blind or have a visual impairment aged 4-21. The LEGO Group’s mission is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play. The LEGO System in Play, with its foundation in LEGO bricks, allows children and fans to build and rebuild anything they can imagine.The LEGO Group was founded in Billund, Denmark in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, its name derived from the two Danish words LEg GOdt, which means “Play Well”. Today, the LEGO Group remains a family-owned company headquartered in Billund. However, its products are now sold in more than 140 countries worldwide. They have collaborated with educators to develop the concept of the LEGO® Braille Brick.Each brick in the LEGO® Braille Bricks toolkit retains its iconic form, but unlike a regular LEGO brick, the studs are arranged to correspond to numbers and letters in the Braille alphabet. Each brick shows the printed version of the symbol or letter, allowing sighted and blind children to play and learn together on equal terms. This ingenious combination of features opens up a whole new world of playful learning that teaches children Braille in an enjoyable and tactile environment.BLENNZ is delighted to announce the launch of this programme across New Zealand with students who are focusing on the development of early braille literacy. Resource Teachers: Vision will under go training provided by the LEGO foundation and undertake direct teaching to this cohort of BLENNZ ākonga. This programme will be rolled out to identified ākonga from mid-June. LEGO® Braille Bricks are a teaching program/resource for early braille literacy. They will be used by the RTV with specific BLENNZ ākonga. Image Description: A child is sitting in front of a grey LEGO base plate which has four rows of LEGO attached. The top two rows are coloured LEGO, the two lower rows are LEGO® Braille Bricks. One LEGO® Braille Bricks row is red and has one top left dot on the brick that represents the letter A and number 1. The second LEGO® Braille Bricks row is yellow and has the top and middle left dots on the brick which represents the letter B and number 2. ... See MoreSee Less

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