KODOMO PRE-KINDY

August was a month of rain, storms, wind, cold and crisp sunshiny days. It has also been a time for our Kodomo children to focus on the Wonder of God’s creation. From the minute details of a little furry caterpillar to the glory of the wind and hail. Kodomo children have been learning that just as God made all of creation, He made each child a wonderful creation for His glory. (Psalm 139:14; Genesis 1:26). Our response to this is the desire to worship and praise Him for all He has made.

Our children’s wellbeing is closely linked to the health of our environment and particularly the natural world. We have been working on a number of sustainability projects to this end. Our Kodomo children established a little veggie patch in autumn complete with Mr. Scarecrow. We have explored the life cycle of the seed and planted our seeds and seedlings which have grown into broccoli heads, and some leafy carrot tops. Kodomo learned about the water cycle – evaporation, condensation and precipitation and the effects of sun and rain on plants. We set up a “worm hotel” in the garden bed to improve the soil and watch the amazing reproduction of composting “machines.” We collected caterpillars from the lettuces and learned about the lifecycle of the caterpillar with the very familiar and much loved “Hungry Caterpillar” story by Eric Carle – which lead to discussions and learning about healthy food, fruits, vegetables, sometimes food (sugars, salt and fat laden foods) and feeding our own hungry caterpillar.

Kodomo enjoyed two wonderful inclusions and learned about Bees, pollination, hives, and bee behaviours from the “Bee Man.” The children enjoyed lots of fun hands-on activities including some yummy honey tasting. We also enjoyed an Aboriginal cultural incursion presented by Greg Nannup who taught the children about Indigenous uses of plants and animal skins for fishing, eating, clothing and medicinal uses.

Our Book Week celebrations involved the children and educators dressing up in costumes for the week, reading favourite picture books and re-enacting some favourite nursery stories. The children cooked special story-related treats such as gingerbread people, Thing One/Thing Two jelly and Where’s Wally fruit kebabs.

Our Kodomo children are developing independence skills, confidence, collaborative learning, and curiosity about the world.

Mrs Hurley – Pre-Kindy Teacher