What an exciting and busy term we have had. Full of special visits and events.
Fire fighters visit Thursday 8th May.
On the Thursday 8th May we were blessed again with a visit from the Rockingham Volunteer Firefighters. They were amazing, so patient with the children’s questions and excited nature. They brought in their big fire truck and one of the small ones. We saw the special clothes they wear and what they look like all dressed up. We learnt that they cannot hear well in this suit, so we have to speak loudly, we also learnt not to be afraid of them. We all had a go at using the hose and looking inside both trucks. We saw all of their special equipment and were amazed.
School Holidays:
The April school holidays was a short one with Easter and ANZAC day public holidays in the mix. The children had a wonderful time and break. Their favourite themed day was the gift giving day, which was something they came up with themselves, where they taught about what they wanted to make and who they would give it to. The children also loved the easter themed hunt and crafts as well as the ANZAC day activities. We also had a camping day, space day and creators’ day.
Kiddo Program: Running and Jumping
Kiddo is our physical literacy program which teaches fundamental movement skills through fun games. This term we have been working on our running and jumping skills. In running the children learnt ques like eyes looking forward, arms bent and head still. This helped them to focus on the task and develop their speed and techniques in fun, engaging games. The children are loving the jumping skills, and it relates so well to the ques they learn in gymnastics, ie motorbike landing. So important children learnt how to jump and land safely.
Measurement:
This term we have been exploring height and length. We have been measuring items around the room in many ways ie with blocks, ribbon, rulers, tape measures, measuring worms etc. This has developed our comparison skills, measurement terms, counting, number recognition etc.
Feely bag:
The feely bag is a fun activity where our educators fill a bag full of many items that all have one thing in common. We each have a turn to put our hand in the bag, feel one of the items and describe what we feel without seeing it. When everyone has had a turn and all the items are out for us to see we guess the thing they all have in common. This activity is a fun way to develop their language skills, describing skills and comparison skills.
Resilience Project:
This term we have started the resilience project again. It is about teaching the children emotional literacy and learning about their emotions and feelings. The program comes with their own workbooks (we are only using these for Tuesday group). The program has set intentional teaching goals and exploration activities that the children can explore at their own pace and time. They also can take home cosy the koala which is a teddy they can take photos with and then bring him back on a Tuesday and share what they did. So far, the children have engaged really well with this and love learning and sharing their emotions and experiences where they felt certain emotions. The resilience project has shown to be very beneficial to the children. They are learning to name their emotions and how to deal with these big emotions, how to change their mood and to be grateful for the friends, family, people, and things that are around them.
Subitising:
This term we have been focusing on their counting and subitising skills which is knowing how many without the need to count. We have been playing fun matching games where the children match the number to the correct amount of objects, board games like snakes and ladders and dice games.
Food Allergy Day:
On Monday 12th May we learnt all about food allergies and how some foods can make some people very sick. We made a cake that was dairy free, gluten free, nut free and egg free. We looked at each of these ingredients and I explained the alternative ingredients that we used. The children really enjoyed this experience, and we made it into a birthday cake for Miss Jen and Miss Jasmine.
Exploring outdoors (planting seeds, leaf comparison)
This term we have been spending some time exploring the outdoors and bringing in learning goals from these experiences. We collected different leaves and used the comparative language we have learnt to describe similarities and differences between them. We also did the same with comparing seeds before we planted them and watched them grow. When they were seedlings, we then planted them out the front in the garden. Here we also put out gratitude flowers that we made, and each one had something that we were grateful for.
Rhyming words:
We have been busy learning about rhyming words. We have explored these words in story books, puzzles, memory match games and peg match games. This skill is developed through repetition until our brain makes the connection.
Construction Zone:
In Koorlongka we had a box construction zone where the children used their creativity and imagination skills to create things out of recycled materials. The main focus of this zone was to create robots. We had to find something for a head, body, arms, and legs. The children used their initiative to design their robot on paper before beginning the construction.
National Pyjama Day:
On Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th June we had a pyjama day to raise funds for children in foster care. These days were very wet and rainy and a perfect day to relax and watch movies, eat popcorn, and drink hot chocolate. It is important to have some R&R days with friends to build closer bonds and friendships.
Mrs Ralph
Koorlongka (Pre-Kindy/Kindy) Teacher
