Welcome to our wonderful Wednesday blog. Today in the Kindergarten class we welcome back Charlotte. It is great to see the children welcoming back their friends so kindly and the harmony in the group is growing. Hopefully we are able to get the staff in place to continue to welcome back more friends and get lots more of these positive interactions.
This morning Sonni and Reid were pouring water down the rock stream and Reid noticed a big hole next to one of the rocks. We talked about the concept of erosion and how water can wash against rocks and after a very long time break the rocks away. We extended on this concept in our sports games as we threw “raindrops” onto the rock to break it away.
Obstacle courses seem to be the popular activity at the moment as we have put a greater focus on our outdoor environments. Miss TJ set up a wonderful course incorporating the playground structures like the climbing ropes and also some moveable parts like the ladders and bridges. This is great for developing gross motor skills and also getting children out of their comfort zone which is where learning and development occur at the fastest rate (see Vygotsky’s research on the “zone of proximal development”).
As we came inside and read some stories we focused on a special one Mr Andrew brought from his own house. It was called “Big Rain Coming”. It was illustrated in aboriginal style dot painting and was about the process of a storm gathering. We did our own dot painitng versions of this scene with some children focusing on big sun, some on the snakes in the hills and some on the rain storm. This activity prompted discussions about Aboriginal culture and it is important for children to know the history and heritage of the country they live in. I will display these just outside the classroom if you would like to have a look at pick up time.
Our outdoor games included some cricket skills where we had turns at batting and fielding. We also played catching games and made a big circle and tried to pass the “egg” all the way arouund the circle without dropping it. We have been focusing on lots of cooperative activities at the moment to try and build the children’s confidence in each other and develop skills like empathy/compassion so they are able to play nicely together.
Our afternoon activities included a measuring activity where the children took turns to measure pieces of string and write down the number on the ruler that the string reached. Charlotte absolutely loved this game and comparing the different sizes of string. This activity helps number recognition and also introduces the idea of a “number line” which children need to understand for mathmatical skills like addition or substraction. Other popular activities were the “tummyache” food game which Wyatt initiated with Charlotte and Eva and also the coloured figurine animals which Harper and Emmett laid out in big lines.
Thank you Kindergarten children for a wonderful day and see you again soon.
