Hello to all our Pre-Kindy families on a watery Monday here at Riversdale. We have stayed indoors today, but we have had lots of fun things to do!
Today we took part in some small conversational reading experiences in our new reading nook created by Miss Donna on the weekend. Ellie and Harvey had lots of fun with the book “Spot a lot vehicle adventure”, as did Ollie and Kaylee. We incorporated the basic Abecedarian approach to conversational reading, which consists of “See, show, say”. This means that your child is actively involved in the reading process, without necessarily following the words in a book.
For example, during our reading experience today, I involved the children in identifying images and colours, by asking, “Can you SEE a dog. Look at what he is doing. He is in an aeroplane”, followed by asking “Can you SHOW me a green animal?”, ending with “What is the name of the green animal?” Strategies such as conversational reading helps children to learn new words, expands their language skills, and is a wonderful tool for encouraging enhanced literacy in the lead up to formal schooling.
Please make sure to spend some time in our new reading nook with your child if you can. You will also find lots of interesting information about the Abecedarian approach in the same area.
Other interesting play-based activities today included:
- Making caterpillars from egg cartons, coloured glue, pieces of hessian and bits of bark. Our nature area is certainly growing…we started with a diamond python made from a long tree branch, we then added spiders, dragonflies and lady beetles. The children can decide what they would like to make tomorrow!
- Pummelling, flattening and pounding our playdough with hammers and rolling pins – such a great way to release some physical energy after a full day indoors
- Colour sorting and shape matching with animal train pieces. The children really love this activity and spend a long time choosing the correct piece to match the same coloured animal or vehicle component on the boards.
- Matching river stones and wooden pieces (with Aboriginal symbols on them) to the same symbol shown on a place mat. Arlo, Ollie and Marlie in particular really enjoyed this activity, and consistently asked what each symbol was. It was a wonderful way to increase their knowledge of Aboriginal lore
- Extending our car play by incorporating half pieces of bamboo was very popular today as well. It made for an exciting way to guess how fast the cars could travel down a steep incline!
Yoga was also very popular with Miss Hayley today. The children are getting so good at following the routines, attempting different poses, and practising their breath work. Yoga really helps to relax us all as we transition off to lunch.
Please don’t forget there is a parent/educator get together this evening for interested parents. We have a guest speaker between 5.30 pm – 6.00 pm (in Toddler 1 room – the Abecedarian approach to improving literacy for your child), followed by a “meet and greet” in the Pre-Kindy room between 6.00pm – 6.30 pm.
Take care, Miss Donna and Miss Ana 😊
