Hello Pre-Kindy families and welcome to Wednesday’s blog. Our friends chose the following activities to play with today:
- Drawing on the giant chalkboard with chunky chalk pieces (enjoyed by Ivy, Harvey and Jamal in particular)
- Small Lego construction (terrific structures were made by Asher, Zander and Jamal)
- Mini-White board drawing with special marker pens (a favourite with Marlie and Asher today)
- Beetle construction (definitely a firm favourite with Arlo!)
- Playing with baby dolls (what a great way for Harvey to further develop his nurturing skills)
Our intentional teaching experience was:
- Marble roller painting – this was a real hit with most of our friends! The children were all able to contribute to the creative process by choosing paint colours and dropping dobs of paint onto a big sheet of paper in a tray, then taking turns to manoeuvre/rotate the tray around. The patterns made look outstanding. Great teamwork everyone!
Group time activities today included:
Miss Donna reading an Aboriginal Dreamtime story book – “Tiddalik the frog”. In summary, long ago, Tiddalik, the largest frog ever known, awoke one morning with a huge thirst. He started to drink and drank until there was no fresh water left in the world. Soon creatures everywhere were dying and trees were wilting because of the lack of moisture.
A wise old wombat suggested that if Tiddalik could be made to laugh then maybe all the water would flow out of his mouth. The animals gathered by Tiddalik’s resting place and tried for a long time to make him laugh, but it was in vain.
Finally, Nabunum the eel who driven from his favourite creek by the drought slid up to Tiddalak and began to dance. As the dance got faster Nabunum wriggled and twisted himself into all sorts of knots and shapes. Tiddalik’s eyes lit up and burst out laughing. As he laughed the water gushed out from his mouth and flowed away to replenish the lakes, swamps and rivers again.
Following on from our story, we sang a Torres Strait Islander lullaby that we began to learn yesterday – “Inanay Gupu Wana”. Today we also used bamboo tapping sticks to keep beat with the song as we sat around the green mat. Please click on the video to see a small snippet. All our friends were very enthusiastic musicians! We also walked around the room singing, stamping our feet and tapping our sticks at the same time. The children really like this song and sing it so beautifully! Australian early childhood educators such as Miss Donna and Miss Livia have a responsibility to value and promote a greater understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and being. This is enshrined in both Australia’s Education and Care Services National Law and the National Quality Framework. When educators use their cultural competence to building children’s knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and being, they address Learning Outcome 2 of the EYLF—Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
Sub-Outcome 2.1 – Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation; Sub-Outcome 2.2 Children respond to diversity with respect
Until tomorrow, please enjoy your evening everyone! Love Miss Donna and Miss Livia xxxx
