Hello everyone,
We would like to wish Eva and Ella P happy 4th birthdays!!! We hope you enjoyed your special days.
We have had a very positive start to 2015. All the children have settled in well into both the long day care and the sessional kinder programs. The children have formed many new friendships as well as re-establishing old ones and they have also begun building positive relationships with their educators.
Term 1 so far has seen us begin our About Me folio which will soon be on display in the kinder room for parents to view. These help the children develop a sense of belonging in the kinder room and allows them to share aspects of the lives with the educators and friends.
We have participated in cooking experiences including making pancakes for Shrove Tuesday and also celebrating Chinese New Year where we made Beef and Black Bean for lunch and had special guests “the Busy bees” join us. We have been adding entries into our daily diary and we hope that families are reading these and finding them to be informative.
The children along with Naz and Katie have been maintaining our gardens. We have planted broad beans, peas, celery, parsley, watermelons and tomatoes. They are all growing well and we can’t wait to be able to prepare lunch with them. The children have also been helping to look after our pets. The Guinea Pigs get played with daily and the children help feed them, and Tony our Turtle likes coming out for walks with the children. You may have also noticed out large fish tank in the room. The fish tank has provided a tranquil feeling to the room, with many children enjoying sitting in front of the tank and just watching all our fish swimming around.
Over the next few weeks we will be talking with the children about friendships and engaging positive interactions with each other. We will talk about what makes us happy, sad and angry as well as helping the children with the strategies to express themselves in a positive manner. We will be helping the children to develop the skills needed to engage in play and commence play positively as well as the words needed to express themselves when they become upset and frustrated.
We have purchased a PMP program. PMP stands for Perceptual Motor Development and “A Perceptual Motor Program aims to develop a child’s perceptions and understandings of him/her self and his/her world through movement and motor experiences” (A Perceptual Motor Program – Manual for Teachers 4th Edition 2007 Bulluss & Coles). The children will engage in experiences which help with balance, movement and eye/hand/foot coordination. Information will be handed out to families giving more information as to what the program is and what it involves.
Week beginning 23rd February Take home teddy and Library will begin. Take home teddy involves the children taking a teddy home for a week and taking photos of what they do with teddy and writing a brief description of their time spent together. Library will involve the children borrowing a book from kinder and returning it on a weekly basis. Both of these tasks will aim to teach the children responsibility and to remember about returning items which they borrow.
Week beginning 3rd March we will also begin teaching the children letter recognition as well as the Phonics alphabet, each week the children will learn two letters of the alphabet and the sounds which the letters make. We will discuss the letters of the alphabet and how they make up words. Each child will be sent home with a copy of the Phonics Alphabet. We will also begin learning the days of the week and the children will take charge in updating the day on our daily attendance window.
As you may have noticed we have a calendar up on the door for families to add their names to on a weekend and take the Guinea Pigs home. The children enjoy looking after Ginger and Spikey and we would appreciate families volunteering their time to look after them on weekends. We supply everything that you need for the weekends, so please feel free to add your name to the list.
If any families would like to volunteer their time or skills within the kinder room, please inform Belinda to organise a time. Volunteering time within the room enables you to not only spend time with your child and to meet their friends but it enables you to pass your skills on to others.
Please remember if you have any concerns or questions you can ask staff inthe room and we will address them accordingly.
Thanks
Belinda, Naz and Katie