Our Philosophy: We will foster a sense of wonderment of the natural environment and resources as an integral part of children’s learning and support children to become ecologically conscious and to understand the interdependence of all living things.
Today, we have spent much time observing our eggs. We were engaged in conversations with each other about what we were observing.
PIPPING AND HATCHING
We learnt that pipping is the term used when the baby chicks first cracks the shell.
And that hatching is when the baby chick breaks open the shell and emerges.
It was with great excitement that we saw two chicks hatch from their shells today.
Did you know that you can tell the gender of a baby chick by its colour?
Reflection of what we observed today:
William: They came out. Omelia: They are two mummy chickens. Ellara: I hope they are good luck. Aicha: I think one boy and one girl.
EARLY YEARS LEARNING FRAMEWORK
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
Our Philosophy: We will foster a sense of wonderment of the natural environment and resources as an integral part of children’s learning and support children to become ecologically conscious and to understand the interdependence of all living things.
One of inquiry projects this term is ‘Growth’. We have been learning about how plants and animals grow. We have been particularly interested in birds and their life cycles after finding a nest in Grevillia Park.
Today we were very excited to receive ‘Living Eggs’.
Living Eggs is a two week comprehensive program providing us with all we need to successfully hatch chickens in our ELC.
Today we received:
Embryo eggs – we have 10 eggs. ready for hatching in 1-3 days.
An incubator – An electronic thermostat ensures accurate temperature control for a high hatch rate. The large viewing windows allow the children to see all stages of hatching.
A brooder box complete with heat light, bedding, feed and waterer is supplied which allows teachers and children easy observation and access to the chicks.
The children are very excited about our eggs and have been observing the eggs, sharing their knowledge and understandings, hypothesising and theorising about what will happen and asking lots of questions. What wonderful learning!
Nicole: What can you see?
Tavae: I see a flying thing (feather). That’s a chicken one. The wing is getting out. They going to cry.
Ellara: That egg can hatch. All the eggs can hatch.
Tavae: And then it can jump.
Arabella: They can’t jump.
Tavae: I can see a mummy one.
Arabella: They are baby ones.
Will: How do the feathers grow?
Nicole: What do you think will happen to the eggs?
Will: If that is too hot and they have to come out and I put them in my jacket so then they be all warm.
Tavae: It’s going to lay down on my jumper and it’s going to do it on my hand.
Arabella: They all go hatch.
Will: Are they going to hatch overnight?
Ellara: They can hatch.
Nicole: What does hatch mean?
Will: The eggs are breaking.
Ellara: Their shells are breaking
Tavae: And they eat the shell, the chicken. And it got that bit water in there (in the egg) and it going to crack out.
Liam: When there is a bruise they hatch.
Nicole: How do they hatch out?
Liam: They push themselves out.
Will: They push the egg and it breaks and then they come out
Tavae: They are going to get bigger when they eat they dinner
Nicole: Does anyone have any questions about the eggs, hatching and the chickens?
Liam: Why is there a feather on that egg?
Tavae: They don’t fly. Why they can’t?
William: How do the chicks squish themselves into the eggs?
EARLY YEARS LEARNING FRAMEWORK
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
This week, we have been reading the following books related to children’s interests in birds and their lifecycles. The children have enjoyed listening to the stories and engaging in discussions about the story’s plot and characters.
EARLY YEARS LEARNING OUTCOME
OUTCOME 5: Children are effective communicators
Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts
We have been exploring colours and the colours of the rainbow. We conducted an experiment using different coloured water to see what colours could be made when mixed together. Paper towel is placed in the coloured water which then transfers into the adjacent cup.
Aicha: There’s yellow and blue and red.
Frankie: It’s (the colour) is going up and down.
Liam: You put yellow and blue make green
Will: Yellow and red make orange.
Ambrose: Red.
Arielle: Orange with yellow and red.
Tesi: Purple is blue and red.
COLOUR MIXING
Children have also been mixing primary colours to make secondary colours of orange, green and purple.
BIRDS AND NESTS
We watched the following video about the life cycle of birds. We had a discussion about this story.
Ellara: I found a bird with one eye with Uncle Mark and Lucy. I put it in my new shoe box Will: birds to lay their eggs to keep them warm.
who would live in it? Ellara: Birds when they want to get food they fly and get food Tesi: they eat worms Shruti: Birds are fly, in the sky. Aicha : I had a bird at my old house.
Tesi: They eat worms. Will: There were 6 eggs. Joel: Then they hatched.
Tavae: The red bird is the daddy. Liam: Why do birds lay eggs? How do they make eggs? Will: Why do they have wings?
Some children have been using clay as a language to express their knowledge, understanding and experience of birds and their lifecycle.
Aicha: I make a worm because I need to feed the bird. I making the bird house. I squish, squish.
Olivia: Mine is really squishy. I’m a little bird. Birds eats the worms and they actually lay eggs and they fly and play like that stuff and one I’m a little bird, I like being with the other bird’s.
Aicha: And now I’m going to squish and make a house. The nest. Im going to make a lot of eggs inside and then they crash, I look after them. Nicole, you know at my old house I had a bird but it died.
Olivia: I making a cloud because the birds flies to the cloud.
Aicha: Nicole, this (nest) is like this, a circle.
We watched another video, of a bird hatching. We recorded the children’s comments as they watched the bird.
Tavae: It’s making a door to come out Krisha: It’s a bird Will: When it’s in its egg it doesn’t have its feathers yet Frankie: The eggs wobbles Aicha: The bird is wobbing the egg to go out Frankie: It’s getting out Omelia: A crack Kanal: Crack Frankie: It’s hatching Aicha: It’s getting out. Xavier: It’s getting out. Ambrose: A egg. Olivia: It looks like chicken trying to get out the egg
Tavae: The bird is coming out. Frankie: It’s a girl. Aicha: The head has come out. Liam: It try to crack and it used its beak so it can get out the egg. Frankie: It stuck Tavae: It like a monster. The bird got a foot. Will: The bottom still stck Aicha: It don’t fly Frankie: And the feathers make it fly.
NAMES
Some children have been working in small groups with Nicole in Home 2 on identifying and writing their names.
PLAY BASED LEARNING
Using their skills of creativity, curiosity and imagination, our children have engaged with different materials and resources in their play.
Simon was building 3D shapes with the magnetic shapes
Tarun building with blocks and wooden people
Who’s hiding?
It’s Shruti!
“It’s a magic show”
Imaginative play
Kanish lining up the diggers.
Xavier “I Superman with a mask”
Building a road
Tavae: Stacking the blocks “It’s a rainbow”
Playing hide and seek
Omelia found Frankie
Playing musical statues
PRAYER
SPECKS OF GOLD
EARLY YEARS LEARNING FRAMEWORK
OUTCOME 1: CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF IDENTITY
• Children feel safe, secure, and supported
• Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect
OUTCOME 1: CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF IDENTITY
• Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect
OUTCOME 2: CHILDREN ARE CONNECTED WITH AND CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR WORLD
• Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation
OUTCOME 2: CHILDREN ARE CONNECTED WITH AND CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR WORLD
• Children become aware of fairness
OUTCOME 2: CHILDREN ARE CONNECTED WITH AND CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR WORLD
• Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation
OUTCOME THREE: CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF WELLBEING
• Children take increasing responsibility for their own health and physical wellbeing
OUTCOME 4: CHILDREN ARE CONFIDENT AND INVOLVED LEARNERS
• Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
OUTCOME 4: CHILDREN ARE CONFIDENT AND INVOLVED LEARNERS.
Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials
OUTCOME 4: CHILDREN ARE CONFIDENT AND INVOLVED LEARNERS
• Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating
OUTCOME 5: CHILDREN ARE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS
• Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media
OUTCOME 5: CHILDREN ARE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS
• Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes
Today we enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and engaged in a variety of provocations that have all been designed around children’s interests and curiosities.
BIRD’S NEST PROVOCATION
A few weeks ago, the children found an abandoned bird’s nest in the park adjacent to the ELC (Grevilia Park). This morning, we took some time to observe the nest and share our knowledge, understandings and theories about the it.
What is it?
Liam: Nest
Omelia: Mud
What is it made of?
Joel: Dirt
Will: Sticks and grass and mud and dirt
Tesi: Plastic
Arabella: mud
Arielle: rubbish
What do you think is it used for?
Will: Birds to lay their eggs
Joel: Chickens make eggs and cows make eggs
Is it a bird’s nest?
Liam: Yes
What makes you think so? Will: I see feathers so it’s a bird’s nest Tesi: Feathers
What do you think it’s used for? Will: For eggs to keep them all warm. Tesi: So they can lay chicks, birdy chicks. So the mama chick put one of the little birdy chick and then she can fly. Simon: Birds Xavier: Bird lay the egg
Where do you think the birds are now? Arabella: Flying Tesi: In the trees
TARUN – BUILDING WITH BLOCKS
Nicole and Tarun spent lots of time building a garage for Tarun’s cars. He used different length blocks and manipulated them by stacking them and balancing them to build his structure. He also used different coloured window blocks and mirrored blocks. Tarun was able to name the different coloured blocks and shared the blocks with Nicole and gave directions as to where he would like the blocks placed. Tarun did a magnificent job!
PLAYING INSTRUMENTS, SINGING AND DANCING
We borrowed a box of instruments from the school including tambourines, castanets, maracas and clapping sticks. Outside, we enjoyed singing songs and learning the ‘1-2’ beat. We played our instruments and enjoyed moving to the music we were making.
PRAYER
During prayer, we set up our prayer circle and sang ‘Come Join the Circle’. We then each chose an instrument and created a ‘rainbow of sound’ as we sung our prayer song ‘Beautiful Rainbow’.
SPECKS OF GOLD
EARLY YEARS LEARNING OUTCOMES
OUTCOME 2: CHILDREN ARE CONNECTED WITH AND CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR WORLD
• Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation
OUTCOME 4: CHILDREN ARE CONFIDENT AND INVOLVED LEARNERS
• Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
• Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating
OUTCOME 5: CHILDREN ARE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS
• Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media
This week we have been observing and documenting the growth of the seeds we planted a few weeks ago. The children have been using magnifying glasses to look more closely at the changes and growth in their seed and documenting their observations through drawings.
TEs
Omelia identifying the roots of her seedling
Omelia observing with care her seedling. She identified the shoot.
Aicha with her growing snow pea
Aicha is observing the growth of her seed, using the information from the book.
Aicha is identifying the different parts of her plant.
Aicha drew her seedling and identified its various parts.
Xavier observing his seed’s growth.
Xavier: Wow! It has grown lots.
Ellara is interested in how the seed has grown.
Tesi and Omelia observe how their seeds are growing
Arabella is using a magnifying glass to inspect the seed’s growth
Through shared reading experiences of non-fiction books such as ‘From Seed to Sunflower’ we have also been learning about the different parts of a plant (such as root, stem, leaf and flower) and stages of seed growth (e.g. root, shoot, seedling, plant). This has helped children to develop and use the language and terminology to describe plants and their growth.
Stage 1: Root
Stage 2: Shoot
Stage 3: Leaf and Stem growth
Stage 4: Seedling
Our children have been in awe of the growth of some of our seeds, particularly the snow pea seeds which are almost ready for planting.
Throughout the week, our children have been taking care of our garden by watering our lettuce and herb plants. They are becoming more aware of the needs of plants such as sunlight and water to grow.
Ellara enjoys caring for our garden.
Krisha is taking care of the lettuce.
Max is taking care of our garden by watering the herbs
Simon and Ellara are watering the plants.
Simon is taking care of our lettuce plants by watering them.
Early Years Learning Framework:
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners.
Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators.
Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media
