Schemas and learning through play and exploration

Schemas are described as patterns of behaviour which allow children to explore and express developing ideas and thoughts through play and exploration. The repetitive action of schematic play allow children to construct meaning in what they are doing.

Children learn best through opportunities to engage in active learning through hands on experiences. These opportunities allow children to problem solve, question, predict, explore, hypothesise, imagine and develop independent choices and decisions.

Children use play to develop understandings through their senes and movements as they interact with their environment, teachers, peers and resources.  Therefore, we carefully curate our learning environments to provide children with many opportunities to interact with a wide variety of materials and tools. We also support children’s schematic play patterns by building on children’s interests to engage in deep and sustained learning experiences.

The most common types of schema include:

  • Trajectory
  • Rotation
  • Enclosing
  • Enveloping
  • Transporting
  • Connecting
  • Positioning
  • Orientation

Over the past weeks, teachers and educators have observed children’s transporting schemas. This includes moving items from place to place, carrying objects in their hands, pockets or filling containers and buckets with collected objects and moving them to other places in our ELC. There has also been in a special interest in water play, filling buckets and containers with water and moving them around the centre.

This week we have provided children with items of varied shape, size and capacity including measuring jugs, cups, yoghurt and milk containers and spoons as well as different tubs and trays of water.

The children have been filling containers and transferring water to other containers or tubs of water. Through this experience, children have been building on and developing many skills and strategies.

This includes numeracy skills and demonstrating an understanding of measurement. Specifically, capacity and how containers can hold different amounts. Children have also been observed growing their mathematical vocabulary, using words such as fully, empty, overflowing, little, big and comparative language such as more than.

Alexander was observed pouring water from a jug into a container.

Alexander: “It filled up”

Nicole (teacher): “It’s overflowing now. Water is going over the top of the container”.

Alexander: “But I still got some left” (indicating that water was still remaining in the jug, despite the container being full).

Children have developed their social skills, too. Tavae and Henry worked collaboratively, taking it in turns to hold the container whilst the other poured water into it.

 

 

 

 

24/10/2019

To start off a very hot day, we went outside and engaged in some water play, to stay nice and cool.

As it started to heat up, we made our way into Home 2, where we all engaged in a range of inquiries. Some of us engaged in socio-dramatic play, such as pretend cooking, dress-ups and role play. Kunal noticed a milipede and was observing how they moved. Some of us enjoyed building and construction using the Lego and blocks and others enjoyed creating a range of artwork using paint, the whiteboards and pencils.

Tesi and Jon started creating patterns using the lose parts.

Tesi: “white, black, white, black, white oh, black comes next”.

Jon: “Black, white, white, black, white, black”.

Tesi: “Look Jon, we need a white”.

 

Specks of Gold

My speck of gold was playing with the doctor set- Haniya

My speck of gold was playing with Tavae- Tarun

My speck of gold was doing prayer- Arabella

My speck of gold was playing with the books – Olivia

My speck of gold was making a truck- Liam

My speck of gold was playing with Arielle- Tesi

 

Exploring our Curriculum – Ecology and Numeracy

ECOLOGY

We explored some stems of cut sunflowers and sunflower seeds in the beautiful sunshine today. The children weren’t given the name of the flower or any information about it prior to interacting with it. They instinctively smelt the flower and invited me to do the same. They used their sense of touch to feel the petals and the centre of the flower – “it tickles” said Charlotte. They held the sunflower seeds in their hands and then planted them into our garden bed. They have a growing understanding of what plants need to grow – water and sun.

Charlotte: It’s a flower.
Omelia: It needs water.
Sarah: It’s big.
Omelia: And it needs sun
Charlotte: I want a sunflower for my mum.
Sarah: When is my seed growing.? Do you have to wait for it?
Mishka: Wow! You smell it. It a flower (Nicole gave her a seed). It for the birdy. They like it. They eat the seeds.
Will: It’s a yellow flower. It smells.
Tesi: I know what this is, it’s a sunflower. It look like the sun!

NUMERACY

We have begun to create our own shop with cash registers and some empty food and household boxes. Henry, Tarun, Jon and Xavier loved playing the shopkeeper and customer.

At our shop the children were taking the items to the light/dark room and then bringing them back to the cash registers at the table.

They were using greetings as they approached the cashiers – ‘hello!’ The cashiers were making a ‘beeping’ sound as they processed the items through the cash register. The cashiers were pressing numbers on the cash registers and then telling the customer the amount of money the item cost ‘$30 dollars’. The customers were passing money to the cashiers and then then saying ‘thank you, bye’.

Children were developing their oral language, engaging in transactional language, exchanging greetings and using their experiences in context; demonstrating numeracy understanding and concepts including number and money.

BRIANNA’S FAREWELL

The children have begun creating a farewell book for Brianna by creating an artwork for her and sharing what they are grateful for and love most about Brianna.

Tesi: Thank you Brianna for making all the lovely food for us. I like it when Brianna read stories to me.
Deanna: Brianna read me books and she make lovely food.
Simon: Brianna make me happy. She fills my bucket.
Charlotte: Brianna puts glitter in my bucket. She play with me.
Xavier: Brianna read stories to me.
Omelia: Thank you for Brianna being outside. Brianna play with me.
Joel: I like Brianna because she gives me food and does the prayer circle song.
Tavae: Brianna helps me with the blocks.
Will: I like her making lunch for us because I love it a lot.
Sarah: I like the food

PRAYER

During prayer today we read the book ‘Will You Fill My Bucket?’ by Carol McCloud. We then shared ways others have filled our bucket today.

Will: Tavae filled my bucket by playing with the trucks.

Joel: Mum and Dad make me feel nice and filled my bucket and I pat my dogs and that fill their bucket.

Simon: My mum and dad filled my bucket. They make me happy.

SPECKS OF GOLD

Tesi: My speck of gold is seeing all the pictures and seeing myself.
Jon: Playing in the sand and the water and doing the shopping.
Joel: Playing PJ masks and playing with Tesi and Omelia.
Mishka: Doctors.
Simon: Playing my friends.
Omelia: My speck of gold is playing with Tesi and Xavier and Joel and Sarah.
Xavier: Playing with Omelia.

Our day Full of fun at Alive today

We love encouraging kids to play, be it indoor or outdoor play.  Today the ELC children engaged in some water play activities. We filled up the baby baths with warm soapy water where the children had the opportunity to engage in scooping, pouring, soaking and squeezing, using measuring cups, pots and sponges. Children benefit from the relaxing and repetitive nature of scooping, pouring and running their hands through the water. They develop crucial social skills when they are working with just one other child or a whole group. It is a great way for children to learn to share and take turns as they share the physical space and the play items in the water.

Water play offers many opportunities for children to problem solve, question, explore and experiment. They are investigating water science, finding out what floats and sinks, or how water moves in different shapes, when we pour it in different container. Children learn and use the language of mathematical terms like “more than” or “less than, full or half  full half empty etc.

In the afternoon we experimented with a sink or float activity. The children placed various item into the water after discussing whether it would sink or float.

We first talked about what it meant to sink and float. Tesi said “It go to the bottom” for sink. We all agreed that sink meant it would go under the water and if it floated it would stay on top of the water.

WILL IT SINK OR FLOAT?

Each child picked an item from the basket then told the group whether it would sink of float and then dropped the item into the water. I then asked them what happened.

Ellara (Bracelet): Float! It sinked in!

Omelia (Wooden Spoon): Into the water. It floats!

Joel (3D Magnet): It will float! Yes it did. Oh, it sinked.

Tesi (Wooden Block): Um, I don’t know, maybe under. It floats!

Tavae (log): Sink. Yes it sink. Brianna: Are you sure? Joel: It float.

Tarun (Rock): Under

Xavier (Small truck): Float.  It float!

Ellara (Pine cone): Float. Yes, it did!

 

____________________________________________________________________

Early this morning some of the children were talking about their firework painting they had done yesterday. Liam and Deanna were able to explain what they had done, using card board strips and the paints, and direct how to set that up again for those children who were not here yesterday.

There are some more photos of our day at centre.

Specks of Gold 

Tesi: My speck of gold is float and sink

Krisha: Play with Liam

Ellara: Playing with Deanna

Deanna: Playing with Ellara

Omelia: My specks of gold is playing with Tesi

Xavier: My speck of gold is playing with Omelia

Liam: Making a camera

Tarun: Spraying Tavae

Link to EYLF

Outcome 2. children are connected with and contribute to their world
2.3-Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment
Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
3.1. Children become strong in their social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing
Outcome 4: Children are involved and confident learners
4.1. Children develop dispositions for learning such as cooperation, creativity, persistence and reflexivity

4.2. Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating

 

Our Week of Learning – Literacy and Numeracy

We believe children have the right to be supported in their learning in all areas of their development –  physically, cognitively, emotionally, socially and spiritually. We see children’s learning as integrated and connected. Learning is a social practice and through interactions and play experiences children develop their literacy and numeracy skills.

This week we have observed many examples of children’s literacy and numeracy understandings. We will use these observations to plan and program provocations to build and grow our children’s literacy and numeracy.

We do this with the support of the Government of South Australia Department for Education and Child Development Indicators for Literacy and Numeracy in Pre-School. The indicators have been developed to support teachers to extend and enrich every preschool child’s numeracy and literacy learning.

NUMERACY

Indicator: ‘I analyse, read and organise the data in my world’

One of our provocations this week was a table of different seeds and beans for the children to explore. Initially designed as a sensory experience, it also emerged as a wonderful numeracy activity. The bowls of beans and seeds got mixed up over the week and the children began to sort them.

Will

Will: I put the black ones in this bowl

Nicole: Why only black ones?

Will: So they not all mixed up. I’m still working on these.

Nicole: What if I put these in this bowl?  If I put these in here what else would you add?

Will:  Just those ones

Arabella

Indicator: ‘I analyse, read and organise the data in my world’

Arabella joined Will at the sorting table. She had some white beans and put them all in a bowl.

Nicole picked up an orange lentil and asked if Arabella if she would put that in the bowl with the white beans . Arabella said ‘no it’s not white’.

Shruti and Aicha

Indicator: ‘I analyse, read and organise the data in my world’

Nicole: The seeds got all mixed up and now we have to sort them out.

Shruti starts putting some seeds in a bowl.

Nicole: Why are you putting those in there Shruti?

Shruti: These are white

Aicha: I’m putting the white inside

Nicole: What about this bowl?

Aicha:   Black

Nicole: And this bowl is empty, are there any seeds you could put in here?

Aicha:  Orange ones.

Aicha: Look how many I have

Nicole: How many are there?

Aicha started counting. She counted to 13. We counted together demonstrating 1 to 1 correspondence. There were 18 seeds.

Tesi and Arielle

Indicator: ‘I quantify my world’

During outdoor play, Tesi asked for a little basket so she could collect ‘treasure’ Her and Arielle wandered through the yard collecting natural items from the gardens.

Tesi: Look Nicole, this is our first treasure.

Arielle: the second…. more treasure.

Nicole: How many have you found?

Arielle: 2

Tesi:  Let’s find some other…. look treasure.

Arielle:  It’s too big.

Nicole: Let’s look at our treasure.

Tesi: There’s bark and rock

Nicole: How many do you have?

Tesi:  1…2…3…4…5

Nicole: How many pieces of bark do you have?

Arielle: 4

Tesi: And 1 rock. 4 and 1 makes 5.

Tesi: Nicole look more treasure; a leaf

Nicole: A big leaf

Will, Tavae and Tesi

Indicator: “I measure and compare my world”

Indicator: “I quantify my world”

In a patch of our garden, will found a number of feathers of different colours, sizes and textures. Tavae and Tesi were intrigued and together they all collected some of the feathers in a bowl.

Will: There was an emu here

Tavae: I found one. Oh! it’s not going on my hand .

Will: There’s a lot of feathers Tesi. I’m just collecting them.

Tesi: I got one Nicole. It was there. Hey look! Feather!

Will: Guys an emu has maybe been here because these feathers are bigger. Got any more feathers? I been selecting them.

Nicole: How do you think the feathers got here?

Tesi: The birds.

Tesi: I think bird has wings and they can flap their wings and fly.

Aicha: They came from up that tree and then came here.

Will: I don’t know how it got here. They came in the night and I wasn’t here. Maybe the wind got strong and it got colder and the feathers blew off.

Tavae: I think the bird got died.

Arielle: The birds died.

Tarun

Indicator: “I quantify my world”

Tarun spent time matching the number stones to the number cards.

 

Tavae

Indicator: ” I explore and understand my place and space in the world”.

Tavae is very interested in turtles and loves caring for our turtle, ‘Strawberry’. He was drawn to the turtle puzzle and concentrated and persisted for a long time to complete the challenging puzzle. He flipped and rotated puzzle pieces to fit them together.

Tavae: You help me Nicole.

Nicole: You have a go and do the pieces you can and then I will help you if you need me.

Tavae: Look Nicole this big one it go here see? And this one? 

Nicole: What do you think Tavae?

Tavae: I can’t do this.

Nicole:  Let’s try this.

Tavae:  Oh look it does work.

Nicole: Oh but there’s a little gap, they all need to fit together remember.

Tavae:  Hmmm I think this one goes this way, no that way. No. Hey look! It goes this way.

LITERACY

Tesi

Indicator: “I represent my world symbolically”.

Tesi has been learning to write her name. Tesi knows the different letters of her name and can write some of the letters. To scaffold the process of writing her name, we have been using tracing dots to form the letters. Tesi is now drawing the  tracing dots herself to support herself in writing the letters.

Arielle

Indicator: “I engage with texts and make meaning”.

Arielle: I made a book

Nicole: How wonderful! Tell me more about your book.

Arielle: I use the paper to make the book. The book is about me and Tesi.

 

 

 

 

Our Day – Tuesday 6th August and Wednesday 7th August 2019

COLOUR EXPERIMENTS

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.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Day – Monday 5th August 2019

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