Nina Marni Curious little learners and their beautiful families, welcome to our weekly blog for term 3 week 10
To challenge children’s construction skills by providing loose parts and STEM experiences.
Why
- STEM education in early childhood allows children to begin to learn and retain a knowledge base that they can build on as they get older.
- Loose Parts play encourages children to make, create, problem solve and hypothesize. Loose parts have no instructions and no predetermined rules.
- The concept of ‘loose parts’ supports children to become critical thinkers as they use these open- ended materials to plan their work and create whatever they want to without an adult telling them what should be done. It helps children to be imaginative.
- Loose parts give children the freedom to arrange and rearrange, essentially using the parts to create their own rules and designs, which allows the focus of the experience to be on the process rather than the product. Fine motor skills are developed and strengthened when children grasp and pick up small objects.
Learning Intention 1 will be a repeat this fortnight and an extension with Learning Intention 2 due to children’s continuing interests
ILP’s: All children
This week children have been exploring and experimenting construction using shadow and light with the use of reflective colourd blocks. Children used the outdoor learning space to conduct this investigation and were mesmerised with what they discovered. The beautiful sunlight was one of our most precious learning resource that helped the children discover light and shadow. Lots of extended verbal communication were some exciting highlights of our experience. Recycled materials and man made materials have been utilised where children were able to construct and create using their imagination of their own versions of structure and design.
Learning Intention: 2
To encourage children’s expression of ideas through collaborative arts-making experiences in Visual Arts.
Possibilities & Provocations:
- provide resources that encourage experimentation with mark making: different tools such as crayon, paintbrushes, chalk, fine-tip pens, pencils, textas and various surfaces such as paper, corrugated cardboard, foil, concrete, tiles (C)
- collaborative canvas painting (O)
- support children to work vertically as well as horizontally, for example on the tabletop easel, paper hanging on the fence outside, painting with water on the brick wall (C)
- offer inviting visual art provocations, with natural materials such as flowers and fruit, or photographs, to stimulate mark making (E)
- place paper and mark making materials on the ground, for engagement in the prone position (laying on the tummy) (E)
- painting with leaves, herbs and collage with natural materials
- finger painting using perspex screen ( also connects to learning intention regarding children’s social development, when a child is positioned on each side)
- outdoor water ‘painting’ with donated syringes
- Stone work outside in dirt
- Stick wrapping with fabric strips/lace/wool
Expression and communication is a viatal aspect in the early years as children begin to utilise their non verbal or expressive communication in mediating their thinking exploration and inquiry. Visual arts are a very rich domain through which children are able to represent their experiences, create patterns and develop their creative thinking.
Learning Intention 3
Book making
Literacy Intentions (our hopes for their learning)
- Children will develop a joyful connection to picture books.
Weekly focus
- Starting from scratch, what is a book? What is the purpose? Who reads books? Who writes books? What do they look like? Teachers will use information gained about prior knowledge to decide next steps.
Mentor texts
- Explore a range of Mo Williams (Pigeon books) during morning/ Afternoon group times (Term 3)
- discussions and questioning to follow.
- Educators to find moments to read to small groups of children and using these moments as an opportunity for self-regulation and grounding
This week children have been picking out lots of picture books and have had lots of opportunities to bring to life their imaginative creations by scribing their own stories through the arts of marking and scribbles.
Children have enjoyed lots of community visits this week throughout the Holy Family Catholic School exercising their exploration and physical capabilities.
Our dining room meal experiences have been very consistent this week where the children are provided with opportunities to help serve their own food. This has been working wonders for our routine as the children have presented great excitement when it’s time for meals.
Some specs of gold to share for this week, where children have been interacting and building conversations with their peers and teachers enjoying moments of bliss in their learning environment.
To wrap up our learning for this term our Holy Family Catholic school conducted a colour run fun. Children had so much fun with lots of colours.
Hope you all have a relaxing weekend and enjoy the holidays. We will see you all back for more exciting learning next term.