Niina Marni lovely children and their wonderful families. We warmly welcome all new and existing families to our weekly blog as we share many learning experiences from this week.
Learning Intention 1:
To support children and families to develop a sense of belonging to the Holy Family Early Years learning environments and to develop relationships within their community.
Why?
We believe children begin to learn about themselves and construct their own identity within the context of their families and communities. We view HFEY as an important part of this community and believe we have a responsibility to create positive experiences that will support children’s deep understanding of themselves as significant and respected members and citizens of the world. Children develop a sense of belonging when they feel accepted, develop attachments and trust those that care for them. As children are developing their sense of identity, they explore different aspects of it (physical, social, emotional, spiritual, cognitive), through their play and their relationships. Children have a right to belong to a community, and begin to learn how to interact with others through observation and support. Hence, we believe it is important that children are given the opportunities and resources to enter play scenarios with their peers and start to develop an understanding on how to interact with others respectfully and broaden their understanding of the world and their place and role in it.
Learning Intention 2:
Understanding the importance of sacred symbols and what makes them special.
Understanding that the sign of the cross is a prayer to God.
Why?
Doctrinal Insights from the Catholic Tradition that support this Enduring Understanding include:
Sacred symbols remind us that God is close to us, and with us.
In my Catholic learning environment, I can see many sacred symbols.
Sacred symbols are used in my school/ELC and in church celebrations, prayer and liturgy.
Other faith traditions also have sacred symbols.
The Sign of the Cross is a prayer with actions and words.The words remind us that God is called Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The actions represent the symbol of the Cross, and that prayer involves our head, heart and body.
During our prayer time every morning, we make the sign of cross, sing our prayer song and share what we are grateful for. The children have been amazing at vocalising about what they are thankful for and sharing it with their friends.
Literacy Intentions:
- Initiating discussions on what a book is
- Identifying the different parts of a book
- Discussing about how to take care of books
- Reading picture books regularly
- Use mark making tools such as colour pencils/paint brushes
Why:
- Literacy is the capacity, confidence and disposition to use language in all its forms.
- Literacy incorporates a range of modes of communication including music, movement, dance, storytelling, visual arts, media and drama, as well as talking, sign, reading and writing.
- Book making provides children with the opportunity to see themselves as capable authors and writers.
- As well as early writing, mark-making can develop into mathematical representation and creative expression too.
- By giving children the opportunity to explore different mediums of mark making – this helps children to engage in sensory play and allows them to discover new exciting materials and medias.
- This helps to enhance a child’s critical thinking, brain development and language development. Giving them the ability to build towards more complex learning tasks in the future.
The children have been enjoying reading stories during group time and had a great experience visiting the library this week. We also take every chance to read during both indoor and outdoor play. During these moments, we’ve been discussing the different parts of a book and how to properly take care of them. Also, the children have had lots of opportunities to engage in mark-making through creating their own books and doing free drawing and painting, which helps build skills that are important for writing later on.
Chinese/ Lunar New Year celebrations
During our group time, we talked about the Chinese New year and how it is celebrated by many, around the world. At the request of the children, we watched a dragon dance, which they found quite fascinating. In recognising it is named the ‘year of the snake’ we engaged in making paper snakes, which also helped us put the little muscles in our hands to good exercise.
Inside play
Children engaged in a variety of play experiences while indoors. They explored the light table, enjoyed sensory play with moon sand and play dough, and used their creativity in the home corner. They also built impressive structures with Lego blocks and worked on making patterns at the math table.
Outside Play
Community walk and fun at the play ground
Visit to the play ground
Learning trajectories:
Continue to support children to adjust into the preschool room and routines.
Engage in community walks and continue our visits to the library.
To establish a daily routine that supports consistency and predictability for children.
Reminders:
Please be kind enough to send in a photo of your family to be displayed in the Preschool room.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and we look forward to seeing you next week.