Niina Marni to all our young leaners and their beautiful families. We welcome you to the Week 5 blog.
Learning Intention 1:
To support children’s engagement, development and self-regulation through strengthening their sensory processing capabilities.
Carrying forward from last week, children have continued to engage in a variety of multi-sensory experiences that can help promote fine motor development, self-regulation and engagement with their peers and the environment around them. Children were provided with herbs such as rosemary, mint and coriander which they used to smell, cut, mix and roll into their play dough creations. Rolling, pinching, squeezing, twisting, kneading, pounding and flattening not only enhances the fine motor skills of our young learners, but also are safe and healthy outlets for extra energy which can in turn help children cope with strong feelings.
While being busy with their play dough creations, our little preschoolers have been developing their literacy, communication and mathematics skills. They have been negotiating, thinking out loud, sharing and measure quantities.
Lena – “Burger, yum!” (proudly showing us the burger she created).
Rita – “Smells nice” (while smelling the rosemary)
Soleia – “Smells like toothpaste” (while smelling the mint leaves)
Charlotte – “like candy” (smelling the mint leaves)
Calvin – “I’m doing a gingerbread man”
Shannee – “It’s an octopus”
We have also been exploring the various emotions we feel through the use of books. We read the books ‘When I’m Feeling Happy’ and ‘When I’m feeling Sad’ to understand what our reactions maybe when we feel different emotions and how we can navigate them.
We discussed what makes us happy.
Ariana Pham – “lollipops”
Alice – “Dad”
Alban – “mum and dad”
Aun – “bubbles”
Charlotte – “mum and rainbows”
Joanna – “my brothers Asher and Sharma”
The children also created faces to represent different emotions. Additionally, we engaged in more yoga exercises which helps us stay calm and focused, and become more aware of our bodies, the space and everything around us.
Learning Intention 2:
To continue to challenge children’s construction skills using loose parts and STEM experiences by extending on their emergent interest and learning about cause and effect, comparison and problem-solving skills.
This week too, the children have been busy building various structures using materials like cardboard boxes, magnetic tiles, blocks, and loose parts, demonstrating their creativity and imagination. Through playing with loose parts, children are learning the early concepts of engineering and physics – about weight, density and how things work.
Lucas – “This can be the door”
Willow – “This is the roof”
Sebastian – “It’s our house”
Learning Intention 3:
Sacred symbols are special and important.
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.
Candle flames remind us that God is with us.
The Bible reminds us of God’s love for us through special stories.
The Cross reminds us of Jesus.
Water is used for special blessings
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 to God.
Doctrinal Insights from the Catholic Tradition that support this Enduring Understanding include:
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.
Prayer continues to be the first and most special part of our morning group time. Children engage in singing the ‘Five Fingers’ prayer song and reciting a little prayer to God. Children held the sacred cross with respect and care, shared what they were thankful for, and gave thanks to God for all we have been blessed with.
Literacy Intentions – Build connection to picture books
Visiting the library is always well-loved by the children. In addition to the books we read in preschool, children love to be able to choose books that interest them and either have a look at them themselves or ask a teacher to read it for them. It has been wonderful to listen to children’s own interpretations of the story books using the pictures as clues too.
In promoting oral language and phonological awareness, the children have also been exposed to the phonics songs. This week we focused on the sound ‘s’ and discussed some words that start with that sound. Children were able to contribute very well during these discussions and came up with many words.
Community Visits
Indoor/Outdoor play and some Specs of Gold
Learning Trajectories:
Explore the four seasons and what changes take place in the environment around us
Experiment with different ways of mark-making using a variety of materials
Hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing weekend.