Learning Intention: 1 (The current learning design is a repetition from week 10 based on children’s continuing interests.)
Learning Intention:
To support children’s engagement, development and self-regulation through strengthening their sensory processing capabilities.
Why?
Sensory processing is a foundational building block for learning.
Our senses collect information from the world around us, as well as our interactions within it.
This information is then processed in our brain, forming the basis of our learning, wellbeing and secure interactions with others.
The brain and body need an abundance of sensory-motor experiences in the first years of life to strengthen this partnership and to provide children with lifelong sensory processing capabilities.
” When the children are provided with multiple mediums to use their senses they have more opportunities to develop language and increases their thinking capacity”
This week children used their senses throughout a variety of multiple sensory explorations. They were able to take in and process different types of information. Being present in the moment , being responsive through out the process and providing delight in the after product , help children actively participate in the experience.
Our sensory exploration has taken flight yet again into creating some rainbow serpents and caterpillars.Paper towels, coloured pens , water and droppers are some learning tools which were used to magnify a beautiful learning experience. Visuals and touch using fine motor coordination has been some memorable moments for children to exercise their sensory skills and express their wonder through lots of verbal communication.
An outburst of sensory makes its way, with our little learners experimenting on how to create the colours of the rainbow. This was a deep and magical exploration where droppers , paint and a splash of milk were some of our learning resources used for this learning.
| Learning Intention 2: 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 blessingsSacred symbols are used in my school/ELC and in church celebrations, prayer and liturgy. ( CCC1145)Other faith traditions also have sacred symbols The Sign of the Cross is a prayer to God.Doctrinal and Content Elaborations: 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. |
This week children have been fervently participating in morning prayer, as a lead up to Holy Week. Teacher’s have been talking to children about easter and reading them stories and singing songs. Next week is Holy Week where Jesus arrives in to Jerusalem on a donkey and is welcomed by the people with Palms, which we commemorate as Palm Sunday.
The celebration of Easter in the catholic liturgy is all about how much Jesus loves us and how god sent him to rescue us. The easter story will be read and explained to children about new beginnings and new life, reminding children yet again that “Jesus loves you”.
The symbolic candle is lit up before prayer as a sign that Jesus is present with us and among us.
This week we had our LDC 4 years children visit our learning space for morning prayer. The little learners were very impressed with their buddy’s praise and worship. They were very pleased to have their older peers visit and role model at group time. Welcome to country was another speck of gold for our little learners as we used the clap sticks to build our connection to Kaurna land.
Our welcome to country with the Nina Marni song was sung by our little learners using clap sticks. This learning experience was a very productive and a positive learning for our little people as they were able to build a connection to the land they live on and gain an understanding and respect towards the environment.
During our morning group times our routine for the day takes flight as according to our chart of Now ,Next and Then , being mindful of our health and looking after ourselves is a vital component in our learning process. As the weather is still a bit warm our little learners have learnt that keeping our skin safe from the sun
Book making study and picture book reading with some library time
This week the writers workshop has been a consistent station within our indoor learning space, where children have been seen visiting throughout the day to create and mark their writing, placing their thoughts and ideas. Conversations and social interactions have been some special moments which have been observed. Teacher’s reading picture books to children indoors and children making connections to picture books relating them to their peers in the outdoor learning space have been another interactive moment and a connection to developing their literacy skills.
As Easter is fast approaching our little learners have been very busy crafting their easter eggs , chickens and rabbits with the use of some very colourful and sparkly play dough along with a touch of colourful pom poms.
Our daily routines with predictable transitions within our learning space. the chart “Now , Next and Then has proven to be the best way of visually communicating and determining our transitions for the day. Our little learners have begun to develop an understanding of the daily routine. They are now able to place the visuals in the right boxes and are quite aware of what to expect next in the routine.
Holy Family Catholic School sports day, and community walks around the school with some big regulatory movements of bike riding in our outdoor learning space.
Our bucket has been overflowing with little specks of gold for this week. We would like to share some special moments we value in our learning community.
Ngaityalya.
Hope you all have a relaxing weekend, enjoy the school holidays and a blessed Easter to all of our beautiful families.