Holy Family Catholic School Early Learning Blog LDC -4 (Term -2/Week 3)

Nina Marni, all our little learners and awsome families,

Welcome to our second term & week three blog.

Learning Intention:1

To support children’s engagement, development and self-regulation through strengthening their sensory processing capabilities.

Why:
• Continuing from the previous learning intention about positive education – sensory processing supports children to self-regulate and ground themselves.
• Sensory engagement provides children with positive sensory input which in turn can support self-regulation.
• 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.

ILP’s: All children

This week children had variety of experiences like,

• Multi-sensory experiences which stimulate children’s sensory systems of touch, taste, sound, sight, smell, vestibular (movement) and proprioception (‘heavy work’). Examples include crushing herbs, playing with play dough, transferring flour, hefting/transporting heavy items outdoors, dancing, jumping, rolling.
• “Listen, Move” movement YouTube video
• Tug of War with fabric
• Shoes off time
• Embrace our natural landscape, connecting with resources and creatures found in the yard, vegetable garden and flower wall.
• Provide a variety of natural materials in home corner to extend play scenarios.
• Mark Making with a variety of natural materials.

Also educator supported group times to move our bodies.
• Sports experiences on the oval.
• Possible cooking experiences, with a focus on what children are seeing, smelling and tasting. Mathematical and scientific processes can be highlighted in our discussions with children during our engagement (concepts such as full, empty, half, whole, number, as well as drawing attention to the chemical and physical changes occurring as ingredients are mixed or cooked).
• Group time reading
• Outdoor group times – discussion about the sounds, textures etc. (link to inquiry project).

Slime fun with friends:-

Educator made Slime with children and all children took part in this activity. During this activity children looked very engaged and active. Children enjoyed very well with this sensory experience. It will also help him to improved their eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. Children learn lots of social and emotional skills.

HEALTHY EATING:-

Children enjoyed his food in dinning room with other friends. Children serving their own food themselves and learning self help skills.

Learning Intention -2

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.

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.
• This learning intention incorporates the pillar of ecology as children will interact and experiment with natural and man-made materials, recycled materials and deepen their engagement with understandings of the natural world through science-based experiences
• Children have shown a keen interest in comparison and cause and effect through measurement and the building of ramps in the construction area

ILP’s: All children

Children enjoyed lots of community walk around the school and had lots of great experience with construction with empty boxes, masking taps, glue sticks, paper and colour pencils, crayons and other recycle materials with including cateloges.

• Visiting Log Park with the intention of constructing using the logs – brainstorm before the visit. Linking to growth mindset by discussing the vast possibilities and what we can achieve.
• Seek recycled materials from the community.
• Posing questions and providing a nudge for children whilst engaging in the outdoor environment – ‘how can we get the water from the tap to go in another direction?’ etc.
• Opportunities to create using recycled materials in atelier scaffolded by teacher and introduction of forward planning – design, ideate, create.
• Extending on children’s interests in paper planes – how do they work? Research with children. Supporting children to fold their own and extend into other areas of force – sinking and floating (use riverbeds), making boats with natural and manmade materials.

Children will be provided with ample opportunities to engage in loose parts play – using both natural and human made materials.
• Educators will act as ‘stagehands’ by providing loose parts for dramatic play.
• Introduction of a new materials and loose parts in the construction area – including material, blocks, natural materials, joining techniques etc.
• Comparative language provocation set up in literacy area to extend children’s terminology through discussion.
• Numeracy provocation set up – possibilities include balance, cause and effect, experimenting and hypothesising – link to numeracy and literacy indicators for preschool.
• Bookmaking opportunities – you could write a book about that!

Mark Making Activity:-

Community walk with friends:-

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.
o Candle flames remind us that God is with us.
o The Bible reminds us of God’s love for us through special stories.
o The Cross reminds us of Jesus.
o Water is used for special blessings
• Sacred 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.

ILP’S: All Children

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.

God has established prayer as a means for us to communicate with him. Through prayer, we can praise God, ask for forgiveness, thank God for all he’s done, and let our requests be made known to him. Prayer allows us to open our hearts to God and let him know our innermost thoughts and desires.

SOME SPEKS OF GOLD FOR SECOND WEEK OF TERM TWO: – 2025. [Long Day Care 4]