Holy Family Preschool Reflection – 2025 Term 2, week 6

Niina Marni to our wonderful learners and their beautiful families. Welcome to our weekly blog.

Learning Intention 1:
To know who Jesus is and understand that Jesus was part of a loving family (Continuation from the previous week)

Why? 
Doctrinal Insights from the Catholic Tradition that support this Enduring Understanding include:
Jesus was part of a family with Mary and Joseph who loved and cared for Jesus.
This family is called the Holy Family.
Families share love and forgiveness.

We have been reading the book ‘Jesus Grows Up’ during group times to help children understand where Jesus comes from and how he was born into the family of Mary and Joseph. Children have been linking the story to the prayer icons on the prayer table and making connections to the emblem of the Holy Family Catholic School. Connecting with Reconciliation week, we also explored Kaurna symbols for family members and attempted to draw our own families using those symbols.

Learning Intention 2:  
To inspire children to explore and appreciate the natural world by questioning and observing the changes that occur with each season

Why?
Children have shown interest in the fallen leaves and the colours they have turned into.
Learning about the seasons helps children understand the passage of time, make predictions about environmental changes, and develop vocabulary related to nature and weatherIt allows children to connect their knowledge of the seasons to real-life experiences, like seasonal food and outdoor activities
Learning about seasons helps children appreciate the natural world and the ways in which it changes throughout the year.
Helps children understand the importance of dressing appropriately for different conditions.

Children have been playing with the fallen leaves on the ground, collecting them in baskets and enjoying throwing them up and watching them fall. Hence we read the book ‘Seasons’ and discussed all the changes that occur in the environment around us. We listened to the story ‘We are Going on a Leaf Hunt’ and went on a leaf hunt with children to see how many colours we could find. We also used the colourful leaves in our outdoor environment to create autumn/winter sceneries, and nature bracelets. Children also thoroughly enjoyed using pipettes to give colour to the ‘leaves’ at our sensory table and recreate the colourful trees that we see in our environment.

Literacy intentions:

To encourage self expression through various mediums of visual arts, especially painting – AK, AB, AP, EHK, MP, WG, JK, AM
To encourage creativity, language development, problem-solving and self-expression through open-ended small world play (autumn) –  JN, LW
To understand that each word can be broken down to small chunks (Syllables) – introduce clapping/ stomping feet

Why?
Children have been interested in the changes taking place in the environment 
Literacy incorporates a range of modes of communication including music, movement, dance, storytelling, visual arts, media and drama, as well as talking, signing, reading and writing.
Small world play helps children understand cause and effect, develop spatial awareness, and learn about different environments and landscapes
Engaging in visual arts experiences provides a platform for children to express their creativity, imagination, thoughts and wonderings 

In order to achieve the literacy intentions, an autumn related small world play table and a specific painting area in the Atelier were set up. Children loved having a specific place to explore their artistic abilities where they could lie on their tummies or stand at the easels while painting or drawing. They also enjoyed using various mediums such as crayons, cotton balls on pegs and colour pencils to express themselves. Additionally, the children have been so excited in counting the syllables (by clapping and stomping feet) in various words – initially their own names, names of insects they are interested in and the colours of leaves we have noticed in the outdoor environment.

Community Walks

Specs of Gold

Trajectories
Exploring insects through our inquiry
Continuing our community walks

Have a wonderful long weekend and we hope to see you all next week.

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