Niina Marni Long Day Care A children and families and welcome to week 9 learning reflection.
Learning Intention 1:
To challenge children’s construction skills by providing loose parts and STEM experiences.
Why:
- Educators observed and reflected on children’s interest about construction.
- Construction play helps children to cooperate with each other to complete tasks.
- The benefits of block and construction play include the development of concentration, spatial awareness, shape recognition, problem-solving skills, social skills and many more.
- 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.
We started our week with so much excitement to build our own, unique piece of work. Children explored various photos of world famous structures in Australia as well as from all over the world. They could identify two of them all by themselves!
Ryden: Eiffel Tower!
Cooper: That’s Opera House!
We talked about how a range of different materials can be used to build, such as lego blocks, wooden blocks, magnetic tiles, magnetic blocks, recycled items with other tools and resources. Open ended construction experiences always invites children to use their creativity, imagination, fine motor skill, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness and many more. It also provides opportunities for small group experience which supports children to develop social and language skills.
Construction experience set ups were provided in both indoor and outdoor environment.
William: This is my caterpillar. It’s hungry!
Learning Intention 2:
To support children’s expression of ideas and identity through mark-making and art experiences. (Revisiting this learning intention to extend their book making experiences).
Why:
- Mark making simply refers to the creation of different patterns, lines, textures, and shapes.
- Mark-making is not just about early writing; it is a sensory and physical experience which can be enjoyed by all ages and abilities.
- As well as early writing, mark-making can develop into mathematical representation and creative expression.
- Making marks enables children to develop their hand eye co-ordination and fine motor skills through practicing to hold a tool, deciding what grip suits them best, which hand feels most natural and through making small, controlled movements using the tool.
- By giving children the opportunity to explore different mediums of mark making, it engages them in sensory play and allows them to discover exciting new materials.
- This helps to enhance a child’s critical thinking, brain development and language development, which gives them the ability to build towards more complex learning tasks in the future.
- Supporting children to co-operate and work collaboratively with others.
- Maintaining high expectations of each child’s capabilities.
- Being aware of children’s developmental milestones, particularly emotional and social development, helps educators understand what to expect at different ages and stages in children’s lives.
The educator showed them different natural items to create art work. Such as, leaves, twigs, pebbles and sticks. Children watched the photos of similar art work and demonstration with curiosity and interest. Then they created their own bugs.
Mark making with friends always a fun activity for children. They used white board marker to draw their pictures and mark.
Book Making
Spotlight Term 2: ‘What’s your book about?’
- Children will investigate a range of picture story books.
- Discussion around their own story book.
- Draw on purpose.
- Oral story telling.
- Children will learn to listen and form questions based on their prior knowledge and newfound knowledge.
- Children will learn to create artwork using favourite memories and favourite parts of a book.
- Book making station always on offer.
- Regular reading and discussions around the author and the story.
- Creating stories in small group experiences.
In the morning, children discuss about ‘I am feeling …”
They also use their kindy writing to express their emotion. The educator regularly talk about the tools they can use to regulate their emotion.
Trajectories:
- To prepare our children who are transitioning to a new learning environment in term 3.
- Supporting children to regulate their emotion (Continue).
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To enhance children’s dispositions for learning through providing materials and experiences that provoke inquiry.