July News

 Hello to our nursery families.

Over the last few months the children have been exploring a lot of loose parts which has opened up many possibilities. The learning of all children has progressed to exploring size, weight and different shapes of objects. We have used a variety of containers, bowls and various loose parts to explore these concepts.

Some of the children have been investigating magnets and have shown interest & fascination in the objects they can 'stick' to.

We have been focusing on language skills through reading books regularly, choosing a book to read for 2 weeks and ensuring all children have the opportunity to listen and participate in reading each day. This has extended to small group experiences with singing nursery rhymes and action songs. As part of this we are utilising these opportunities to build on interests of each child through the choice of the book, songs & other resources to facilitate their learning.

Over the last few months their has been an interest in drawing and using crayons, felt pens and biros. We are extending this interest by providing the opportunity to do brush or finger painting daily.

Spending time outside is very important to our room and is very much an interest of all our nursery children. When they have the choice most will choose to explore the outside environment with our focus on challenging their large muscle and movement skills.

As the month progresses we are trialling the use of an app called Educa. You may have already received photos or communication via this tool. We are exploring the different functions it offers and how to best use it for the educators, our families and the centre. If you have any questions or concerns in regards to this please let us know.

Miss Shannon, Miss Bijal and Miss Priya

The children have been very busy exploring their indoor and outdoor environment. After we explore natural and process materials through the sense of touch, we decided to discover the natural and process materials through the sense of smell. The children have had wonderful experience of exploring both natural and process materials as they got involved in making playdough using coconut and lavender oil, playing with the rice and lentils with cumin and ajwain seeds on it, smelling different variety of fruits, flowers and herbs such as coriander, mint, curry leaves, lemon, mandarin, coffee limes marigold flowers and so on. The children not only loved playing and smelling with the citrus fruits but also enjoyed having a taste of the fruits and learning about what we use them for. It was truly a wonderful opportunity for children to discover those types of natural materials and a great pleasure for us to observe their learning experience. It was such a fun and valuable experience for all of us who was involved.

Recently, our toddlers are exploring the natural and process material through the sense of hearing. The children have been enjoying making lots of different sounds with the use of shakers, rocks, bells, drum and so on. By looking at our children's curiosity, we are planning to continue this for a little while.

Moreover, the children in the toddler room, are doing so well in their social and communication skills as they involve themselves in group time everyday where we read books, talk about our manners and sing lots of rhymes with actions.

The children have also started to learn about our veggie garden by watering the vegies and fruits, taking care of the garden by being gentle with the plants and talking to the children about healthy eating. We will now continue with this and see what we can do to further their interest and learning.

Please remember to label all your child's belongings.

We would kindly like to ask you to provide your family photo if you have not provided one yet to put on our wall please. Thank you so much.

Miss Bhabana, Miss Sukh and Miss Simran

 Welcome back to Junior's room!

Toilet training – If your child is in toilet training process, please ensure there is enough spare clothes and wet bag. You can order wet bag from Tammy. Thanks

Winter clothing – For the benefit of children as the weather has been becoming colder, please ensure there is spare jacket and socks available.

Programming

In the early years of age, children may have problems sharing, taking turns, and negotiating roles when they play together. These day-to-day conflicts are great opportunities for us, educators, to help children practice the skills needed to resolve disagreements. Children can learn the basics of conflict resolution with appropriate help and guidance from supportive educators. Therefore, we build up an intentional teaching focusing on handling conflicts. Learning to handle conflicts in productive ways is an important social skill that children will use throughout their lives. When educators help children practice resolving conflicts, they become more sensitive to the needs and feelings of others. Children also develop self-confidence when they learn how to solve their problems in a positive and assertive way.

During group time, we had been talking and discussing about emotions and face expressions. This practice helped children to understand their emotion and how to manage it effectively. We have been introducing The Choice Wheel to our children. There were seven choices on the wheel that children may use in different situations. These are:

• Take a deep breath and count 1,2,3
• Walk away
• Talk to a teacher
• Apologize
• Use their words
• Try again later
• Wait for their turn

This kind of problem solving teaches children how to think creatively and to evaluate solutions.

In addition to intentional teaching, our programmed learning experiences are designed based on children interests. Our children are currently interested in magnet, the frog cycle, and colours. Please look at our Daily Journals (located in front of our Juniors' room) about the daily learning experiences that we are doing in class. Thanks!

Miss Tham, Miss June and Miss Emma

Hi everyone, hope you are well.

Welcome to Term 3! Yes, it is halfway through the year 2020 and soon kindergarten children will be off to Prep year.

Last month the kindergarten children were involved in exploring frogs and their habitats. Children used technology (tablet, printer, digital camera) to help them to learn about frogs and their habitats, used tools and materials to make frog and animal puppets, used songs and music to move like animals and involved in group discussions to share ideas, thoughts and ask questions. Through these explorations children were learning to share knowledge about animal habitats with others, observe and describe the characteristics of living things, exhibit curiosity, interest and willingness in learning new things and having new experiences, ask questions and make predictions based on observations and personal experiences in the environment, problem solve, manipulate equipment and real-life tools (sticky tape dispenser, scissors) with increasing competence and use descriptive language to become independent communicators.

In term two children also engaged in real-life role play such as supermarket, restaurant, café and puppet show. In these learning experiences children were involved in counting, learning about money, recognising and writing letters and numbers, making signs and tickets, writing shopping lists, reading familiar sign words and greeting others. Through pretend play children learn to negotiate roles, take turns, understand the world around them, use their play to imagine and explore real-life events and community, consider others' ideas, balance their ideas with others and deal with conflicts.

Thank you for your support throughout term two.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child, please feel free to contact us at any time.

Indri, Bhavna and Sina