Hello families, April already and what a busy year so far and not in the way we had planned. I would like to thank you all for being so supportive and understanding during this time of uncertainty. As a center, I feel we have stuck together and we are weathering this period very well. This is temporary, someday the way we are living right now will be over. 

 During this time we have been continuing our renovations, with most of the playground finished. Our fort river bed, teepee, sandpit, and bike track were all opened on Friday 3rd April. I have never seen the children play so quietly and busy if there is such a thing, but with all other playgrounds in public shut, ours is very welcome at this point in time.  The shade sails have been erected since this photo was taken.  

In the coming weeks we will be changing the way you enter the centre. You will be asked to pick your own pin number to open the front door,we have new seurity cameras being installed in the car park, all these measures are to make the centre a safer place for you and your family. 

 Nursery April News

Welcome to Willow and her family who joined our Underwood family in late March.

Our Nursery Yard is near on completion and I'm excited to get ready to take the children out. Please have a hat, extra clothes in their bags and shoes for the walkers. The main yard does have a water play section, I will only offer this on warm days in the mornings.

Easter Bonnet Parade was fun, we made orange bonnets with ears, using cotton balls and coloured paper. We enjoyed sensory Easter boxes, and trying different crafts. We hope families had an enjoyable long weekend.

As always, we have been hand washing and its great to see the children in the nursery know to go to the sink after toileting. We do wash hands before meal times and after eating, as well as nappy changes. They are efficient with rubbing hands together, and I think Arlo was thinking it was his Birthday I sung it so many times.

 Toddler news!

Easter time already and we have had a few children move up to the Junior Kindy room. How is time going so fast! With everything that is going on, it is so nice to have birthdays to celebrate and Easter gifts to make so that we can give them to our families. We would also like to welcome Arlo and Ali to the Toddler room. You have already settled in so well and we love having you within our room.

Lots more focusing at the moment with washing our hands. We have a special song we sing when we wash our hands that was inspired by our favourite Hey Dee Ho music club. During group time we watch it on you tube and then follow it up with doing it at our many hand washing times throughout the day. We wash our hands as we transition inside, after toileting, after eating, before eating and after art experiences, with a few extra times here and there too. The toddlers really enjoy this time washing their hands and would love to do it all day if they could, especially when we sing along while doing it.

Now that we have a beautiful new playground we really do love playing out there, but as some of you have discovered we do have a special water feature. Toddlers are drawn to water and love exploring it daily. Their faces light up as they watch the water stream from the tap and trickle all the way down the rocky riverbed. They want to sit in it, touch it, drink it and play with it. As it gets cooler we will have less time involved in the water, but while it is open the toddlers will enjoy getting wet. We will endeavour to dry their clothes the best we can, but if spare clothes can be packed this will allow the children more freedom to get wet, have fun and enjoy our garden more.

A few parents have asked where are the dirty clothes kept after their child has been changed.On our daily communication book, we write up how much your child has eaten during the day, as well as how long your child has slept. In the case your child has soiled or wet clothes we will notify you also through writing in this communication book. If it is marked that your child has 'soiled or wet clothes' that need to be collected, you will find a bucket in the bathroom labeled 'Soiled clothes'. If you ever have any concerns about where an item of clothing may be, please feel free to ask any staff for assistant if either myself or Miss Mimi are not available.

Miss Sheree and Miss Mimi

 Junior Kindy newsletter

Welcome to the new children and families to the junior kindy room.

This month I would like to remind you all to label your child's belongings especially their shoes. With our new yard half opening, there is a lot more space for them to take their shoes off and forget them. Their name on the shoes can help other staff to send them home with the right family.

If you haven't already brought a new tooth brush in, in the last two months please bring another one. It will be time to refresh them. If you can't remember and want to bring one in any way, we will keep it as their next one.

This month we will be focusing really following our routines and transitions. As we get the newer children use to the routines, we really want them to feel confident in their new room too.

We will also be working on our communication, giving the children the tools and words they need to communicate with each other and express themselves. While focusing on this we will look into our reflecting. At the end of each day reflect on our day as a class. What they liked, what they didn't like, how we could change things? And even reflecting on how we felt during the day. This should give more insight to their activities and feelings, helping us to plan better and address feelings each day. For an example how their friends made them feel that day, talking about it will help their friends to understand them better. Or an activity they didn't really like because it was too hard, we can plan to try again another day while making it easier.

Thanks from Miss Chloe.

 First I would like to welcome Elijah, Emily, Robin and Seowood to the Pre Kindy room moving up from Junior Kindy. Everyone has transitioned into the room very smoothly and become familiar with the room routine very quickly and easily.

In the Pre Kindy room we have two projects going at the moment. We have our dinosaurs which are a very big favourite in the room. Over the next couple of weeks we will be building a volcano to go with them and will continue to extend on as the children expressing their ideas for this area.
Our second project is our farm where we are learning about all the different animals and the foods they make such as chickens lay eggs, Cow give milk and so on. We will also be extending on with different pieces of craft by making the animals using our very best creativity.
Just a note about making sure all your children's items are labeled and your child has enough clothing in their bags aswel as warmer clothing as it is becoming a little cooler in the afternoon.
Thanks Miss Skye

 What can I do at home for my child who is in kindergarten?

In a carefully planned learning environment, your child experiences many different learning activities. These include cutting, painting, gluing, drawing, dressing up, sand play, climbing, storytelling, singing, dancing, exploring and social and cultural activities such as making new friends and learning about culture through acknowledgement to country, dream time stories and different cultural activities

The social and emotional development of your child is a very important part of planned learning. Many activities encourages them to be involved so they become successful learners, team players, good problem solvers and creative thinkers who enjoy challenges.

Another focus in Kindergarten is on language and literacy. Your child develops an early understanding of letters, sounds and rhyming words; as well as how pictures can tell stories, how written words can be read, concepts of print and how spoken sounds can be written down.

Learning about maths and numeracy is also a key part of Kindergarten. Your child learns about numbers and shapes, counting, measuring and the many different ways maths is used in our daily lives. We take into account children's experiences and backgrounds to make sure learning programs are targeted to meet their individual needs

Kindy isn't the only place for learning activities. When your child's at home, you're their teacher. But everything doesn't have to feel like a classroom lesson. Get your kids excited about discovering something new by disguising the learning activities as fun time. Try these engaging and effective activities that you can do at home.

Reading with your child:

  • shows her that books can give both pleasure and information
  • helps her learn the sounds of letters in spoken language
  • helps her understand that stories aren't coming from you, but from the words on the page – this teaches her about how the printed word works
  • helps her develop a larger vocabulary – books might use new or unfamiliar words
  • improves her thinking and problem-solving skills
  • can get your child thinking and talking about a new concept, an event or something that interests her.

What you can do

  • Choose lift-the flap books, touch-and-feel books or books with rhyming or repeating words for younger children.
  • Encourage your child to hold the book and turn the pages. This helps him start to understand that the book should be a certain way up, and that pages are always turned in the same direction.
  • Slide your finger underneath the words as you read them, pointing out each word. This teaches your child about print and shows her that we always start on the left and move to the right when reading English. You could ask, 'Where should I start reading on this page?' or 'Do you know this letter?'
  • Point out pictures and talk about the pictures your child points to.
  • Make the sounds of animals or other objects in the book – have fun!

Kids can play games (look for things that start with certain sounds), hunt for letters, make alphabet books, and even use a digital camera to bring their phonics lessons to life.

Writing is a skill your kids will use throughout their life. Let them trace. Connect the dots. Use Play-Doh to shape letters or draw letters in shaving cream.

Children start learning numeracy skills from the time they're born. This learning happens from watching and experiencing numeracy in action, especially in everyday play and activities. For example, it happens when you encourage your child to:

  • count fingers, toes and toys
  • recognise numbers and shapes on objects like clocks and phones or in books
  • decide how many slices of apple she wants.

As your child gets older, he learns more numeracy and maths skills, including size and measurement. For example, this happens as he starts to:

  • compare things of different sizes – 'big', 'small' and 'medium'
  • group things together and talk about same and different
  • use words to describe where things are – 'over', 'under' and 'next to'
  • help set the table
  • fill a water bottle
  • help with the shopping and use money to buy things
  • divide food into equal shares.

And when you talk with your child about maths concepts in your everyday activities, it helps her understand how and why maths is useful. For example, this happens when you point out:

  • big and small (size)
  • high and low (height)
  • heavy and light (weight)
  • fast and slow (speed)
  • close and far (distance)
  • first, second and last (order).

Music

Get up and get moving. Enjoy musical games for kids that show them how to have fun while developing a love of music. Dance, sing, jump, and freeze, all with the goal of building your child's musical talents.

Gardens are lessons in science, nutrition, and patience all rolled into one plot of dirt in your backyard.

A garden teaches children how plants come to life. It's also an easy way to teach him about nutrition and get him excited about eating the vegetables he's grown.

A little creativity can help you teach your child about world cultures in a way that will make learning fun while enriching their awareness of other people's traditions and ways of life. The world will never look the same to him again. They can enjoy making crafts he might find in other countries and tasting authentic foods you cook together.

Don't forget art – painting, drawing, colouring, crafts

What can you make from recycled goods?

https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2014/04/recycled-art-project-for-kids-2.html

Ideas

  • Learning for 3-4 year old

https://www.learning4kids.net/3-year-4-years/

  • Jolly phonics

http://jollyreading.com/introduction-to-jolly-phonics/

You can find this on u tube

  • Super simple counting songs, shapes

You can find this on u tube

  • Kids music and dance songs can be found on u tube

Super simple songshttps://www.youtube.com/user/SuperSimpleSongs

Ping Fonghttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ping+fong+childrens+song

Ask your children and they can tell you their favourites.

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