Sewing and Skitch

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Louise under Enquiry & Discovery

I am trying out an app called Skitch – just learning as you can see, but it looks prominsing as a way of capturing a learning moment when you don’t have time for a fuller account.

Bush Kinder at Manangatang

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Louise under Uncategorized

We are keen to offer the children more nature play and experiences, so we were grateful to Manangatang kinder for inviting us over for a day. Mrs Bell, our newly retired educator drove the bus for us, and lots of parents came along as well. We were very excited.

Firstly we listened to an Acknowledgement of Country, as a way of paying our respects to the Aboriginal people who looked after the land for thousands of years. Then we walked the boundaries to show where it was safe to go – then we could play. One morning just gave us a taste – tree climbers got better at balancing, gripping and climbing; cubby builders helped to restore cubby walls blown down by the strong winds; stick hunters found potential boomerangs and spears and practiced… We met Willie again and learnt more about the Aboriginal people. It was a wonderful morning.

Thankyou to the Manangatang kinder children and teachers and to all the Ouyen adults who helped make it happen.

Thingletoodle’s visit

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Louise under learning about our community, Learning through play, Road Safety

Road safety is an all year round concern to highlight and reinforce, but a visit from Thingletoodle is still an exciting way to emphasise the message of Hold Hands – Stop – Look – Listen – Think. These are messages that we have repeated and practiced every time we go out side the kinder, and the play, songs, games, puppets and books have all helped to present the message in a variety of ways. Thanks Thingletoodle!

Pin Pricking

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Louise under Language & Literacy, learning dispositions, movement & physical learning

Such an oldie but still good! We don’t actually use a pin, rather a toothpick, or better still half a bamboo skewer (bind the broken top with some masking tape) and place the paper on a cork mat ( pins being best left to when the children are older…) When we offered this to the children they loved it! very quickly, Brooklyn moved from drawing a pattern to writing her name and pricking that – so we showed the others and everyone wanted to do it! It builds fine motor skills and persistence; physical endurance and hand strength to continue to pierce the paper. Grace worked out a technique where she used her other hand to push harder. This was a task that took concentration and perseverance, especially for those with a long name, like Tanner.