Preschool News Week 7 Term 3
Hello everyone,
Spring has well and truly sprung, and how fortuitous that in our unit of learning in astronomy we have been exploring the beginnings of life on Earth. After looking at the layers of the Earth, the children have now turned their attention to what happened once the fiery, volcanic planet cooled. Through weathering, rocks began to break down into soil, which made it possible for plants and life itself. Lucky and the BilBil boys (Rainbow Lorikeets) continue to visit us, and we are keen to expand our garden with more plants for them to forge. We’ve begin planting lots of sunflower seeds that we’re hoping will grow into beautiful sunflowers, food sources for the birds.
Gardening has spilled over into our mud kitchen, with children now wishing to transform it into a flower garden. Tyres are being repurposed as colourful garden beds. We’re inviting families to share ideas, plants, or a helping hand as we zhuzh up this space together…. stay tuned!
Cooking was also a highlight. This week we baked banana cupcake muffins, and we are excited to make cooking a regular part of our program. Some of our budding chefs have even been mapping out recipes through drawings! By popular vote, our next adventures will likely be making ice cream and ice blocks, a perfect springtime project and a wonderful opportunity to explore the science of what happens when liquid is chilled and frozen.
We also had the opportunity to vote on our routine park excursion on Monday. After discussion with some parents and then noticing some children seem to want to settle into preschool play, we ran a vote about heading off to the Playground. The majority decided on school-based play, with a compromise that gave everyone the chance to enjoy the top playground. The children continue to impress us with their growing upper-body and core strength on the monkey bars.
Inside preschool, we enjoyed energetic pillow fighting games, which support children’s body awareness and regulation skills through proprioceptive play. Alongside this, we have been developing new preschool agreements. These include ways we use equipment safely and respectfully, and how we come together at group time, listening to one another, showing respect, and raising hands when we want to contribute.
It has been a week full of planting, cooking, strength-building, and community, all reminding us that learning can be as joyful as it is meaningful.
Love
Katrina, Lisa, Michael and Abi.