Issue 12

December 2014

Merry Christmas to all the children and families in

our community

What is Nature Play?

In the past outside in nature was a part of everyday, nor-mal childhood experience. Many of us have fond memo-ries of time spent outdoors riding our bikes around the neighbourhood, swinging from the clothesline, climbing trees, playing backyard games of cricket or soccer that spilled out onto the street, picking fruit straight from the trees, camping, bushwalking and picnics in our beautiful na-tional parks.

Children today are increas-ingly unable to relate to these experiences. In fact, South Australian children are spend-ing less time outside in nature than at any other time in our history. In the space of just one generation, there has been a dramatic shift in child-hood activity from outdoors to indoors driven by a number of factors including the advent of new screen-based technolo-gies and the emergence of a risk-averse culture.

This has far-reaching conse-quences for our community. In parallel with the shift indoors we are seeing increasing rate of childhood obesity, depres-sion and behavioural disor-ders. Research across the world supports the view that un-structured outdoor play is fun-damental to childhood.

Christmas Party

Just a reminder this year’s Kidz Club family Christmas Party will be held on 14th De-cember at Greenwith Com-munity Hall, Greenwith, with playground facilities. Santa will be in his magic cave along with his helpers. There will be many exciting activities to amuse the children such as face painting, balloon sculpting, craft table and a wonderful jumping cas-tle. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Multicultural Christmas

As Educators of children we need to explore the rich signifi-cance of Christmas and its celebrations world wide. While the birth of Jesus represents the original meaning of Christ-mas, so do other symbols such as snow flakes, holly, St. Nicholas and Santa. We have an obligation to encourage what each families culture finds meaningful and to pro-vide a feeling of acceptance so everyone within our community can continue with their unique beliefs. Multicultural celebra-tions have enriched and added many traditions that contribute to the advancement and well being for all Australians.

Christmas Closure

Please be advised that we will be closed only on the Christ-mas and New Year Public Holi-days. To the children that are booked in on those days a half price rate will apply.

Opportunities for outdoor play and immersion in nature are essential to the health and wellbeing of children, helping them to develop to their full potential.

Participation in nature play has the ability to enhance children’s cognitive flexibility and creativity, boost self-esteem and improve resil-ience. It is important for kids to de-velop an understanding of the world around them and their place in it by getting out there and finding things out for themselves. It’s also critically important our children grow up being exposed to nature so they develop an empathy for it and see the value in its protection. Because the shift is all about enhancing chil-dren's play in natural environ-ments, we at Kidz Club are in the process of redeveloping our outside areas into a more sensory and nature play base environment. In January, you will notice that we will be in-stalling a water feature, along with a dry river bed with rounded stones and gems, a musical instruments section made from pipes, plastic bucket, saucepans and lids etc. We are also adding to our sustainable garden and creating more of a hands on approach with the children.

Facebook Kidz Club has a Facebook page to promote another form of communication with families. If you would like to keep up-to-date with activities at the centre send a friend request.

December/Christmas Celebrations

ROOM NEWS Issue 12

December 2014

This is the last newsletter for the Year. We wish to thank all parents for their sup-port and encouragement throughout the year and for giving us the opportunity to take care of your precious children. It has been a wonderful experience to watch the children grown and develop into independent little beings. For the month of December we have been celebrating Christmas traditions and cul-tures and the children have been busy with various art and craft activities. It is im-portant to be as culturally inclusive as possible so that all children and families feel a sense of belonging and importance within our Kidz Club family. The children have participated in a simple Christmas gift for all parents to treasure and enjoy. The result is beautiful and the children have enjoyed the sensory experi-ence too. We have continued with other various sensory experiences while decorat-ing our Christmas tree and will follow up with water play in the warmer months to come. Over the next few weeks we will have several new children starting and the educa-tors have been working hard with the children and parents to help settle the chil-dren. As with any change, it takes the children time to adjust to their new surround-ings and to develop secure bonds and attachments to the educators. If you have any questions or concerns about how your child is settling, please speak to an edu-cator or give us a telephone call to keep in touch. Some of our older babies have turned two and have now graduated to the Toddler Room. Because each child is different and change can be unsettling for some, tran-sition visits have been tailored to suit the individual child. Some children settle bet-ter at being dropped off in the Baby room and brought over once breakfast is com-plete. If you have any concerns about how your child has been progressing with transition visits please do not hesitate to speak with Kylie, Alana, Olida or Lucy (Toddler educators) Please remember to label as many items that are brought into child care as possi-ble so that they can go back to their rightful owner. We have gained a small collec-tions of dummies, milk bottles and caps/lids. If you are missing anything please ask an educator so that we can tidy up over the Christmas/New Year period. Just a friendly reminder to regularly check the parent trays located in the back right hand corner of the Baby Room. All information about the Baby Room and the Cen-tre and some lost property gets put into the tray. Thank you for your Christmas gifts and we wish everyone a safe and happy Christ-

mas!

Baby Room educators Page 2

BLOSSOMING BUTTERFLIES BABY ROOM

ROOM NEWS Issue 12

December 2014 December 2014

Greetings from the Toddler Room,

All over the world, Christmas is celebrated reflect local culture and traditions. The festivities can be very different from country to country, focusing on different aspects of the Christmas story. In the Toddler Room the educators and children have been looking at traditions that are relevant and reflected in our childcare community. If you have a Christmas tradition you would like the children to participate in please speak with an educators so that information and art can be incorporated in the

room.

With the warmer months upon us, many parents are using this as an opportunity to toilet train. Educators in the room will continue to support your child through this process. Toilet training is a big step in your toddler’s life. Some toddlers get the knack quickly, while others need parental patience and support. There are many websites available with tips and suggestions on how to best ready your child and yourself, for this developmental milestone. If you want further information please

speak to an educator in the Toddler Room.

It is natural that children will wish to carry familiar toys with them and to show friends things which are precious to them. It has been our experience however, that bringing toys from home often creates difficult situations in the centre. Children have difficulty sharing a special toy BUT they have an equally difficulty time choosing to put it away instead. We request that children do NOT bring toys from home to the centre but rather , wait for the opportunity for sharing their own things during times when friends visit at home. Items used for transitions and security (comfort toy) Items used for transitions and security (comfort toy) Items used for transitions and security (comfort toy) Items used for transitions and security (comfort toy)

such as a blanket or favourite stuffed animal are OK to bring.such as a blanket or favourite stuffed animal are OK to bring.such as a blanket or favourite stuffed animal are OK to bring.such as a blanket or favourite stuffed animal are OK to bring.

Thank you for the lovely Christmas gifts and cards.

Kind Regards the Toddler Room Staff

TERRIFIC TURTLE TODDLER ROOM

Welcome to another addition of Kindy News,

What a busy month we have this December. We had our graduation on Friday the 12th. We had such a wonderful night celebrating the journeys that the children have had at Kidz Club. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Melva for organising another successful event and to also thank the girls who helped me with the reports and slideshow presentation. We have had such a wonderful year in the Kindy Room and we will miss the group that are moving off to new educational journeys.

This month we have been looking at Christmas and celebrating how different countries celebrate. The children found it interesting that in Japan they don't celebrate Christmas, but celebrate New Year. On Christmas day children go to school and adults go to work.

Next year we will be starting the Jolly Phonics program again as we will have a new group of children moving up from the Toddler Room. This will be a good chance for the children who have been in the room this year to revise the sounds and gain the confidence with their literacy skills.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our wonderful families a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year. We hope that Father Christmas is kind to you all and if you are going away please drive safely. Christmas is a very special time to spend with our families and friends. Lets make sure that we all drive carefully and keep our loved ones safe.

We look forward to the new year and having a lot of new families in the Kindy Room to share in their growth and development as Kindy children. If any parents have ideas of what we can incorporate into our curriculum please share your ideas with educators in the room. Also we really rely on parent participation and feedback at the centre and we welcome any information about your children. There is some things that happen in children's lives that could affect their emotions. These can include things like not wanting to come to child care, moving house, they have a new interest or a change in family dynamics. This information is important as it can affect their time at the centre and if we are made aware of situations then we can accommodate for them to make their changes easier. Communicate these changes no matter how small you think it may be.

Thank you from the Kindy Staff.

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