Dee’s Message - Reddam House · 2019-10-29 · Jax: You have to wash hands after you go to the...

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER 1

Dee’s Message By Dee Pitcairn, Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The Sport report, which appears in the

newsletter each week, provides an

interesting window into some of the

activities in which the children are

engaged during a typical week. Of

course, there are many more

opportunities for play each day, but the

organised Sport intervention is a

structured and focused way of ensuring

that all children in the ELS are part of a

programme which encourages their little

bodies to develop strength, agility and

skills.

Perhaps you, like me, enjoy some of the

creative names which have been given

to these games, like the frequently

mentioned ‗Pacman‘. Our society has

certainly moved a long way from that

very rudimentary computer game of an

earlier age, and very few of our children

would even know what ‗Pacman‘ is! Yet

behind each of these names is a well

thought out activity, designed

specifically for a young, developing

body.

The benefits of a healthy body are well-

known, especially because of the largely

sedentary lifestyles of so many in today‘s

rushed world. One article describes the

necessity for providing the opportunities

for healthy activities among children in

this way: ―Early childhood—that is, 0 to 5

years—is a critical time for establishing

healthy behaviours and patterns that will

carry over into later childhood,

adolescence and adulthood.‖

The physical fitness programme in which

your child engages here in the ELS is one

which encourages a range of

movement, while ensuring that the

children enjoy what they are doing. It

includes activities which stress mobility,

flexibility, balance, coordination, and the

strength to maintain body posture

through a variety of activities. At the

same time it guides the children in

appropriate interpersonal skills, as they

support their peers and learn how to

engage socially while being active.

2 JUNE 2017

http://www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca/documents/parenting_2011-04.pdf


As any occupational therapist will attest,

engaging in gross motor skills and spatial

exploration are integral to the

development of every child. Both

structured and unstructured

opportunities to play and to take part in

physical activities are necessary and we

try to ensure that all the children in the

ELS have plenty of time for each of

these. I thank the teachers and our

special ‗Coach Spencer‘ for their

creative and interesting ideas for how to

keep the children on the move and

constantly challenging themselves to

stretch their physical parameters.

Perhaps this weekend your child could

even pass on a couple of the activities

which he or she has learned at school,

to the rest of the family.

Enjoy the weekend!

Dee Pitcairn

Principal

Dee’s Message By Dee Pitcairn, Principal


The Nest “Brazilian Music...” Tatiana Botrel, Lois Ma, Briar O’Mara & Shirley Brockwell

This week‘s journey in the musical world

led us to Brazil, the background from

which some of the children and

teachers from The Nest come. The

children were greeted in the mornings

by the sound of Bossa Nova – a very

popular music style from Brazil. During

the week the children also had the

chance to explore the ukulele and the

music bottles. Our main focus this week

was to work different rhythms with the

children, helping them to identify fast

and slow.

In the Mini Art Atelier, the children

engaged in more painting, but this time

using the colours of the Brazilian flag:

green, yellow, blue and white. They also

explored the different texture of the

cellophane paper to create a beautiful

collage. Before using this paper for the

collage activity, the children were

encouraged to scrunch, tap, roll and

even play peek-a-boo. It was a nice

way to expose the children to different

sensory activities in our little atelier.

Outcome 1: Children have a strong

sense of identity. Children develop

knowledgeable and confident self-

identities. EYLF, 2009.

Music Show & Tell – Sharing music

talents…

Last week, we received our first guest in

our classroom. Danielle – Xander and

Will‘s mother - joined us to play the

violin for the children in The Nest.

Everyone carefully observed how

beautiful the nursery rhymes sounded

on the violin and the boys were very

proud for having their mummy with us in

the classroom. Please let me know if

you are able to play any instruments,

and we can organise a day for you to

come into our classroom.

Outcome 2: Children are connected

with and contribute to their world.

Children develop a sense of belonging

to groups and communities and an

understanding of the reciprocal rights

and responsibilities necessary for active

community participation. EYLF, 2009.

Nursery Rhymes

Some families have been asking what

songs we sing at school, as they can‘t

quite identify what their children are

singing at home. Another favourite in

our classroom is ―Open and shut them‖.

For this song, each verse has a hand

action.

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them

Give a little clap, clap, clap

Open shut them,

Open shut them

Lay them in your lap, lap, lap

Creep them, creep them

Creep them, creep them

Right up to your chin

Open wide your little mouth

But do not let them in!

Shake them, shake them

Shake them, shake them

Shake them just like this

Roll them, roll them

Roll them, roll them,

Blow a little kiss


The Nest Photo Gallery


Fledglings “All About Me…” By Hannah McCooey, Olivia Binions and Jane Teh

This week, one of the main activities in

our classroom was ―How Tall am I?‖

expanding on our provocation, ‗All

about me‘. The children were

introduced to the concept of height and

measurement. The Fledglings were

involved in a height activity, which

allowed the children to play and have

fun with the concept of measuring

height. It also provided an opportunity to

expose or introduce the children to

standard measurement tools such as a

height chart showing the numbers on the

measuring tape. This measuring height

activity was a great opportunity to talk

about the concept of measurement and

used measurement related language to

describe who is taller or shorter or

whether they are the same height. The

children also had the opportunity to

compare heights and distinguish their

peers from tallest to shortest. The children

enjoyed the process and showed interest

and excitement to see their peer‘s

height. Each of the children‘s heights has

been displayed on coloured lollipop

sticks.

Puzzles have always been popular in the

Fledglings. They are an important

educational learning tool for toddlers

and young children as they provide

many skills and opportunities. These

include physical skills (Hand-Eye

Coordination and fine motor skills),

Cognitive skills (Shape recognition,

memory and problem solving) and

Emotional skills (setting goals and

patience/persistence). This also involves

developing solutions, reasoning skills, and

solving skills.

Puzzles are also great learning tools that

enhance and promote corporative play.

As children work together to complete

puzzles they often discuss where a piece

will go and why; they also share, take

turns, and assist each other, especially

when handling frustrations, which

promotes social interactions.

Feeding the children's interest in puzzles

this week and relating to our

provocation, the Fledglings have started

creating a collaborative artwork at the

Mini Atelier. This artwork has been named

―We all fit together‖ as it represents

belonging in our class. Working together,

the children have helped to cut out

paper puzzle pieces to design using

different materials of their choice. All of

the puzzles pieces fit perfectly together

to create one meaningful puzzle.

“Belonging is central to being and

becoming in that it shapes who children

are and who they can become” (EYLF,

2009).


Fledglings Photo Gallery


Stage 2 “Just Imagine...” Danniella Gotsy, Karla Cabezas, Tori Gordon, Shauna Corry, Vanessa Copper, Monika Ranjitkar and Min Pattharasiritanarat.

This week we thought we would give you

an insight into the world of the Stage 2

Atelier.

Atelier: a workshop or studio, especially

one used by an artist or designer.

This space consistently transforms itself as

it aims to inspire the children‘s imagina-

tion through the use of different mediums,

such as natural items we find through our

travels, and different activities based on

the children‘s interest. The space itself

can be inspired by the provocation at

the time; however, it does not have to

be.

In the Atelier it is a time for the children to

explore through their various senses, to

manipulate materials and to develop skills

in fine motor work. We encourage crea-

tivity by providing open-ended activities

and materials with which the children are

able to explore. The atelier isn‘t just about

paints and creating an end product, it is

about the journey.

Typically, the area is set up with painting,

drawing and sensory activities, which in-

cludes play dough and, this week, cloud

dough, made with flour and baby oil. In

addition to this there are always elements

of dramatic and construction-based play

available to the children. We currently

have a mini classroom set up where our

mini teachers in the room have the op-

portunity to teach their peers. This area

includes The Montessori letters, number

magnets and shapes on the light box

along with a reading mat and a stool for

the teacher to sit on.

While we use this room that we called the

Atelier to be creative, it does not mean

that the space is the only place where

our imaginations can evolve or where we

use various creative materials. Through-

out the ELS, we have mini Ateliers set up,

where we display collaborative projects.

Individual work often travels with the chil-

dren to different spaces. Our displays

showcase the work of the children and

visitors are mostly in awe of the children's

creative skills.

We would like to share the children's im-

agination and creativity through our

provocation "Just imagine".


Stage 2 Photo Gallery


Stage 3 “I’ve got a feeling…” By Christina Mandalidis, Susan Casey, Elizabeth Turner, Jason Corrigan, Polina Rodov and Deanne Jacobs

Over the past few weeks in Stage Three,

a lot of the children, teachers and

parents have fallen ill. It is because of this

reason that part of the focus of the week

has been on staying healthy.

The children were all involved in different

group times, which consisted of different

components to keep themselves healthy

in these cooler months. The first was

about hand washing. The children

discussed how hand washing was an

integral part of keeping healthy as it

washes away the germs. A discussion

then arose about the most important

times to wash hands

Jax: You have to wash hands after you

go to the toilet. Ew toilet germs!

Sebastian: I wash my hands after I play

outside

Angus: When I‘m sick I have to wash the

germs off my body

Theo: If you cough on someone they can

go wash their hands to stop the germs as

well.

The group time then transitioned into a

discussion about what to do if the

children become sick with a cold or

cough, and what the best way is to keep

others safe from these germs. The best

way to demonstrate was through an

experiment. Tina demonstrated using

glitter how easy it is for germs to spread.

First she coughed in her hands and made

the germs visual with the glitter in her

hands. Then what would happen if she

didn‘t go straight to wash her hands? The

germs would spread! She went on the

play equipment and left some glitter/

germs behind. Then a child came and

played on the same piece of equipment

and got glitter/germs on their hands as

well.

The group then demonstrated the best

ways to cover their germs.

When the children began to cough, they

found that the best way to prevent

spreading is to cover the mouth with their

arm and cough into their elbow. That

way the germs don‘t go onto their hands.

When the children feel a sneeze coming

on, they should try to get a tissue as soon

as possible. Any time after a child has

sneezed and blown his or her nose they

should go and wash their hands.

Some of the children mentioned that

when you put your hands and fingers in

your mouth the germs can then spread

into your mouth, tummy and throat.

Again this can be helped by washing

hands and keeping hands out of mouths,

but also by brushing teeth twice a day.

The children then went through a list of all

the things they can do to keep

themselves from getting sick:

1. Wash hands

2. Use tissues

3. Cover mouths

4. Rest

5. Drink lots of water

6. Eat fruit and vegetables with lots of

vitamins

These actions can be useful at school

and at home to extend the children‘s

independence and ensure that their

bodies will continue to grow and

develop in a healthy and happy way.


Stage 4 “Living Things…” By Anita Martin, Nina Bergel, Kristina Rocchi, Jane Pledger,Sandra Carberry

This week we explored the book ‗Mad

About Minibeasts‘. This links to our

provocation ‗Living Things‘. The children

were very engaged, and displayed

interest in discovering facts about a

variety of creatures in our world.

At the end of the book, the children were

asked ‗Which mini beast was your

favourite one?‘

The children were able to recall some

facts that they had learned:

Ines: I like the butterfly because it is a

caterpillar and then it is a butterfly.

Diyan: I like the ladybug because it has

black spots on it.

Hugo: I like the snail because it has

beautiful colours on its shell. Its shell is its

home.

Aamir: I like the slug because it is black

and doesn‘t have bones.

Eve: I like dragonflies because they buzz

around all day.

Jake: I like spiders because they catch

flies on their spider webs and they like to

eat them.

Harry: I like the grasshopper because it

hops around all day. I also like it because

they rub their feet together in the night.

Arabella: I like the butterfly because it is

so beautiful.

Annika: I like the caterpillar because it

becomes a butterfly.

Avi: I like the worm.

Katie: I like the ladybug because it is

pretty.

The children were resourceful in their

learning as they found a variety of

shaped objects in the classroom to draw

around. They cut out these shapes and

used them to create their interpretation

of their favourite creature. During this

experience the children were

demonstrating and further developing

their creative and imaginative skills.


Music By Justin Goh

Hello everyone!

Remember what we shared about the

―quiet time‖ in class and how useful it is

for children? This week, Justin enhanced

that experience by bringing an Alto

Recorder and demonstrating how it

sounds lower in pitch when compared

to the Soprano Recorder. Just for laughs,

he even played two recorders at the

same time!

Stage 1 & 2

We continued to instil the sense of

the steady beat by clapping, patting,

stomping and using non-pitched

classroom percussion instruments such

as egg shakers and bells. The children

had a chance to hit on the drum again

and this time (because it was less

strange to them) many of the little ones

were more confident and hit the drum a

little more comfortably, as they had

been a bit reserved last week. That‘s

why repetition is very important in our

curriculum for young children.

Another activity which was very

enjoyable and helpful in their

development was the ―I can wiggle‖

rhyme we said together. This activity

employs something we call ―inhibitory

control‖. Children had to suddenly stop

their actions and keep still for a few

seconds. The ability for children to stop

a movement activity and to start again

helps to instil discipline in a fun way.

Stage 3

It was so much fun going on our musical

rainbow train last week... we did it again

this week! Children used their calling

voice and said together, ―All aboard!‖

We also had a focused listening activity

and picked out the sounds of the train

wheels, the train whistle, the turning

wheels and brakes with our ears.

Focused listening is different from the

general ability to hear. This activity is a

learned skill where they selectively listen

for specific sounds.

This week, our train also introduced the

―triangle‖ (a metal percussion

instrument). As part of the rhyme,

children had to hit the triangle THREE

times. It was also pointed out that the

triangle has THREE sides. It was

interesting to see who was able to

intentionally hit the triangle exactly

THREE times at the exact moment of the

rhyme. Children really had to focus and

concentrate in order to get this right.

And still... have lots of fun!

Stage 4

We played a Japanese early childhood

musical game, ―Wild bird‖, where a

child pretends to be in a cage with his/

her eyes closed while everyone else flies

around singing this traditional Japanese

(pentatonic - using only 5 pitches) tune.

At the end of the song, one child stands

behind the child in the ―cage‖ and

sings, ―What is my name?‖ The child in

the cage guesses and another child got

selected to be in the ―cage‖. This went

on for a few runs until all the children

who wanted to be in the ―cage‖ had

been given a turn.

They had the ―wind chime‖ and played

with the scarves again. In addition, we

learned a new song, ―Star light‖. Each

time we sang the song, a different child

had a chance to make a wish. The one

who made the wish got to stroke the

wind chime, which produced a magical

ethereal sound. This is an excellent song

because it only has 2 pitches (bi-tonal).


Music By Justin Goh

Children had to raise their hands at the

higher pitch and lower their hands on

the lower pitch. This will be extremely

helpful when they play on the

xylophones in the coming weeks!


Music Photo Gallery


Dance and Drama By Laura Hudson

Stage 3 & 4

Students will rein act parts the story of

Hansel and Gretel exploring different

endings. The children will also develop

the drama, use their imagination, and

voice to create their own rendition of the

story.

Skills learnt this week:

1. Mime

2. Soundscape

3. Facial Expressions

4. Using their body to create different

objects and shapes

5. Being a different character

6. Working as a group and Individually

7. Concentration

Hot seating – Question and Answer

Activities include:

Memory recall from last week

Went on an interactive adventure into

the forest, meeting a Witch

Created a soundscape

The Witch say‘s (played like Simon says)

Hot seated some of the characters from

the story (Stage 4)


Physical Education By Spencer Clifton

The Stage 1 (Nest) had a fantastic week

of sport. We started with a few short

sprints to get warmed up followed by a

problem-solving exercise that involved

the children collecting two different

objects at the same time and placing

them into the correct basket - soft balls

and colour markers were used. Our next

activity made use of soccer ball exposure

where the children kicked and threw the

balls.

The Stage 1 (Fledglings) started the lesson

off with a running exercise to warm up

their muscles followed by our new animal

movements that aim to help strengthen

their muscles and balance.

Our next activity involved a mini obstacle

course, which focused on walking,

balancing and overall movement. The

course incorporated a crawling tunnel,

mini crocodile hurdles and jumping

hoops. We finished off with some kicking

and throwing.

Stage 2 started off the lesson with some

controlled running exercises, followed by

our animal movements which target

muscle strength in their legs, arms and

core.

Our next activity involved an obstacle

course that focused on developing the

children's balance, body positioning,

problem-solving, strength and

coordination. As the children completed

the course, different sections were

manipulated to increase the difficulty

and challenge the children. A variety of

obstacles were used, namely a climbing

block, balancing beam, manipulated

hopscotch, crawling tunnel and

crocodile hurdles.

Stage 3 and Stage 4 had a fantastic

lesson, during which we started with a

running activity to warm up, followed by

our strengthening movements.

Our next activity involved an obstacle

course. We use this to see how the

children have developed over the term.

The aim of this particular obstacle course

focused on developing the children's

balance, body positioning, problem-

solving, strength and co-ordination. As

the children completed the course,

different sections were manipulated to

increase the difficulty and challenge the

children. A variety of obstacles was used,

namely a step ladder for quick foot

placement, a climbing wall, manipulated

hopscotch, stepping stones for transfer of

weight while stepping, crocodile hurdles

and zig zag running which focused on

agility.


Physical Education Photo Gallery

Dee’s Message - Reddam House · 2019-10-29 · Jax: You have to wash hands after you go to the...

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