Today we had the opportunity to connect with a school in our community called Yarralinda. It is a beautiful independent school with small multiage classes. They invited us to visit and take a tour of their facilities and also enjoy a movement, art and PE class. The children were truly excited to get to travel on the Yarralinda’s mini bus and see big school kids learning and exploring.

Listening to other teachers , having new materials and programs to participate in was a wonderful opportunity for the children . Our movement session was much loved as we got to pretend swim in the waves as well as surf on boards. After movement we ventured to the amazing art room with a tree right in the middle of the room. Here we got to use shaving cream and paint to make swirls then print it onto paper . Our waves looked unique and we got to take them home protected in a cup. PE was also great fun with us jumping like kangaroos balancing bean bags on shoulders and knees and then playing scraecrow tiggy and other fun running games.

We had an amazing time at Yarralinda Primary school in Mooroolbark and are very grateful for the experience provided to us.Dont forget to take a look and consider this option when choosing a school

Commuity :Children are connected with and contribute to their world.

* Engage in events and environments in a responsible and active way

*Introduced to different people and the idea of communities.

* Consider how and why other places are different from their own

* Begin to compare rules in games & sport

* Listen to others suggestions

This fortnight we have had the opportunity to watch baby chicks hatch at kinder inside our incubator. The children have been glued to it waiting and watching for any sign of movement. Finally Wednesday 18th we had one chicken hatch then another 3 . Arriving Thursday to see our 4 chickens imagine the suprise when we had 7 yellow fluffy chicks. This gave us a good chance to do the maths and work out how many more had hatched overnight. ( 4 plus ? = 7)

We couldnt wait til our chicks were a little bigger and stronger so we could touch and hold them. We discussed being gentle and how chickens feel pain, also we discussed listening to them chirping very loudly to communicate they are frigthened or uncomfortable.

The children have been looking at books and joining in on conversations building knowledge about the lifecycle of a chicken. The children knew about hens and roosters and have enjoyed books like Cocka moo moo and Chickens arent the only one. This years children have been fascinated by what groups of animals are called such as a herd of seahorses and swarm of bees and school of fish and were very excited to learn that a group of egss is called a clutch.

The children are enjoying organising and playing games at kinder outside. They have had lots of fun negotiating hide n seek and today they initiated a chasing game outside called “Duck, Duck, Goose”.

The child get to go around the circle saying “duck” as they touch each person’s head until they get to the person they want to chase them then they say “goose”. This is a really fun game and the children really enjoy playing it. This type of game encourages the children to work together as a whole group, encourages fairness and turn taking whilst also allowing the children opportunities to develop their motor skills in a shared space safely and in consideration of the other around them. Discussions about fairness , inclusion and good social practises occurred supporting children in understanding and being considerate of others

As part of our science studies at kinder today: Monday 16^th March we used some fruit and vegetables to explore the concept of floating & sinking at group time.

We named each one including sweet potato , zucchini , plums etc and then got to vote whether we thought it would float or sink.

Our orange floated but l when l peeled all the skin off it sunk. The children were asked to consider why this happened and one child suggested that maybe the juice can escape without the skin causing it to sink. Experiences such as this are aimed to provoke thinking , questioning making suggestions and test theories. I passed the skin around so the children could notice the tiny air pockets, holes in the skin and this information was then transferred to their understanding of how a boat floats but if it gets a hole or is damaged water can enter filling up the air pockets or spaces causing it to sink just like our orange. A very clever comparison by the children.

Nadine O’Brien

Planting our Veggie Garden

As part of our healthy bodies, healthy lifestyle program at kinder we will continue to discuss which foods are best for our bodies and why.

We will talk lots about fruits and vegetables that are grown above and those that grow below the ground.

We will continue to discuss how foods grown naturally in nature are unprocessed and full of good nutrients for us. Having an understanding of where our food comes from is also a key learning outcome for children.

We will be making fruit salad this term and veggie soup next term and be looking at, touching and tasting many fruits and vegetables that were fully grown but we will also look at seeds and seedlings and how plants grow with sun water, and soil.

In our veggie garden we have planted carrots (to grow below the ground) and snow peas (to grow above the ground) lettuce, cauliflower and lots of different herbs that we can smell and taste.

Outcome3: Children have a strong sense of Wellbeing

Outcome 2 : Children are connected to and contribute to their world

The children were asked today to use shapes to make a picture. Many of the children could come up with their own idea and plan for making the thing of their choice while others looked at others for inspiration or sought some support from staff with possible ideas to get them started.

Obviously the children have been collaging open ended pictures for pleasure and exploration but our program at Gray Court Preschool also plans specific opportunities to challenge children and support them through a variety of experiences. We hold high expectations for all children and believe they are often underestimated.

Take a look at the wonderful designs our red group children came up with. Lots of thinking , planning and implementing occured to be able to complete this task. After our shape story later in our day the children expressed they had more ideas they wanted to pursue so lets see what happens on Wednesday. Revisiting experiences is an important opportunitiy for young children.

Nadine O’Brien

Group observation : Thursday 26^th Feb 2015

The 4 boys C, N, A and J were playing down near the digging patch. They discussed pushing the table up closer to the large metal scramble net. As it was heavy they got it stuck on the edging and could see that it was wobbly and unsafe. A came to get a staff member to help make it safe for climbing on to reach the pole. Each boy lined up to have a go but J was unsure. N suggested he ask a staff member to help. The staff member did and after one go J confidently did it independently. All 3 boys acknowledged his success and cheered him on. They continued scaling, holding and moving their own body weight across the length of the bar before dropping and landing safely in a motorbike land with knees bent. Next they moved on to the fireman’s pole and inspired many others to challenge themselves and give it a go. Being open to challenge and risking yourself is vital for learning and growth. We were excited to see this play evolving in our kinder yard and witness the incredible support our red group children gave each other.

Outcome  3 : CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF WELLBEING

* Demonstrate trust and confidence

* Seek out and accept new challenges

* Celebrate their own and others achievements

* take risks seek support

* engage in increasingly complex motor skills

* Manipulate , use equipment with increasing coodrdination and skill

* Show enthusiasm for physical play and negotiate spaces to ensure safety and the wellbeing of others

Nadine O’Brien

Outcome 4 : Children are confident and involved learners

* Make predictions

* Apply a wide variety of thinking

* Participate in a variety of rich meaningful inquiry based experiences

* Be a curious engaged , enthusiastic learner