Learning News Kindergarten

Welcome to another issue of our learning journey in Kindergarten!

Literacy

In InitiaLit (our learn to read program), our Kindergarten learners have been busy exploring the world of letters and their sounds. So far, we have met some very special characters to help us on our journey:

• m for Maggie Mouse
• s for Sammy Seal
• t for Tommy Tiger
• a for Andy Ant

We are focusing on the correct way to pronounce each sound and the children have loved learning the unique action that goes with every letter. These movements help us "lock" the sound into our memory.

We are already beginning to build words! We have been practicing "sound stretching" to blend sounds together and learning how to separate individual sounds within words (segmenting). It is wonderful to see their confidence growing as they start to "decode" the world around them.

💡 Try it at home: Ask your child to show you the action for Maggie Mouse, Sammy Seal, Tommy Tiger or Ant, while they make the sound. Can they find any of our focus letters on your cereal boxes or in your favourite bedtime stories? Playing eye spy with these letters and is another great idea

Maths

This term, our mathematicians have been diving deep into the world of numbers! We have been focusing on identifying and representing numbers from 0 to 20.

Beyond just recognizing numerals, the children are mastering one-to-one correspondence (pointing to each object as they count) and understanding cardinality (knowing that the last number counted tells us "how many" are in the whole group). We have also been working hard on our number formation to ensure every digit is written correctly and clearly. To build our number fluency, the class has loved playing high-energy games like "King of the Circle" and "Buzz Off Hairy Legs." These games make practicing our number facts a lot of fun and build fluency.

💡 Try it at home:  When your child counts their toys, ask them: "How many are there altogether?" If they can tell you the total without re-counting from the start, they are using their cardinal number knowledge.

Religion

We began our year in Religion by exploring the beautiful story of The Good Shepherd and the Lost Sheep, learning about how much we are loved and cared for by Jesus. 

As we moved into the current religious Season of Lent, we have been counting the 40 days as we remember the events leading up to Easter. Most recently, our Kindergarteners have been captivated by the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, The Last Supper and Take and Eat. It has been wonderful to observe the children respond so thoughtfully to these stories. They have been expressing their understanding through beautiful drawings, representing the stories with playdough and  bringing the lessons to life through our play based religion story boxes.

History

In History, our Kindergarten students have been investigating "Who is in my family?" We have enjoyed learning about the different names and titles we use for our relatives.

The children have explored their own heritage by creating family trees, identifying their parents, siblings, and grandparents. 

We have also had wonderful discussions comparing various cultures and family structures, celebrating the beautiful similarities and differences that make each of our families unique.

Art

Our Kindergarten artists have been very busy lately! We were proud to contribute to the Barraba Show display—a project led by the creative genius of Mrs. Phillips. Many of you may have spotted our stunning work there! The students enjoyed creating glittery, textured seaweed and "dazzling" turtles that looked both realistic and magical.

Recently, we dived into the world of texture and process art with bubble paintings. This was a high-engagement, sensory experience where students were given containers of water, dish soap, and vibrant food colouring. Using their own straws, the children practiced their breath control to blow a mountain of bubbles to the top of their containers. Once the bubbles reached the peak, they "caught" the patterns on their paper to create beautiful, marble-like artworks. It was a fantastic (and very bubbly) success!

🔍 Fun fact: Art & Science

Did you know that blowing bubbles is actually a great way to develop the muscles used for speech and pronunciation? It’s also a fun way to observe how colors mix to create new shades!