Learning Across the ELC

Learning in the Wattle Room

This week our Seeds and Blossom children delved into reading and exploring the book "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen.  In this book children follow a family on their expedition through swishy grass, splashy rivers, and thick oozy mud, all brought to life with rhythmic repetition and immersive illustrations. We noticed some of our children had previous knowledge regarding the book as they were confident and proactive in sharing their knowledge with others. 

To enhance their learning further, educators included literacy table which was set up with a range of materials such as water, grass, stones, mud, twigs, cotton balls, a wooden house, and the bear's cave. The children used this table to extend on their acquired knowledge as they investigated, imagined, and explored many ideas. They expressed wonder and interest in this inquiry-based literacy experience as they were curious, enthusiastic, and determined participants in their learning. 

The Wattle Team

Learning in Preschool

As our 'Belonging nurtures authentic connections' inquiry continues in Preschool, our older Preschool children have been supporting all our new students to build their sense of belonging to our space. They have been sharing their knowledge of Preschool rituals and responsibilities. It's been heartwarming to watch new friendships form so naturally. Preschool Gold has truly stepped into leadership roles, showing kindness, confidence, and care as they help their new peers settle in room. They have taken the lead in demonstrating our preschool routines, showing them around the space with pride! It’s a wonderful beginning to what is shaping up to be a fun and enriching term ahead.

The Preschool children have been building their sense of identity by creating individual locker labels, cutting and pasting their family photos into our family album, exploring provocations of interest and drawing themselves as authors and illustrators of our Floor Book. They all connected with technology, using the iPad to take a photo of themselves, showing us how they can manipulate their bodies to position themself or a part of their body on the screen viewer, then use their coordination to hold that pose and press the button at the same time. From there they selected a shape to frame their photo, engaging in conversations about different shapes and the properties of shapes with us. Marcus and his friends found it hilarious when he positioned his photo to only show one of his eyes in his diamond shape, saying "I'm a pirate!" Then the seemingly favourite part of the process, selecting a background that represents their interest and feelings, sharing with us their knowledge of the colours and patterns they noticed. Some children found their background straight away and others scrolled through the options searching for something uniquely specific, Lenny for example wanted a dinosaur background but ended up finding "the big thunderstorm, the dinosaurs live there." Jamie was looking for "a pool to swim." 

The children used their name cards to help them recognise the letters of their name on the iPad keyboard and type their name. Then they selected a colour for their name and explored positional concepts while using their fingers to move their name around, making it larger or smaller and positioning it where they wanted, Henry laughed as he said "I put it on my eyebrow." 

As part of our ongoing focus on building community connections and helping children explore real-world occupations, we have created a doctors surgery role-play area in our learning space. This interactive setup has quickly become a favourite among the children! They’ve loved stepping into different roles—doctor, nurse, receptionist, and patient—taking turns and using their imaginations to bring the space to life. Through this play, children are not only building social and communication skills but also learning valuable lessons about staying healthy and how we can protect ourselves and others from germs. It’s been wonderful to watch their confidence grow as they use language to express needs, show empathy, and take care of their "patients." These rich, hands-on experiences support both their understanding of the world around them and their personal development. The children have enjoyed tracing silhouette's of their bodies and they have had the opportunity to express what they would like to be when they grow up.

Natalie Cocca

ELC Teacher