Early Learning

Koalas

Our Koala Group have been sharing lots of Community focus play, treating puppets and friends in the Kinder Clinic. There is always a dentist, optometrist and doctor available to prescribe new glasses, extract teeth and bandage up teachers. There have been a few cases of teachers "eating too many sausages for dinner", with plenty of painful needles and yucky medicines administered! The children are enjoying being in charge and exploring aspects of life and healthcare that may be frightening to them in reality. In their health worker play the children have also been able to identify healthy food and drink options for strong teeth and bodies, advising their patients to eat lots and lots of vegetables... and a few less sausages.

We've also been focusing on posting letters or drawings to others in our Koala group. 

This focus was inspired by the children, who had been pretending to write and then dictating their words to teachers, so their letters could be understood by their families.

The letters have contained a lot of love and appreciation for not only their families but for others in the Koala group. It has been so heart-warming to hear their thoughts about others and what is important in their lives within and beyond Kinder.

In our classroom we currently have a Post Pocket for every child and educator in the group, and the children can easily locate their intended recipient's pocket by finding their name and photograph. Through this activity the children themselves are shaping a learning community that is flourishing in inclusive practice, kindness and connection with others.

As we continue to build learning relationships with the group, storytelling as a whole group has been a favourite part of our program this fortnight. Our key stories have been Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, and Tiddalick, a Dreamtime story. Children have been opening a mailbag to choose an animal, and to think of a reason it would not make a good pet! The Koalas have been coming up with some great words to describe the problematic animals: Too itchy! Too fluffy! Too heavy! Too spiky! We have also learned more animal words using Key Word Sign; we weren't sure how to say Rhinoceros or Zebra using signing, so we did some further investigation to find out how to say them.

Tiddalick has been requested every session this fortnight, with children taking turns to choose what animal they want to be in the story, or who will take a lead role of Tiddalick, Noyang the Eel or the Wise Old Wombat. Children have also been drawing or painting characters and elements of the story in their artwork, continuing to tell the story across different mediums. What a busy and fun fortnight it's been!

Sian Duggan

Koala Group Educator

Wombats

The three year old Wombats have made a lot of progress in developing building skills this year. Construction play is great for developing fine and gross motor skills, creativity and problem solving. Self confidence, cooperation and resilience also grow as the children experiment with their constructions individually or with others.

Robyn Parker

Early Learning Educator