Early Learning Centre

3-Year-Old Kindergarten

Minibeast incursion

ELC 3 was visited by the Mornington Peninsula Shire Environmental Education Program for an interactive minibeast incursion. The children looked at a book with pictures of minibeasts hiding in leaf litter, danced to music whilst making minibeast actions, and learned all about the many different types of minibeasts. The children participated in an insect scavenger hunt, and saw live stick insects, worms, slaters, centipedes, and beetles.

Book Week: Visit from Mr. Svigos

Picture storybook author Mr. Russell Svigos visited the ELC this week to talk about some of his picture storybooks from the “Dewey the Little Raindrop” series. The children watched excerpts from his stories on the interactive whiteboard and then created their own raindrops, with plenty of fun hands-on activities. 

Mrs Alyssa Cairns, ELC Teacher

4-Year-Old Kindergarten

What an exciting term it has been at the ELC!  Our young learners have been busy engaging in a wide range of hands-on activities, rich discussions, and joyful learning experiences that are helping them grow in confidence, curiosity and understanding.  

Exploring Space and God’s Creation

Our current inquiry has taken us on a journey beyond the stars!  The children have been learning all about space and the solar system, diving into fascinating topics like earth, other planets, the moon, and the sun.  Through stories, songs, creative art and 3D model-making, the children are beginning to understand the vastness of the  universe and the beauty of God’s creation from Genesis chapters 1 and 2. 

Building strong foundations in literacy and numeracy

The children have been practicing and building up their fine motor, numeracy and comprehension skills from birth.  These are strengthened even more when they attend kindergarten where their muscles develop through gripping, holding, pinching and squeezing.  This term, small group learning opportunities are structurally carried out. 

Educators are explicitly teaching the children how to hold pencils and scissors correctly, how to recognise letters and numbers, learn phonics, syllables, compound and rhyming words.  These are done through interactive games, focused tasks, songs and books.  Small group sessions are a big part of our daily routine, allowing educators to tailor learning experiences to the children’s individual needs.  

Calisthenics and Movement

Physical development is also in full swing.  Mrs Naomi Armstrong and her amazing assistants have been conducting callisthenics and movement sessions in the ELC.  These opportunities help children to explore how their bodies move, stretch, and coordinate.  The activities provided build spatial awareness, balance, gross motor skills, all while having lots of fun.  

Body Safety and Empowerment

As part of our commitment to holistic development, we’ve begun a focus on body safety.  In response to important developments within the early childhood sector, we are teaching children the importance of:

• Speaking up when something doesn’t feel right.
• Identifying trusted adults they can go to if they feel unsafe or uncomfortable
• Respecting their own boundaries and those of others.  

Body safety incursions have been planned in term 3 and these lessons will be taught through age-appropriate stories and discussions.  We believe it’s vital to empower young children with the tools to advocate for themselves and others in safe and respectful ways.  

We are so proud of the growth and enthusiasm we see in the children each day.  Thank you for being a part of this journey with us.  

Mrs Amy Hu, ELC Director

Upcoming Dates