Waratah Group

To help build and develop each child’s confidence and sense of responsibility, we have set activities. Each session, one child is chosen to be our Helping Hand- responsibilities include- choosing where children sit for lunch/snack, dispersing children from group time using one of our transition activities, ringing the chimes to signal the next routine etc. Livingston Bear, the Waratah group mascot has spent time with a few children in the group so far and this isa perfect opportunity for the children to talk to the group about their time with Livingston and recall events etc., using the photos or text as a prompt. Livingston will continue to go home with a different child each week next term.

 We will also begin Show and Share in Term 3, giving children a chance to speak in front of the group and share something special from home- watch out for the red box! 

A big part of kinder is supporting children with their social skills. These skills include sharing, taking turns, cooperating, collaborating and communicating. We do this through the way we set up spaces for pairs or small groups etc, the areas we have set up- roleplay areas,  construction, the number of resources out etc which encourage children to share. 

We also facilitate play board games where children need to follow basic rules, take turns, work together, support each other, cope with losing appropriately. Every Thursday, we engage in Buddy Time, where children are paired with a different peer each session. The children: 

• complete a small activity (like building with blocks or painting together) 
• Practice listening to each other 
• share ideas and work as a team 

This helps children step out of their comfort zones and form new friendships in a safe, supported way.

Lots of the children are interested in letters and numbers and engage in and build on their understanding of Literacy and Maths in different ways. Some children use the tape measures in the block area to measure buildings they have created or use the animal word labels in the block area when building a zoo. The road signs are used with the cars with children interpreting what the symbol or number means.  Children might make a book using cut out pictures or clusters of letters to convey meaning.  We also use the children's name labels and number figures in our transition games and also sing number songs.  We will continue to have literacy and number experiences in the program and facilitate children's learning and development in these areas.