River Room Curriculum

Hello everyone, 

Can you believe we are already at the end of term 3. It's been a busy term, we have had a lot of fun and made some special memories whilst enriching our learning and development . We have been focusing on colours, building our social skills, building friendships with both our peers and educators,focusing on self  help and independence, working on our fine motor skills, extending our gross motor and physical skills and enjoying sensory play. Let's have a look at what we have been up to over the last term.

All about colours

This term our focus has been :Colours

 Focusing on a different Primary colour each fortnight. We wanted to support the children knowledge of different colours and support them in recognising and naming them. We have been exploring colours through using the light box to illuminate the colour blocks and sensory tiles, using colour  puzzles to match  the colour pieces to the colours on the board, easel painting of that chosen fortnightly colour, coloured playdough, reading books and singing songs during group time, and having colour posters up around the room.

The children are really beginning to be able to recognise and name the colours confidently. Some children are pointing to objects or posters around the room and telling us the colour, some children are holding up toys and saying the colour or pointing to pictures in books, the children have really been showing an interest in colours and using their knowledge during play and conversation with educators in the room. 

 Each term we put together a project and work on it together over the term, this is a group project to showcase what we have been focusing on, as we have been focusing on colours, this term we worked together to create a hand print rainbow. This consisted of the children painting their hands using different colours of their choice and once complete placing the hand prints together to make our rainbow. The children are very proud of what they have achieved so please make sure you have a look outside our room and check it out.

Group time

We have been really enjoying group times over this term and the children are beginning to engage for longer periods and even starting to give some of their own input, asking for certain songs or books they want to read or singing the next line to their favourite songs. As this term we were focusing on colours our group times also incorporated this through songs, books and puppets. We have read the Where is the green sheep book, Nee Naw (The little red fire engine) book, sang songs including 5 little (Yellow) ducks, 5 little (Brown) monkeys, Yellow is my colour star book  and Gulumph went the little green frog. The children have getting very excited to do the tapping sticks songs and are really enjoying the variety of different tapping stick songs we are singing, demonstrating interest and engagement, building their social skills and  using a variety of language both verbal and nonverbal,using facial expressions and gestures and 

We have over the last couple of weeks introduced the Phonics 2 song, which is an alphabet song with a catchy tune, I have printed visual as well so when we are singing the song the children have the visual pictures to look at. This experience will help the children remember phonics sounds and letter patterns more easily than plain text or  flashcards. 

Music involves active recall, which strengthens the connection between words and sounds, embedding them into long-term memory. 

Group time sessions foster a sense of community and belonging, it boosts the children's self-esteem and confidence, improves their concentration and listening skills, and provides essential routines and preparation for future learning environments. Group times also foster skills such as memory recall, provides knowledge on related topics and builds language literacy skills. Group times are also a fun and interactive way for the children to learn and gain knowledge about the world around them.

Fine motor:

Over term 3 we have been focusing on a lot of fine motor play, this has been introduced with puzzles, threading, peg boards, drawing,painting and using our spoons at mealtimes. We have been introducing some of these experiences as both small group activities, larger group activities and some experiences like the easel painting has been one at a time, however the children do enjoying waiting for their turn and watching their peers create their artwork. As the children are getting older and developing their skills they are beginning to understand these activities more and the experiences purpose, rather then transporting the pegs from the peg board around the room they are beginning to sit down at the activity and concentrating on the outcome. The sensory tub is always popular and the children have been extending their coordination as they scoop up the rice and pour it into containers, some children will spend their whole time at the sensory tub, focused and engaged.

Fine motor activities benefit children by strengthening the small muscles in their hands and fingers, which builds independence in self-care tasks like eating and dressing. These activities enhance hand-eye coordination, boost cognitive development, improve self-esteem, and foster creativity.  

Here are some more photos taken during the term that we would like to share to share with you all......

What to expect from term 4

Term 4 is set to be a busy term, with our inquiry focus being Transport, We will also be introducing emotions, we want to support the children in understanding their emotions and support them when frustrations arise, this will be introduced mainly through songs and books, group times and through some mirror play experiences where the children can make faces in the mirror and mirror painting. We will have photos of the children around the room making different faces that they can look at and we can talk about with them.

Special days and events coming up in term 4:

October

6th world space week

13th National nutrition week

20th Diwali

31st Halloween 

November

4th Melbourne cup

10th Recycling week

11th Remembrance day

December

Everything Christmas

Thank you from all of us in the River room, Danni, Paris, Nicole, Polin,Tanika and Kayleigh