Forest (3 Year Old Kindergarten) Curriculum

End of Term 3 already! Wow! What a busy term we have had! Children have grown in their independence, social skills, play skills, and extended their friendships. They have been loving the hands-on play and, of course, getting messy! We have wrapped up our emotional regulation curriculum, and are blossoming into different parts of learning.

Take a look at some of our highlights from this term:

Literacy:

Here in the Forest Room, we have introduced literacy in a fun and engaging way. We kicked off our literacy curriculum by focusing on the letters S, A, and T. Rather than following the traditional A–Z sequence, we began with these specific letters because they allow children to start blending sounds and guessing simple words right away (with consistency, repetition, and maturity). These letters are also easier for the children to articulate and recognise in everyday words, helping to build confidence and early reading skills from the start.

To support children's learning in a fun and hands-on way, we introduced a special ‘ Forest Room Letter Box’. This box contains the focus letters for the week. How is this used? Well, to begin, a teacher will pull out a piece of paper and place it face down. Then, a few children will take turns at picking one and guessing which letter it might be. After the guesses, we reveal the letter to the group and practice saying the sound together. It is a fun and interactive way to build excitement around letter recognition and phonics!

Throughout the weeks, our Forest Room Letter Box has grown and been modified. Items beginning with the focus letters started to be inside it (Tiger, Sunglasses), along with images and then movement cards! Implementing movement into the children's learning caters for individual learning styles while continuing to build brain and body connections, which are crucial for concentration, listening, and retaining information.

Caring for our wildlife:

The past couple of weeks we have been watching, caring and looking after our animals both outdoors and indoors (birds and vet home corner).

It all started when one of our Forest Room friends decided to use a used milk bottle to create a food and water station for the birds. The Forest Room children were very interested and wanted to participate.  Following hanging up the food and water station, the Forest Room children got chatting and they all decided we needed to make signs and posters for the birds! 

After the children finished drawing, we laminated them and hung them on our tree outside near our food and water station. Mazen came up with an idea by putting a string around the tree with their pictures. What a great idea!

They have been quick to remind me that we need to keep topping up the birds' food and water! We have observed the children taking more notice of insects, birds and other wildlife, making sure we are being mindful and caring towards them. I can't wait to see this investigation grow and how this will be extended! 

Forest Room Library bag:

An observation all teachers had noticed was the connection the children had with storybooks! There were times children were bringing in books for us to read at group time and what better way to extend than by implementing a library bag! 

Now this Library Bag is a little bit different, it started by going to a teacher's home to give the children an idea of how to use it and what to do; however, simply, the children took the library bag home, put ONE of their favourite story books inside and brought it back to Forest Room for us to read at our group time! 

Wow, it was an amazing experience and opportunity for the children (and teachers)! When the children stood up to show everyone their story, their faces lit up with joy. This experience was a good way for the children to be exposed to new stories, language, and develop a sense of belonging here in Forest Room by sharing with their peers. 

Supporting children's voices:

As we explored National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day on the 4th of August, we also continued to work and incorporate Victoria’s Child Safe Standards.

Incorporation of Victoria’s Child Safe Standards allows children to understand their rights, keep them safe, and enforce this within their day-to-day.

With linkage of Standard 1, we learn about the First Nation people, their culture, and support all children to be kind and make everyone around us feel culturally safe.

We have also linked with Standard 3, allowing children to know their rights, be taken seriously, listen to, and take part in decisions that affect them. We support children to be supported in our curriculum and are continually listening and giving them a sense of agency.

Knowing this, we have extended the children’s learning by getting them to think and respond to the question, ‘What would you like to be when you get older?’ This supports National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day, with the theme ‘Little Footsteps, Big Future’.