Early Learning

Possums

The Possum and Echidna children joined the Junior School for National Simultaneous Storytime last week. We were very interested to learn about Bowerbirds, and back at Kinder we made some nests of our own. This allowed for further discussion about these amazing and interesting creatures. Outside, we sometimes make houses / restaurants / anything we can think of with our big wooden blocks. Some of the children have been inspired by Bowerbirds and have started adding some beautiful fabric to their block houses. We are always amazed at the world God made, and we think Bowerbirds are particularly amazing! We would all love to see a Bowerbird nest in real life one day.

This week we began an experiment with some seeds. We are giving one seed sunlight and water, and keeping one seed under a box. Children made predictions about what will happen to the seeds. Most children predicted the seed with sun and water would grow, and the seed in the box wouldn't. Some children thought the seed in the box would die, or grow shorter than the seed with sun and water. After hearing the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, some children predicted the seed would grow into a beanstalk that led to a Giant's castle!

In the story of Jack and the Beanstalk there was a song we enjoyed. We rang Mrs Parker on the phone to find out that the song was called In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg. We watched an orchestra playing the song, and noticed how it goes from quiet to loud, and slow to fast. We formed our own orchestra and played along, remembering to follow the music. Children were particularly enjoying playing the violin, so Year 8 student Freya visited us and showed us some songs on her violin. It was so much fun forming an orchestra, and following and extending this spontaneous learning that all came from hearing a song we liked!

Beth Parker

Head of Early Learning

Echidnas

The Echidnas have been learning about God’s creatures, great and small!

The genuine love that Mrs Missen has for children was evidenced this term when she followed the children’s interests in Spiders. Arachnophobia may be a stretch, but Mrs Missen has definitely become a lighter shade of grey as the very realistic toy Spiders on the exploration table seemed to take on a life of their own and turn up on her chair, the craft table, and even one in her pocket! The gasps of horror were totally worth it as the children created a web with double sided tape and added Spiders that they had cut out with Mrs Missen’s handy dandy craft machine. The creation of this huge web brought forth the question, ‘Why don’t Spiders get stuck in their own web?’

Research (thanks, Mr Google) taught us that Spiders tip toe around their webs so they don’t get stuck in it! The huge web was taken outside to see what would stick to it, and the children learned that small leaves and feathers easily adhered to the sticky web, which explained why Spider webs often have more than Spiders in them! The children used their fingers to create purple web prints, and then drew their own Spiders to put on them. I am pleased to report that all plastic Spiders have been shoved in the back of the cupboard where they can scare the living daylights out of the next teacher!

We also have been learning about Australian animals and have discovered some interesting facts. Did you know that animal poop is called scat, or that Wombats have pouches and are the size of Kathleen’s lunch beans when they are newborns? The children found that the most interesting thing was that some Wombats do square poos which made a child wonder, ‘How does something square come out of a round hole?’ (Mr Google didn’t know the answer to that one). 

Mrs Missen brought in her pet Possum and the children were super quiet and gentle as they patted it because they know that Possums don’t like loud noises and sleep during the day. We have learned the Gunditjmara words for Possum, Wombat, Koala and Kangaroo, and we have learned the AUSLAN signs for them. The children went for a walk on Country to gather gum leaves and created beautiful Koala collages.

The Kinder families were all invited to participate in a ‘Australian Animal Colouring Collaboration’, and the amazing pieces of art are hanging up in ‘Colouring Gallery’ in the Kinder! The Echidna children are most certainly connected to, and contribute to their world (Outcome 2 EYLF), and are thriving as we work together as a community to support their learning.

Learning about native Australian animals and Spiders is an opportunity to marvel at God's creation and deepen our understanding of His wisdom and creativity. The diversity and intricacy of these creatures reflect the magnificence of the Creator who designed each one with purpose and care. As we study the unique characteristics and behaviours of these animals, we can develop a greater appreciation for the natural world and the divine order that sustains it. This exploration can also remind us of our role as stewards of the Earth, tasked with caring for and preserving the environment that God has entrusted to us.

Judi Missen

Early Learning Educator