4 year old
Kindergarten
Another year done and dusted, and it never gets easier to say goodbye. Term 4 is bitter sweet for us in the 4-year-old kindergarten room as whilst we are having so much fun, it is also the last term together. Let's have a look at what term 4 brought the kindergarten children.
Lego land
This group of children have displayed a lot of interest in construction. It seemed only fitting to take them to LEGO LAND! What a fun day we had and the children seemed to enjoy it too ;)
Kids roar
We had Helen from Kids Roar come out to build the children's knowledge around safe and unsafe situations. "From my head to my toes, I say what goes with my body."
She started first by talking about different feelings and getting the children to express these emotions with their faces before explaining that no matter how we are feeling children always should feel safe and not in danger. To support this the children were shown a set of pictures that they needed to decide if they were safe or unsafe situations by giving a thumbs up (safe) or thumbs down (danger). The children were able to demonstrate their understanding by getting them all right.
To further extend the children's knowledge Helen played a game with them called Mr Snap, where the children had to decide whether to give consent to play by putting a tooth down or using their words to say no to playing the game. The game was designed to get the children to feel nervous and have a funny feeling in their stomach as by pushing a tooth down may result in the crocodile's mouth snapping or not. Helen asked each child for consent to play and if they said no she would ask the group if she had permission for the children to participate, which the children would respond no to. She highlighted how brave children were to be able to say no. She stated how the feeling (nervous, scared, butterflies) goes away therefore you are safe but if the feeling stays it might mean you are in an unsafe situation.
Helen went on to discuss what it might feel or look like when you feel unsafe and who do you feel comfortable to talk to. The children then did an activity called safety hands where they named their safe people. This allows the children to be reminded that they do have people that make them feel safe.
This was a great learning experience for all the children and teachers.
Sports and well-being program
This program went for 10 weeks. It allowed the children to further support their gross and fine motor skills as well as turn taking skills, language development, self-confidence, neuromuscular co-ordination, self-esteem and critical thinking skills.
Below is the topics we focused on:
- Human body
- Athletics
- Soccer
- AFL
- Basketball
- Tennis
- Team games
- Yoga
- Just dance
- Singing
School readiness
Throughout this term we focused on learning experiences that would further support the children for their new learning journey to primary school. We did this is a range of ways such as: Show and tell, lunch box program, predictability and rhythm, group discussions & learning experiences within the room. We can confidently say that the children are ready for foundation in 2023!
Events
- Big Chefs help Little Chefs (Pretzels & Gingerbread)
- Diwali
- Library visit
- Volcano with Jess (Paris' mum)
- Halloween
- Grandparents Day
- Buddy system with River
- Remembrance Day
- Dream time puppets (Incursion)
Graduation
What an amazing night we had. The children proudly received their kindergarten certificates and shared special moments with their peers that they will cherish forever.
To our kindergarten children. It has been an absolute pleasure teaching you all this year. We all wish you nothing but the best as you embark on your first year of primary school. We know you are all going to shine and we cannot wait to hear all about it. We are going to miss you all. Lastly, thank you to the families, we have had an amazing year and it is you all that have further assisted with this, so thank you! We hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas and new year X
Caila, Annalise, Kelly & Heidi.