4-Year-Old Kindergarten

What a wild ride 2021 has been, but we have nearly made it.

Term 4 is such a bitter sweet term. It has the highs of celebrating and making memories whilst also having the lows of saying goodbye. It is honestly the hardest part of our job :(

Show and tell

Show and tell is such a beautiful moment as the children get their time to talk and share things that are important to them. Not only that but it supports the children’s self-esteem skills, oral and social skills as well turn taking skills. Each week the children's confidence grew bigger and bigger. The children understood the concept of asking a question and not telling a statement and, much to my surprise asked amazing questions.Each child putting their hands up waiting patiently for their turn. All the children have done such a wonderful job and should all be very proud of themselves.

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

Predictability and rhythm

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. This book is amazing for the children to extend on their predictability skills and rhyming. They were able to predict the words in the story through rhyming and memorising. They enjoyed being able to part take in the story as they louder shouted the words when I would pause to allow them.
The children were able to mirror the sounds they heard in the songs. Using musical instruments, the children successfully followed along. This was another fun way for the children to learn about predictability which is essential for their learning. The brain loves predictability so through these group times we are supporting this learning development further.
‘Dear Zoo’ written by Rod Campbell. This time around I would point to the words and get the children to slowly read the story. Of course, this was all memorised. But, pointing to the words allowed them to connect the words whilst they were saying them. They have all enjoyed being able to predict the text and all read along together.
Repetitive texts are beneficial as it:
Enables the children to anticipate words and phrases
They act as stepping stones in reading skills and development as they are engaging and interesting
They allow children to follow story lines and gain a better understanding of the sequence in the story
These books have story patterns that help the children with the story through fluency and rhythm
Stories
The children are so excited to start school so through this we have been reading a book ‘Chomp goes to school’ written by Melissa Mattox & Mark Chambers. This book highlighted how Chomp was nervous about starting school. The story reassured the children helping them navigate such an important milestone.
First Day By Andrew Daddo & Jonathan Bentley. This book invited the children to share aspects of what they have been doing within their school transitions and what they think their first day of primary school will be like. As teachers we endeavour to further support the children to ensure they have smooth transitions into their new venture and take away any worries they may have entering into this. The book was the perfect stepping stone in creating an open discussion amongst everyone to share their feelings, ideas and worries they may have.

Events we explored over the term were:

Halloween
Road Safety
Dwiali
Remembrance Day
Big Chefs Help Little Chefs
Park excursions
Christmas
End of Kindergarten celebrations

Thank you.
I just want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It has been an absolute pleasure teaching your children and being apart of their journey before they start their first year of Primary School. I can't thank you all enough for your constant support. Don't be strangers, please come back and visit. We would love to see the children all dressed in their uniforms. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Caila, Annalise & Kelly x