First Steps Centre

Dharug

We had a lot of fun this week learning more about different shapes. We started to become more aware of the shapes of objects in our surroundings. For example, the children pointed out that their sandwiches were triangles, seaweed can be a rectangle or square, and rocks come in different shapes. We then took our learning further by making some collage art with shapes of various colours and shapes. The children demonstrated their patience and creativity by concentrating on the task for extended periods of time, deciding what they want to make in the process, and exploring one in relation to another. 

The children had an interest in building and construction, which emerged from observing the construction works we had going on in the previous weeks. We provided construction worker outfits (helmets, goggles, vests), tools (toy saws and hammers), and foam bricks for the children to explore. They built walls, towers, and houses. The children worked collaboratively with their peers, practised negotiating and turn-taking, and gained a better understanding of building structures. 

We have been encouraging the children to sit down and read alone or in small groups to promote a sense of well-being on busy days. This has allowed time for them to calm down after physical activities in outdoor play so that they become more in tune with their own thoughts, feelings, and needs. 

Marram

The children really enjoyed the race at Twilight Sports, so we had another one on the oval on Tuesday. Later, at group time, we talked about how we stayed safe while we were there and why exercising is good for us. The children suggested that exercising gives us strong muscles so we can lift heavy weights. We talked about more ways to keep our bodies healthy, including eating healthy foods. The children had lots of ideas, and we decided to make a drawing of all the healthy foods that we can eat. We had some very interesting conversations. For example, we considered why there is lots of sugar in doughnuts and cakes but we can still eat them sometimes. Someone suggested that ‘carrots make you see in the dark so you don’t crash’. 

We went to the Junior Playground on Thursday for more active play. The children worked their muscles climbing upwards and downwards, took turns on the flying fox, and helped each other by giving verbal guidance and encouragement. 

The children were all very keen on painting but only two children can paint at the same time on the easel. I suggested that we can paint on the loose parts in the room, and we ended up turning the Dharug group's trains into flower trains. We were not limited by the easel and paper but instead followed our imagination and creativity when painting on paper bags and boxes. 

Gawarn

What a fantastic week we have had with our Gawarn class! 

A huge interest for our children has been using the new building blocks! The children were invited to dress up as builders, encouraged to work together and supported in creating their designs as they worked. There were so many wonderful learning moments that occurred throughout the week as the children participated and explored these resources. 

Our focus as a class has been on developing an awareness and capacity to maintain attention and build capacity when learning as a whole. We have been engaging in discussions around how we learn as well as how we can support our friends to learn in these moments. 

We scaffold this though so many fun and inviting intentional moments- games, songs, stories are some of the ways we achieve this. A highlight of this was playing a game called 'shoe soup', we ask the children to take their shoes off and put them in the middle of the mat, mixing them up and then each child finds a pair, takes a guess at who's they are and then puts theirs back on. 

The learning in moments like this supports the skills in processing, leadership, maths, predicting, delayed gratification, turn-taking, abstract thinking and critical thinking- just to start. 

We can't wait for another incredible week together! 

Al, Mardi and Jo.  

Budja

We have had a busy week in the Budja group. In the outdoor environment the children have been demonstrating teamwork as they worked together to build using the foam blocks. This area was of high interest so some construction outfits and tools were added to the experience. We discussed how a brick wall works and how we use patterns to make one. We looked at different pictures of brick walls to help us understand why they alternate to strengthen the wall. In the sandpit, the children have been creating volcanoes and we have had some great discussions around, what are volcanoes? Are they still around? What’s inside? What erupts? We look forward to exploring this further as the weeks progress.

During our group times we have been doing lots of dance and movement. We continued with Mr Cliketty Cane and also danced around with the ‘Fuzzy the Clown’ song. The children have asked to do some musical statue games and we incorporated this outside with a little dance party during our outdoor play.

Please don’t forget that Monday is a public holiday and there will be no Kinder on Monday 13th March. We hope everyone has a great long weekend!

Emily, Carol & Mardi