Early Learning Centre

Week Six has been all about Book Week and Wellness Week.  What a fun and super busy week we have had this week. 

Piccolo (ELC3)

This week our Piccolo’s dressed up as their favourite Book Week character. We had a few Thelma’s a couple of Cinerella’s, dinosaurs, and pirates.  We had a Stick Man, Clifford, a Fierce Lion, Peter Rabbit, Cotton Tail, Ash the Pokeman Trainer, George the Farmer, the Easter Bunny, Batman and the Green Ninja.

We also read many of our favourite stories with each other.  Book Week dress up is often a mix of excitement and anxiety.  It can be a little overwhelming at sometimes for some children, so don’t worry if you child shows reluctance to dress up – that’s okay.  Having said that though, once our Piccolo’s all settled we had a fun and engaging day.  We especially enjoyed a visit from some of our Year Six students, Harley, Oscar, Maggie and Abigail.

Piccino (ELC4)

So much fun in our PJ’s on Monday with hand massages and hot chocolates. On Tuesday, as a part of Wellness Week we had a visit from Danili (South West Healthcare) who talked us through a whole body relaxation, then we joined the whole school for a sausage sizzle at the Senior School – the bus trip being the highlight of that I think. 

The real highlight this week was a Book Week session at the Hamilton Library. Jenny, the Librarian, read us a couple of stories and we followed this up with a ‘foot print making’ activity.  We enjoyed being in our local library and had several requests for a follow-up visit so we can borrow some books.  Jenny told us we can come back anytime.

Concentration

Having good attention and concentration helps children to learn

• Babies and children learn most skills by practising them over and over e.g. tying shoelaces, writing, using scissors, or riding a bike.
• Children need to be able to focus on a task and practise an activity to improve their skills.
• Learning to concentrate and finish things helps reduce impulsive behaviour and restlessness and be calming.

What you can do

• Make time for active play and quiet play – allow your child to be active before sitting still.
• Remove distractions when your child needs to concentrate. Turn off the TV and find a quiet, uncluttered space.
• Set the scene to encourage concentration – sit together on the floor or at a small table.
• Offer simple choices – begin with short tasks that are easy to finish and set clear goals – ‘Do this five times’.
• Watch, notice and praise with describing words – ‘That was good listening to the story’.
• Offer time for brief breaks in between activities.
• Children often concentrate better on activities they enjoy – what does your child like to do? What activities will get their attention?
• Make sure games and puzzles are the right level – not so difficult that your child gives up, but not so easy that they get bored.

For further information follow this link:

Health/ChildDevelopment/Play-and-Learning-5-concentration-and-attention.pdf

Have a great week.

Frances O'Brien

Director Early Learning Centre