Simone’s Message By Ms Simone Cooke, Principal

1 1 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 1 Simone s Message By Ms Simone cooke , Principal In the first five years of a child s life they will learn on average over 14,000 words. As infants these first words are usually linked to things which are important to them, it is no surprise that these words are usually Mummy and Daddy, but of course the next of these is invariably the word No ! Between the ages of two and six, children are learning on average ten new words a day, which equates to one new word for every hour they are awake! In recent years, research has revealed that it is not merely the quantity of words a child is exposed to that builds comprehension and understanding, but rather the quality of their interactions that builds language development. Here at Reddam, our Teachers are vitally aware of the crucial role they play in building and extending your child s oral and receptive language skills, providing good role modelling, building language connections and encouraging joint engagement.

2 With our Stage 1 and 2 children our daily routines rely upon repetition and reinforcement of familiar words, building the children s receptive language and their ability to understand words and language by using it in correct contexts. This is vitally important as an inability to follow or understand instructions is what leads to attention, listening and learning difficulties in later years. In our Language and Literature groups our Teachers focus on developing receptive language in several ways. We build the children s attention and concentration skills, encouraging the children to attend to a task without distraction. We focus also on their pre-language skills such as gestures, facial expression, imitation and eye contact, modelling appropriate behaviours and encouraging children to understand that both verbal and non verbal communication conveys meaning and engagement with others.

3 We extend children s vocabulary and understanding through interesting, meaningful and intentional teaching, scaffolding and extending their understanding of the world around them and in turn building their communication skills. Not only does fostering strong language skills improve learning and socialisation but it greatly reduces behaviour problems in children. Young children who can express themselves in words are less likely to use physical force such as biting or hitting out of frustration. Giving our children these essential tools of communication undoubtedly sets them up for future success in life. I thank all our Teachers here at Reddam for their ongoing commitment and diligence in understanding the vital role they play in each and every child s development and remind you of the Japanese proverb Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher !

4 Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. 26TH MAY 2017 2 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 2 Our The Hatchlings and Nest children have a very structured routine. Routines are important because they give children a sense of security and control over their environment. Children learn what to expect at various times in the day and as they begin to participate in these routines, they will experience a sense of control and satisfaction at being able to perform part of or all of the tasks associated with the routine. We start the mornings with a table activity related to the provocation, this week, for instance, we made lavender playdough which had calming components to it, and we like to listen to classical music while playing in the mornings. Then we sit in a circle and have a structured Group time sitting on the mat, it is amazing the levels of interaction and concentration that our groups have and they never cease to amaze us.

5 After we sing our morning song, we call each child's name to go sit down on the chairs and they wait patiently for their names to be called. After Morning tea we split into smaller groups and rotate into different tasks, whilst one group is playing outside another group will be doing art in the Atelier and then we swap around. This week during Art time we have been painting on fall leaves to decorate our classroom. In order for routines to be a practical source for learning, we make sure that we have enough time to take each task within the routine slowly and we need to be sure that we discuss each individual task with our children. Every week we have a Group activity where the children learn the importance of working collaboratively. Cooperative play encourages children to interact with others, express their thoughts, respect others and try out new ideas. It also promotes social growth and sharing.

6 This week we made pine cone bird feeders and we loved watching the birds come to eat from them. We make certain that we follow the same procedures and routines each day and also try to use the same language to help reinforce language learning. Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings By Miss Gabriela Guimaraes 3 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 3 Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings Using Natural Materials 4 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 4 Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings Using Natural Materials 5 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 5 Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings Building Friendships 6 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 6 Floating on the Ocean As the adventurous little girl from Julie Lacome s book walks through the jungle, exploring its colours, sounds and animals she also invites the children to float on the ocean with her, exploring its colourful sea life!

7 Sea creatures fascinate our Fledglings group! We often sing songs such as Slippery Fish, All the fishes are swimming in the water and 1 2 3 4 5 Once I caught a fish alive. We also read books that take us on an exploration of the ocean and it s creatures such as The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and Little s Whale Song by Fran Evans. Throug out our Provocation The Wonderful World of Books we are exploring different stories, encouraging the children to actively participate during our group time, sharing their ideas and knowledge. As mentioned before the first book we are exploring is going to take our children to different natural environments. In the last two weeks we have been exploring the jungle and this week we explored the ocean. The children were exposed to an ocean sensory activity consisting of coloured rice and sea creatures. The children absolutely loved playing with the rice, feeling it through their fingers while hiding the colourful sea creatures.

8 In our Creative Drawing corner the children were able to use deep blue sea bottles and shells as inspiration to create beautiful drawings. To further explore our ocean adventure during group time we have been using our surprise bag to discover new sea creatures and to read books and sing songs about them. Furthermore, in the Art Atelier, our little artists have been busy creating their ocean puffy painting. We used cup of shaving cream, cup of glue and different shades of blue and green paint. The children were invited to participate in the process of making this paint and instead of using brushes they had spoons to manipulate this fluffy paint. Wonder is the beginning of wisdom. Socrates I hope you all have a great weekend with your beautiful children. Stage 1: Fledglings By Miss Michele Santos 7 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 7 Stage 1: Fledglings Floating on the Ocean 8 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 8 Stage 1: Fledglings Floating on the Ocean 9 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 9 Stage 2: Chicks, Sparrows & Robins By Ms Kasia Rymarczyk Dear Parents, It is real delight to observe your children growing each day in their confidence and independence.

9 We see the children not only developing their self-help skills but also watch them flourish as they are gaining new knowledge as curious and self-motivated learners. This week as our provocation on self-awareness progresses we have noticed that the children are starting to make more self-reflection statements, where they use sentences starting with: I I My hair . We see children wondering about themselves and starting to think about their friends. To encourage and build vocabulary and in order for children to gain more understanding of visual representations we have engaged them in a self-portrait making activity as well as making Paper Mache masks and engaging in a Here s a House creative activity. 10 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 10 Stage 2: Self Portrait By Ms Kasia Rymarczyk Self-portrait drawing and collage portrait process using natural elements.

10 We started our exploration by talking about self-portraits. We gave the children mirrors and asked them to look at their eyes, nose, lips and the shapes of their faces, paying particular attention to the lines and details that they see. Using thin Sharpie markers, the children drew line drawings of their faces and in some cases their bodies, shoes and clothes. They continued to use the mirrors in order to pay close attention to details. Next we took on the task of choosing appropriate colours of oil pastels to match their skin, hair and eyes. It was beautiful to observe the children using mirrors and sharing observations with each other. Talking about the parts of the face, the features, shapes, size etc. It was a great language exploration. To add to the drawing experience, we used leaves, sticks and bark to create the collage portraits, where the natural elements were used as a symbolic representation of their features.