Gorton House
Story by Educator Sima
As part of National Reconciliation Week, children in Gorton House toddlers have been exploring and celebrating our Indigenous history via story books. One of the ways we respect and celebrate Australia’s Indigenous history is through our ‘gathering time’, during which an Acknowledgement of Country is a vital part of our everyday routine, where we thank the traditional custodians of the land for sharing their land with us, before continuing on with our daily routine. Gorton House acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we play and learn by singing our ‘Wangal Land’ song.
This morning we had a great time as the children further explored their knowledge of Australian animals. Educator Sima read ‘Wombat Goes Walkabout’, by Michael Morpurgo and Christian Birmingham, with the children. During the story time we discussed the different types of animals in the story, the themes raised in the book, such as helping each other, sharing and being kind to each other, and how each animal Wombat encounters in the story goes about their daily life. The children showed their interest by involving themselves in the discussion, pointing to the illustrations, and labelling the animals and making their sounds. We were again reminded about how we can learn from the ways that others act by looking after each other and treating each other nicely as the animals did in the story. Looking forward we will continue celebrating our Indigenous history via exploring traditional music and movement.
Johnson House
Story by Senior Occupational Therapist Justine
The children in Johnson House have been involved in an integrated group which focusses on gross motor skills and social connections with Occupational Therapist Justine and early childhood Educator Sofia. Some of the skills we have been focusing include throwing and balls skills. The children have practiced throwing balls into a basketball hoop, and throwing special ‘foxtail’ balls as high as they can. These activities incorporate upper body strength, hand-eye coordination, motor planning, and body/spatial awareness. Opportunities to master ball skills are important as they are central components to many of the games and activities played by children in their early years. Another skill focus has been some extra tricky balancing and coordination skills involving high stepping over hula hoops! Balance allows children to have control over their bodies. To function effectively across environments and tasks we need the ability to maintain controlled positions during both static (still) and dynamic (moving) activities. The children have enjoyed these experiences, which have really helped to enhance their gross motor skills.
Rigby House
Story by Centre Director Isa
Every day the children and Educators at Rigby House acknowledge the traditional custodiand of the land on which we meet through singing a lovley song. Our daily Acknowledgement of Country supports our young children to become aware of, and learn about, our First Peoples, and also to learn about diversity and respect.
The children have also been learning about the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Island and Australian flags, and they are showing their growing understanding of what the flags represent as they name each flag.
These simple but important experiences support our young children to build a positive sense of self-identity, learn about our diverse community and build respectful relationships with each other.
Family Day Care Sydney Wide
Preparing for National Reconciliation Week
Story by Educator Support Officers Barbara and Maureen
A science experience at Randwick Hub’s playgroup session involving colouring rice developed into an idea to acknowledge National Reconciliation Week. We used red, yellow and black food colouring to colour the rice and to re-create the Aboriginal flag. Together we joined in and participated in a child-friendly Acknowledgment of Country. The children were able to follow all the actions, for example, touching the ground of the Gadigal people and promising to look after the land and ourselves.
World Bee Day 2021
Story by Educator Support Officer Alix
On 20 May many of the Educators and children in our North Shore Family Day Care services celebrated World Bee Day. One of the aims of this annual event is to assist us to learn why bees are so very important for our livelihoods, biodiversity and ecosystem health.
The Cockatoo Care team in West Pymble planned for children to explore and consolidate their ideas about bees through literacy-rich, multimodal formats and differentiated learning experiences to meet their varying skills and abilities. This involved creating artistic representations of bees, where the children could use their current knowledge to construct and reflect on bees’ physical characteristics, and where they had opportunities to talk about bees and further develop their language and ideas.
Educator Ali also set up an engaging bee learning centre, which included a display beehive, bees made from recycled materials, foliage and the ‘Life Cycle of a Bee’ book. This combination of resources provided the children with opportunities to explore their ideas on bees through play and sensory learning, while also using the book as a quick reference and to encourage new vocabulary.
