Johnson House
Preschool
Story by Educator Sanju
Following their current interest in the army and how the army protects and helps the community in need, last week the children in Johnson House preschool continued to make their own army vehicle. They have been very enthusiastic while reading books about the army and learning how they help our community, not just in wars, but in different emergency situations such as floods, natural disasters, and fires. When we read the book called ‘The Long and Muddy Road’ by Paul Denkmetzian, the children noticed that army trucks are stronger than normal trucks because they are meant to drive into muddy roads. They have special features such as bigger wheels, snow chains and extra headlights to drive into darkness and different roads.
Last week, after we finished reading the book, we looked at the different transportation modes that the army use, and the children voted between helicopters and four-wheel drives, finally agreeing to build a jeep. We used a large cardboard box to create our own army vehicle and stuck the masking tape together so that the box could be sturdy and strong.
This week we continued the construction of our jeep by painting it. The children wanted to use the same colours as those used for vehicles in the army, so we settled on army/dark green and browsed the web to see what colours to mix to create this. We soon found that mixing green and black would make the colour that we were looking for. The children used a big tray to mix the colour and then used the paint roller to paint the box.
While mixing the colour, the children noticed that using the right amount of paint makes the right colour, and that if we add too much black it gets darker, and if we don’t add enough black it is lighter than the desired colour.
The children enjoyed painting the box and they used their problem-solving skills as they found that painting on a box, compared to painting on a canvas, is a wholly different experience. The children displayed great anticipation and teamwork, suggesting different ideas and helping each other to make their jeep. We look forward to seeing the project progress in coming weeks as we add more details to the vehicle.
Murray House
Toddlers
Story by Educator Yi
This morning in Murray House toddlers the children showed a big interest in books, particularly the book ‘The Mermaid Princess’, which one of the children had decided to share from her collection of books at home. We began to read this book together, and interest in the story continued to grow, as more children decided to join our mini book club, entranced by the story of the mermaid princess.
The children then practised their comprehension and drama skills as they began to retell the story, acting out the scenes from the book for one another. The children were intently listening to the retelling of the story, and they discussed where the mermaid families were going whilst they were riding on the dolphins.
This story and its retelling led to the children drawing their favourite characters from the mermaid families. The children used the images and text from the book, as well as their own imaginations, to develop images of the characters from the story. The children also continue to develop their language and communication skills as they use adjectives to describe what they imagined each of the characters to look like.
The children demonstrated creativity through this experience and are continuing to strengthen their love of learning through engaging with texts. Retelling stories and drawing characters are simple and age-appropriate ways in which the children in Murray House can build on their early reading and literacy skills. These skills are fundamental for life, and we are so proud of our toddlers who have such a deep enjoyment of interacting with, interpreting and sharing literature.