Johnson House
Johnson House Preschool
The children have been inspired by the Christmas festivities recently, and to extend on this interest the art area was set up with a range of provisions to help the children explore their interests further. Letters to Santa were created and cards from families and friends were thoughtfully designed. We also took the time to create some decorations for our tree and to decorate the Johnson House environment. This experience was also a nice opportunity for the children to exchange their thoughts about Christmas and the celebrations planned, and we also used this as a time to celebrate our similarities and differences. Cultures and traditions are celebrated in a range of a ways throughout the program and this was just one example of how aspects of our community can be integrated into the educational program.
Johnson House Toddlers
This week the children have been very enthusiastic about joining together in small groups to sing and play music games. This week the children had the opportunity to recall their prior knowledge of creating loud and soft sounds with the egg shakers. To extend the children’s learning they had the opportunity to explore making loud and soft sounds in the hallway, and they were able to experiment with the different surfaces to distinguish between loud and soft sounds. The children discovered that the wooden floor made a very loud sound, but that the foam mattress made a soft sound. The children also sang some familiar songs to support this learning–sang ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ and ‘Bingo’.
Rigby House
Rigby House children are enjoying Christmas very much. To extend on their interest in Christmas trees, the educators have designed a lovely group time experience where the children enjoy a felt board story about Christmas trees and then take turns to decorate the tree. As they decorate the tree the children demonstrate their interest in naming colours and shapes, and they all agree that the star must go on the top of the tree! As the children play they demonstrate their understanding of shapes, colour and position. They use descriptive language to describe what they are using to decorate the tree. They are also being very kind with each other as they take turns to decorate the tree.
Family Day Care
As the year comes to an end our educators at Family Day Care Sydney Wide have been busy exploring sustainable Christmas craft. On a recent home visit by coordination hub staff the children in one service were seen making Christmas trees using paper towel rolls and bottle top lids. These lids cannot be recycled, but they were a great addition to the Christmas tree! What a great way to celebrate the festive season and be kind to our planet!
