Newsletter from 3rd to 7th August

This week we started our music session run by Lisa from Jam ‘n’ Jive, where we learned about some basic musical instruments that can be made from everyday materials available at home, and some a little more complex. Lisa took us through some different rhythms and beats, and taught us how to beat the bucket drums in time. We learned about concepts such as stopping and starting, loud and soft, high and low. This activity will take place every Tuesday from 3 until 5pm.

As a part of the continuous improvement required by the National Quality Standard, this week we are:

• looking at our premises, furniture, equipment and resources to ensure it allows and encourages all children to participate, and is suitable for its intended role. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me. We are always looking for ways to improve
• reviewing our Sun Safety Policy which is embedded in our Physical Environment Policy

Sun Safety

We will use a combination of sun protection measures when UV levels are 3 and over including:

• planning outdoor activities in shaded areas
• wearing sun safe hats that protect their face, neck and ears (educators, staff and children)
• wearing sun safe clothing that covers as much of the skin as possible (educators, staff and children)
• applying SPF30+ broad-spectrum water-resistant sunscreen 20 minutes before going outdoors and
• reapplying every 2 hours (educators, staff and children)
• ensuring babies remain in full shade when outside
• role modelling sun safe techniques
• incorporating sun protection learning into our curriculum.

Remember! Next week is CRAZY HAIR WEEK. The aim of the event is to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis Australia who provide vital support to those suffering from cystic fibrosis.

Please feel free to come with the most original hairstyles and be ready to have fun!

Preschoolers

We started the week with the latest space news. We used the iPad to watch a little clip of a space shuttle making its re-entry in the Gulf of Mexico. Children were amused by the great splash it did when it landed on the water. During the week, children had the opportunity to expand their imagination, improve their spatial awareness and problem-solving skills building space stations and rocket ships out of different materials: recycled items, wooden blocks and Lego.

Soon is going to be Science week therefore the preschoolers started to learn about the water cycle. This learning will help children have a better understanding about the world they live in and extends their vocabulary with words such as evaporation, condensation and precipitation.

Since we are learning about the different qualities of the water children participated in a science experience about water pollution where they saw how easy is to get the water dirty and how difficult is to clean it up. This experience creates awareness on the importance of recycling and clean oceans.

Toddlers

During the previous weeks, most of our toddlers had shown interest in building and construction, they’ve been creating structures out of Duplo, blocks and all kind of items from the outdoor area. Our tam had notice it so this week our toddlers welcomed a new cooperative project this week, they are building a cubby house that is going to be a great addition for their room. Macarena and Ginna had spent some time building the structure letting the children help and after it they decorated it using two different techniques collage and painting. Learning about team work helps children feel like a part of a community and can help in all areas of learning. Communication, social, and emotional skills are all strengthened when they learn to work as a team, which can help improve self-esteem and confidence.

babies

The babies had finished their topic about the sea and this week they’ve been getting ready to start their new learning topic: Vehicles. To do so, Silvia, our babies’ room leader, had changed the set up of the room to help stimulate the babies’ cognitive development and made it more attractive to them. The little ones saw her moving the furniture around while cleaning the different areas and they got really interested in mirror her actions. Therefore, they had been helping in the cleaning by wiping down some areas (that were already clean) with fabric cloths and “swipping the floors” Participating in the change of distribution of the room gives children an increase in their sense of belonging and helps them feel secure and safe in the area.