REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER Dee’s Message
3RD DECEMBER 2021
Dear Parents and Caregivers, “We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” So said American educational reformer and philosopher, John Dewey. The children in the ELS have put this into practice in their Reflection Journals, which I am sure that parents have enjoyed paging through in recent days. These Reflection Journals are an invaluable tool for parents and teachers to go through, as they provide insight into the growth which has taken place in the children during the year. And as we do so, probably one of the most important bits of wisdom for all of us to remember is that we should avoid comparing children with other children, but rather to compare them to themselves. Looking at where a child was six months ago, or a year ago, and then where he or she is now provides a far more valuable insight than any comparison to other children. While the tendency in a competitive world might be to compare our
child with others, this misses the point when it comes to appreciating the growth of each child. Each child develops at a different pace, and often this is linked to whatever he or she is passionate about at that time. This is why the Reflection Journals are so important in the ELS. The real benefit is to start with the first pieces and notice how the refinement of lines, the changes in use of colour, the enthusiasm for a new topic, and the exploration of each child’s identity develops during the year. In these pages we see the children exploring their own lives and their place in the world. We see them learning about relationships, about other cultures, and their own interests. The Journals are obviously not only valuable for parents and teachers, but they also allow the children to take their first tentative steps towards self-evaluation. They are able to look back on the experiences they have had during the year and see how their own pieces of art captured some of those
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3RD DECEMBER 2021 moments. The process of self-reflection gives them the opportunity to consider what makes them happy and where their interests lie.
with them.
It goes without saying that the Reflection Journals are an ideal conversation starter. Paging through them with your child opens the door to their world and is a very special way for them to tell you what they were drawing and why. There are few topics which animate a child quite as much as when they have the opportunity to explain what they have created.
Have an enjoyable weekend!
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Dee Pitcairn Principal
There is no doubt that the future will need critical thinkers, who can come up with creative solutions. Being able to reflect on one’s own strengths and limitations will also be an important component of this type of thinking. As such, it is good that the children in the ELS, young though they are, already have the opportunity to page proudly through their Reflection Journals, to consider the road they have walked during this challenging year, along with the special moments and people who have journeyed REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
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The Nest (1R)
Kiri Winders, Helena Zhang and Min Pattarasiritanarat
Making our own sushi In keeping with our theme ‘Under the sea’, we decided to make some sushi rice this week! Sushi is a tasty and healthy treat from the sea. For some of our children it is a familiar food, while for others perhaps they hadn’t tried it yet. Teacher Kiri premade the rice and gave each of the children their own portion to add the nori to it. They loved ripping up the strips of nori as well as eating it! Next, with the help of their educator, each child learned to roll it into a ball and eat it! There were lots of verbal expressions heard, like “Yum” and “Mmmm” as they ate it all up! It was a successful, happy experience. Baking and cooking with children is a wonderful way to get children involved in learning about the food they eat, where it comes from, trying something new or unfamiliar as well as it being a wonderful social activity.
Others loved to feel the shiny stones or shells and just peacefully play in the water, experiencing and exploring with their imaginations and their senses.
Big bikes The children have been really challenging themselves on the balance bikes and for some it is becoming second nature. As they whizz around the playground, we can see so much joy on their faces. This week we decided to extend them further by introducing some bigger tricycles to master. It was interesting to see how the children navigated their way around these as it requires a different skill set to that of the balance bikes. Some figured out they had to push with one leg, others got creative and sat on the floor and pushed it around. It will be interesting to see how they work out how to ride these over the coming weeks. Sensory Play We introduced a new sensory table which the children have absolutely loved this week. Teacher Kiri set up the little tubs to replicate a fishpond. There were flower petals, stones shells and little pretend fish with water. The children were so delighted to look for the little fish. Some referenced our own pet fish by taking the little fish over to our tank. REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
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The Nest (1R)
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Fledglings (1E)
By Tatiana Botrel, Jane Teh, and Nadia Breus
Wombat Stew In our Term Four provocation we took the opportunity to explore the literacy world, as we read the children’s favourite books and encouraged the development of their communication skills.
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators. Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts. EYLF, 2009.
Most of the books we read in the previous weeks were related to animals, especially bears. Considering the children’s emerging interest in Australian animals, due to a new resource we have in our classroom, this week we brought in a new story – “Wombat Stew” by Marcia K. Vaughan. The children got excited to learn the lyrics for the jingle that Dingo likes singing while preparing his stew: “Wombat Stew, Wombat Stew, Gooey, brewy Yummy, chewy Wombat stew!” While engaging with this story book, we focused not only on the Australian animals mentioned in the story but also on the ingredients used to make the stew. At group time we observed real-life beetles and bugs in resin, observing how different they were and making the association between their names and their main characteristics. For example, unicorn beetle, tiger beetle and stink bug. We also collected all the props to represent the ingredients and encouraged the children to take turns to make the stew, by adding mud, feathers, flies, creepy crawlies, and gumnuts to the billycan. By using different mediums to represent the characters, we are encouraging the children’s imagination and their ability to retell the story in their own way.
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Stage 2
By Daniella Gosty, Shauna Corry, Sarah Noone, Roberta Sokame and Joyce Matsui
Drawing Musical Notes From watching the children explore music it was easy to see they loved how busy and quick ‘Flight of The Bumblebee’ was. Along with their artwork, the sheet music was posted to the wall. The children were introduced to the idea that music was written as notes rather than words and they were quite easy draw.
5.4 Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work.
The benefits of listening to classical music are lifelong positive effects. Music creates a calming effect, it improves creativity, improves listening skills, and improves brain function. As the children discussed the sheet music, many soon realised that the music they could hear was the music we were discussing. Some remembered it from our A3 painting outside and moved their bodies quickly around the room pretending to be the bumblebee. As the music was in A3 format on the floor, the children could inspect all the notes on the page. After examining the notes, the children discussed the shapes, like when they looked at the instruments they had drawn previously during the term, breaking down the shapes they could see. Were they made of circles, squares, triangles, and lines? The children used the medium of the black marker to create the note while discussing with an educator the shapes they seen when they were drawing. The children quickly saw that their favourites to try recreating were the circle with the line coming from it. Some even tried to copy the sheet music of ‘Flight of The Bumblebee’. 4.3 Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another. 5.1 Children interact verbally and nonverbally with others for a range of purposes. 5.2 Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts. 5.3 Children express ideas and meaning using a range of media.
make
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Stage 2
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Stage 3
By Christina Mandalidis, Susan Casey, Jason Corrigan, Sarah Garderner – Ventura and Yuliya Ginis
Recently the children listened to the book ‘All About Faces’ by La Zoo, so they were invited to the Atelier to look at themselves in a mirror as they completed a self-portrait. The children’s identity is one that they have been constantly developing and challenging. Part of their identity is based on how they perceive themselves, emotionally and physically. This is why self-portraits are a great way for the children to express and show their own perceptions of themselves. They used a mirror to look at their own reflections and used their hands to feel different parts of their faces and bodies to understand their shape. Then they took to an A4 page with a simple black marker to draw themselves. This is the fourth in a series of self-portraits that the children have completed each term. It will not only show the development in their drawing skills, but also their unique perceptions of themselves. “It’s me, Lyla and I went to a new park and it had a pool and I had a new floaty.” Lyla “I want to draw my ribbon with a different colour. My ribbon is pink.” Nina “I have to do my hands. That’s one of my arms and one hand. That’s my hands. That’s my tummy. I want to colour me in.” Daliya “It’s Hector.” Hector “It’s Louis and me playing together.” Finley “It’s me, Anna.’ Anna “It’s me, I’m doing flowers on my dress.” Noa “Two eyes, one nose, me.” Clara “I’m kind.” Louis Dr Maria Montessori used to say that Practical Life activities should be meaningful, and also that the skills it strengthens should be used in a practical manner in everyday life. REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
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Stage 3
By Christina Mandalidis, Susan Casey, Jason Corrigan, Sarah Garderner – Ventura and Yuliya Ginis
That way, developing Practical Life skills is a strong Montessori principle and learning to sew is something that every child can use in life. It is also a great way to refine motor skills. Teaching children daily life skills while learning and improving other basic skills is what Maria Montessori was all about. Lacing and stringing activities help young children develop manual dexterity and manipulative skills. By using their hands, children more fully integrate learning experiences. Weaving, sewing, and other kinds of handwork extend the benefits of Practical Life work for the older child. Children will continue to develop fine motor skills and concentration, while building self-confidence with successful experiences. This week, the children were invited to the perceptual atelier to sew around their initial name sound. This takes a great deal of concentration and focus for the children as they sew in and out back to front. They did exceptionally well at this activity which they were very proud to show to their friends.
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Stage 3
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Stage 4
By Cassandra Holmes, Jane Pledger, Sandra Carberry, Nina Bergel, Kristina Rocchi and Bri Rees
Our termly provocation is “The One Hundred Languages of Creativity”. The hundred languages is a key principle of the Reggioinspired approach. It emphasises the importance of providing children with one hundred ways to share their thinking of the world around them. At Reddam, we believe there are one hundred ways of being creative, one hundred ways of expressing ourselves and for the last term we will be showcasing this.
TC: Yayoi is the spot lady and she has a chair that looks like a ball. Ashely: She is from Japan. Ryder: She went to America on an airplane. Freda: She was so sick she even took her bed to her art exhibition. Francesca: She is still alive and is 92 years old.
Our children have been observing and immersing themselves in the life and works of Yayoi Kusama. She is a Japanese artist, known for her extensive use of polka dots and for her infinity installations and love of pumpkins. We shared a book about Yayoi’s life so far. The children were captivated by the story of Yayoi growing up in Japan and her love for art from a young age. We explained the concept of a dot, and that everyone has the capability of creating a dot, adding another one, and then another 100! And so you have your own Yayoi, or as the title of the book says, “Covered Everything In Dots”. During this mini project I observed enjoyment and excitement as each child chose their art medium. Some children placed their dots in a methodical manner, while others haphazardly scattered their dots like confetti in a shower across the page. Ultimately each child was their own artist and everyone created something that make sense to the artist who made it. The children recalled what they had learn about Yayoi: Jaden: I drew the dress for 25 people, I would wear this with me friends and we would laugh. Sienna: Yayoi looks sad in her photographs. Marlow: I make a Yayoi dot artwork on my art book.
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Stage 4
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Reddam Early Learning would like to wish a very happy birthday to Mila Edwards,Ryder Nettelbeck,Julian Green,Edie Kirk,Sabine Smith & Annabelle Illoski who celebrate their special day this week We hope you have a fabulous day!
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