REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
Dee’s Message
10 February 2023
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
The cheerful sounds of children permeated the ELS this week, as they happily went about their days. There was much to explore and many opportunities to create, while engaging with their classmates. Fewer tears at drop-off time indicated that the children are settling into their routines and getting used to the environment – and for those who are still a bit hesitant, we know that it is only a matter of time before they happily embrace the exciting activities which await them each day, along with the supportive teachers and welcoming friends. The most effective early learning experiences should take place against a backdrop of play. Some of this is structured and guided, while much of the best learning occurs during unstructured free play. This is one of the enormous benefits of the Reggio Emilia approach to early learning, in which the child is seen as inherently capable of self-discovery, and in which the teacher is a collaborator, rather than the font of all knowledge.
There are, of course, countless ways in which children play. However, one which seems to have been around since children first realised the delight of play, is that of messing around in sand. Whether in the most remote village, where hardly any fancy educational resources are found, to the complex playgrounds in first-world nations, one area which always seems inundated with children is the sandpit (or if no such structure exists, just a pebble-strewn patch of bare earth). Here in Sydney we have wonderful beaches to enjoy, and it goes without saying that they are an instant attraction for little people, who set to building all sorts of fantastic structures and to making up often-complex adventures using the sand and found objects on the beach. A recent article, which looks at the benefits of sand play for young children, reminds us that there are “clear associations between sand play and children’s physical, cognitive and social–emotional development.
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
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