January 29th, 2019

​Top Tip’s for talking
Use open ended questions:  Open ended questions can give you opportunities to continue a conversation.  For example, "I wonder what the little boy wants?" Can encourage children to respond in full sentences.  In contrast, the closed question "Does the little boy want the car" leads only to a Yes, No or I don't know answer.

Story Focus
Goldie locks and the three bears.

Farm animals
The farm animals have been a huge interest of all off the children the past couple of weeks, building farmyards, talking about the life cycle of different animals and taking on the role of specific animals, moving around just like the animals would.
The children have enjoyed creating the sounds of the different animals, doing so by singing Old Macdonald which helps to support children create speech sounds and build the muscles around their mouth.
Farm animals haven’t just been a hit inside, children have used their imaginations to build farms outside, using open ended resources to build pens and gates to keep the animals in their pens.
We have also been observing the tractors that have been passing by pre-school, using our senses; sight and smell, to guess where the tractors are going and what they might be transporting.
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Forest Club
Please note that as of Term 4 which begins on Monday 25th February 2019, Forest club will be held on a Friday. If your child does not attend a Friday session but forest club is something, they may be interested in doing, please do not hesitate to inform one of the preschool team.
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The children have been very busy at forest club over the past 2 weeks, playing what’s the time Mr Wolf, helping each other climb up and down banks, digging for bugs and re-building the den that we had created back in September.
Working as a team, the children explored the exploring area to collect sticks and logs to re-build our den making it “bigger” and “much better” than it was before. They began to prop the logs against a tree to build an outer shell, in order to weave sticks in and out of and cover with leaves and branches to stop “the rain getting in”.
Logically placing the logs against the tree, enabled the children to build and balance, promoting them to use their problem-solving skills and self-confidence.
The children have also been observing the horses in the field, watching them gallop around and create big loud “neighs”. They have also been able to pet Magic and feed him some grass, as he is very confident to approach the fence where the children are standing, wanting to say Hello!
All off the children were aware that to safely feed Magic, we must keep our hands flat and let him take the grass from our hands when he is ready too. They have also enjoyed stroking him, talking about and describing the texture of his fur, exclaiming it is “spikey on the short bit” but very “soft and cuddly” everywhere else.