simone’s message by ms simone cooke, principal · 1 . reddam early learning school | st leonards...

1 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 1

Simone’s Message By Ms Simone Cooke, Principal

In the first five years of a child‟s life they will learn on average over 14,000 words. As infants these first

words are usually linked to things which are important to them, it is no surprise that these words are

usually Mummy and Daddy, but of course the next of these is invariably the word „No‟!

Between the ages of two and six, children are learning on average ten new words a day, which

equates to one new word for every hour they are awake! In recent years, research has revealed

that it is not merely the quantity of words a child is exposed to that builds comprehension and

understanding, but rather the quality of their interactions that builds language development.

Here at Reddam, our Teachers are vitally aware of the crucial role they play in building and

extending your child‟s oral and receptive language skills, providing good role modelling, building

language connections and encouraging joint engagement. With our Stage 1 and 2 children our

daily routines rely upon repetition and reinforcement of familiar words, building the children‟s

receptive language and their ability to understand words and language by using it in correct

contexts. This is vitally important as an inability to follow or understand instructions is what leads to

attention, listening and learning difficulties in later years.

In our Language and Literature groups our Teachers focus on developing receptive language in

several ways. We build the children‟s attention and concentration skills, encouraging the children to

attend to a task without distraction. We focus also on their pre-language skills such as gestures,

facial expression, imitation and eye contact, modelling appropriate behaviours and encouraging

children to understand that both verbal and non verbal communication conveys meaning and

engagement with others. We extend children‟s vocabulary and understanding through interesting,

meaningful and intentional teaching, scaffolding and extending their understanding of the world

around them and in turn building their communication skills.

Not only does fostering strong language skills improve learning and socialisation but it greatly

reduces behaviour problems in children. Young children who can express themselves in words are

less likely to use physical force such as biting or hitting out of frustration. Giving our children these

essential tools of communication undoubtedly sets them up for future success in life. I thank all our

Teachers here at Reddam for their ongoing commitment and diligence in understanding the vital

role they play in each and every child‟s development and remind you of the Japanese proverb –

“Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher”!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

26TH MAY 2017


Our Routine…

The Hatchlings and Nest children have a very structured routine. Routines are important because they

give children a sense of security and control over their environment. Children learn what to expect at

various times in the day and as they begin to participate in these routines, they will experience a sense of

control and satisfaction at being able to perform part of or all of the tasks associated with the routine.

We start the mornings with a table activity related to the provocation, this week, for instance, we made

lavender playdough which had calming components to it, and we like to listen to classical music while

playing in the mornings.

Then we sit in a circle and have a structured Group time sitting on the mat, it is amazing the levels of

interaction and concentration that our groups have and they never cease to amaze us. After we sing our

morning song, we call each child's name to go sit down on the chairs and they wait patiently for their

names to be called.

After Morning tea we split into smaller groups and rotate into different tasks, whilst one group is playing

outside another group will be doing art in the Atelier and then we swap around. This week during Art

time we have been painting on fall leaves to decorate our classroom.

In order for routines to be a practical source for learning, we make sure that we have enough time to

take each task within the routine slowly and we need to be sure that we discuss each individual task with

our children.

Every week we have a Group activity where the children learn the importance of working

collaboratively. Cooperative play encourages children to interact with others, express their thoughts,

respect others and try out new ideas. It also promotes social growth and sharing. This week we made

pine cone bird feeders and we loved watching the birds come to eat from them.

We make certain that we follow the same procedures and routines each day and also try to use the

same language to help reinforce language learning.

Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings By Miss Gabriela Guimaraes


Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings Using Natural Materials


Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings Building Friendships


Floating on the Ocean

As the adventurous little girl from Julie Lacome‟s book walks through the jungle, exploring its colours, sounds

and animals she also invites the children to float on the ocean with her, exploring its colourful sea life!

Sea creatures fascinate our Fledglings group! We often sing songs such as Slippery Fish, All the fishes are

swimming in the water and 1 2 3 4 5 Once I caught a fish alive. We also read books that take us on

an exploration of the ocean and it‟s creatures such as “The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister and “Little‟s

Whale Song” by Fran Evans.

Throug out our Provocation “The Wonderful World of Books” we are exploring different stories,

encouraging the children to actively participate during our group time, sharing their ideas and

knowledge. As mentioned before the first book we are exploring is going to take our children to different

natural environments. In the last two weeks we have been exploring the jungle and this week we explored

the ocean.

The children were exposed to an ocean sensory activity consisting of coloured rice and sea creatures. The

children absolutely loved playing with the rice, feeling it through their fingers while hiding the colourful sea

creatures.

In our Creative Drawing corner the children were able to use deep blue sea bottles and shells as inspiration

to create beautiful drawings. To further explore our ocean adventure during group time we have been

using our surprise bag to discover new sea creatures and to read books and sing songs about them.

Furthermore, in the Art Atelier, our little artists have been busy creating their ocean puffy painting. We used

½ cup of shaving cream, ¼ cup of glue and different shades of blue and green paint. The children were

invited to participate in the process of making this paint and instead of using brushes they had spoons to

manipulate this fluffy paint.

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” Socrates

I hope you all have a great weekend with your beautiful children.

Stage 1: Fledglings By Miss Michele Santos


Stage 1: Fledglings Floating on the Ocean


Stage 2: Chicks, Sparrows & Robins By Ms Kasia Rymarczyk

Dear Parents,

It is real delight to observe your children growing each day in their confidence and

independence. We see the children not only developing their self-help skills but also

watch them flourish as they are gaining new knowledge as curious and self-motivated

learners.

This week as our provocation on self-awareness progresses we have noticed that the

children are starting to make more self-reflection statements, where they use sentences

starting with: “I like…” “I am…” My hair is…”. We see children wondering about

themselves and starting to think about their friends.

To encourage and build vocabulary and in order for children to gain more

understanding of visual representations we have engaged them in a self-portrait making

activity as well as making Paper Mache masks and engaging in a „Here‟s a House‟

creative activity.


Stage 2: Self Portrait By Ms Kasia Rymarczyk

Self-portrait drawing and collage portrait process using natural elements.

We started our exploration by talking about self-portraits. We gave the children mirrors

and asked them to look at their eyes, nose, lips and the shapes of their faces, paying

particular attention to the lines and details that they see. Using thin Sharpie markers, the

children drew line drawings of their faces and in some cases their bodies, shoes and

clothes. They continued to use the mirrors in order to pay close attention to details. Next

we took on the task of choosing appropriate colours of oil pastels to match their skin, hair

and eyes. It was beautiful to observe the children using mirrors and sharing observations

with each other. Talking about the parts of the face, the features, shapes, size etc. It was

a great language exploration.

To add to the drawing experience, we used leaves, sticks and bark to create the collage

portraits, where the natural elements were used as a symbolic representation of their

features. For young children, symbolic representation happens when for example a child

transforms a stick into a lips while constructing a face. The symbolic representation in the

collage technique is part of the playful exploration of materials. Using symbolic

representation in art play is an important step toward moving children‟s thinking from the

concrete to the abstract representation. For children, the playful collage technique with

peer interactions and teacher guidance opens up multiple opportunities for symbolic

representation and language development.


Stage 2: Self Portrait


Stage 2: Paper Mache Face Masks By Miss Eva Lo

This week we started our big project “Paper Mache Face Masks”.

As we continued to focus on our own features. Continuing the self portrait drawing

learning activity, most of the children have developed an understanding of where their

eyes, nose mouth were located and are learning correct pencil grip to assist

their drawing on paper.

After the self portrait drawing, we decided to do a three-dimensional art work for our

face. We split into several groups, 4 children a group, to work on one big balloon paper

mache. The children were encouraged to take turns to put the newspaper strips on top

of the balloon one by one and layer by layer everyday.

This activity encourages children to work collaboratively, and also developing their fine

motor skills by dipping the newspaper strips into the glue mixing them and placing them

onto the balloon carefully. It is so wonderful to see the children working together to

create a beautiful piece of artwork. The next step in our paper mache project will be

creating a unique face mask of the children themselves.


Stage 2: Paper Mache Face Mask


Stage 2: Friendship of the Week By Miss Eva Lo

Friendship quote of the week “We didn't realise we were making memories. We just

knew we were having fun”.

This week we captured Sebastian and Erge who are the best friends for some time now.

Aubrey joined them because she likes to play with them, too.


Stage 2: Here’s a House By Miss Emily Chacon “Having a positive sense of identity and experiencing respectful, responsive relationships

strengthens children’s interest and skills in being and becoming active contributors to their

world.” Early Years Learning Framework – Outcome 2 – Children are connected with and

contribute to their world.

We believe it is vitally important to provide our children with a supportive environment where

children can ask questions, solve problems and engage in critical thinking. Creating

environments where they are able to freely express their emotions and ideas and learn and

build confidence to explore from one another.

Throughout the week we have continued our interest in homes and where we live in our group

discussions. The children have shown knowledge and confidence in joining in these class

conversations and freely expressing their ideas and emotions.

We have continued to sing our songs about homes and families, and I have noticed the

children singing these songs outside of the class and around the playground. This is a great way

of building and extending language development.

Using paddle pop sticks and sheets of laminate the children were encouraged to put together a

representation of what their homes look like. Once these are completed the children will be

drawing their families and sticking them inside.

When you enter our classroom you will see that the children‟s art and photos are displayed on

the wall, from their „Family‟ experience from last week. Please take time to view these as the

children put so much effort into these. The children have noticed and one on one and group

discussions have begun to flow freely.

As Teachers we will continue to encourage children‟s development and confidence in building

a strong sense of identity. We will watch, reflect and discover new ideas to further develop the

children‟s understanding of belonging to a family at home and school.


Stage 2: Here’s a House


The Water Cycle

This week we in keeping with our Provocation on the Natural Environment we sought to

enhance the children‟s knowledge of our weather system. As part of this we decided we would

explore the rain cycle and learn all about clouds and why it rains. This morning the children went

outside and found a nice shady spot to look up at the clouds in the sky. We took our clipboards

and a lead pencil with us as well. “What do the clouds look like?” asked the teacher.

“Mine looks like an apple pie” said Theo

“My cloud looks like a rabbit” said Helen

“My cloud looks like a car” said Bella

“Mine looks like a cat” said Aaron

“Mine is mummy” said Isabella

“Mine is a toy” said Isabel

“My cloud is a pizza” said Finn

“My cloud looks like Belle” said Lucia

“Mine is a sun” said Aadhya

The children were then encouraged to draw what they saw, paying attention to detail and the

size and shape of the cloud. This experience then extended into why it rains and how much rain

each cloud can hold. We looked at the various shaped clouds and their colours and discussed

how the colours change when they are heavy with moisture.

To conclude the activity and to encourage the children to focus on their listening skills , we spent

time listening to various sounds from nature, The children identified the sounds they heard and

then painted these. We discussed how we used all our senses to explore Nature. Using our sight

to look at the relaxing waterfall pictures and our sense of hearing to listen to the sound of the

water and call of the birds. It was a lovely relaxing activity and a good opportunity to take time

out of our busy day to focus on the world around us.

Stage 3 - Kookaburras By Ms Riina Andrew


Stage 3: Kookaburras The Water Cycle


Story Map—Phase 2

Last week we focused on planning our Story Map for Little Red Riding Hood. This week

we implemented our plan and created the map using our own creative skills!

We began by focusing on the main elements of the story map: locations. We spent the

first part of the week creating the main landmarks in the story: Little Red Riding Hood‟s

house, Grandma‟s house, the winding path and the forest.

The children worked so well together to create their chosen landmark. They discussed

where the landmarks should be placed on the map according to our previous plan and

the information from the story. Once we made the two houses and the path, we then

needed to work together to make the forest. There were so many trees to make and

everyone did such a wonderful job at staying focused and taking pride in their work.

Later in the week we then focused on the other elements that the children wanted to

add: flowers, Grandma, Little Red Riding Hood, the Woodcutter and The Big Bad Wolf.

This was such a great way to finish off the story map as it really helped to

consolidate the idea of basic geography and location. As we had already placed the

landmarks on the story map, this part of the activity required the children to think about

where the characters should be placed based on the story. Nathaniel placed

Grandma at her house, Harry placed the Woodcutter in the forest, Natasha placed

Little Red Riding Hood at her house and as a group we decided to put the wolf in the

middle of the forest and the flowers next to the path near Granny‟s house. It was such a

team effort and it just looks incredible!

Stage 3 - Flamingos By Ms Amanda McDonald


Visual Music

For something a little bit different, we used the listening station set up by Miss Bernadette in

Stage 4. The listening station was set up with the intention of having the children listen to a story,

music or other sounds and paint what they hear. I set the children up with a playlist of forest

sounds to tie into our Little Red Riding Hood provocation. In small groups, the children sat at the

listening station and painted while hearing sounds of creaking branches, birds, insects and

gentle wind. The paintings that the children produced are lovely and have a feeling of

calmness about them.

Illustration Inspired Artwork

To bring the first fairy tale to a close, we used one of the original illustrations from the first lesson

on Little Red Riding Hood to create a thought provoking artwork. On the table I set up some

red, black and grey paper, torn brown paper, glue, scissors, and pencils. The children sat at the

table and looked at the illustration and discussed what they thought we were going to do. I

asked them what they thought the brown paper was for and they said it looked like tree

branches. I explained that they were going to be glued onto the grey paper to represent the

tree trunks. The children got started on the first part of their artwork and rose to the challenge!

When the children finished this part, they were able to move on to drawing and cutting out

Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf. This part of the artwork was difficult as the children

needed to draw the shapes of the characters without faces or expressions. This isn‟t an easy

concept to understand and the children did an excellent job at imagining the character‟s

body shape, size and posture. Once the characters were cut out, the children glued them

down onto the paper amongst the trees.

The artworks are absolutely spectacular and are hung in the classroom on display. Please come

in and have a look as the children worked so hard and they are really effective.

Stage 3 - Flamingos By Ms Amanda McDonald


Stage 3: Flamingos Story Map & Illustrative Artwork


Stage 4 - Rosellas By Ms Sue Mayer

Pre Writing Skills

Children in Stage 4 are at the stage of development where they are beginning to rec-

ognise and sound out the letters of the alphabet. Half way through the year prior to

school children challenge themselves with more writing. They are beginning to under-

stand that the symbol of letters joined together make words. All children develop the

skill of writing in their own time, it is a skill however that requires practice.

During our provocation work we encourage children to write, thus developing an un-

derstanding that letters make words and that words have meanings. Over the past

week the Rosellas have continued to explore colour by mixing their own jars of paint to

make secondary colours. While children can recognise the colours and verbally ex-

press this there was no correspondence to the word. To encourage this understanding

of the word that represents a certain colour we labelled our jars and made labels for

the warm colours and the cool colours. The children also helped to paint our title "The

colours of our world".

We also explored the beautiful colour of Autumn leaves using just the primary colours

of red, blue and yellow watercolour. The children crumpled up paper and added

droplets of colour to their paper and then re-scrunched their paper leaving an imprint

of ink that was quite effective.

Moving on we will be exploring the cooler colours of the ocean and are looking at a

new medium of art - Mosaic. If you have any spare tiles at home of various colours

could you please bring them into school so that we can use these in our new venture.


Stage 4: Rosellas Colour Mixing


Stage 4: Cockatoos By Miss Bernadette Casey

Stories and Symphonies

Having mastered the concepts surrounding characters, settings and story boards, this week we

moved our attention to how different stories make us feel. The children investigated how a

mood is created in stories by engaging in an investigation into music and how it makes us feel.

To begin the children were played various types of classical music, we discussed how it made

us feel, then we began to make up stories about what was happening during the music. This is

when the magic started to happen! The children demonstrated an acute awareness of how

the music made them feel and various situations in which they, or other characters might feel

these emotions. We listened to some to the music from Disney‟s Fantasia, during the mushroom

dance, the children thought the music was about fairies flying – not far off! Next they listened

to the opening sequence where Mickey bewitches a broom stick, some of the boys decided it

sounded like a monster was chasing some walking trees. Once we had made our predictions

about the stories being told, the children were able to watch the clips to understand how the

music plays an important part in storytelling. To follow up from this the children were given to

opportunity to paint how they felt whilst listening to a variety of Disney‟s Silly Symphonies. Some

painted the characters they heard, others painted the instruments they recognised the sounds

of and other painted how they thought the characters might be feeling. It was interesting lis-

tening to the children‟s choices of colour – Red for angry music or pink for light fairy music. The

myriad of artworks demonstrated how children are able to express emotions and stories.

The children have loved watching and listening to short snippets of the Silly Symphonies, so to

lead into our next investigation – how stories are told in songs – we listened first and then

watched The Three Little Pigs. The children thought the music was fantastic there was lots of

laughing and giggling. The children were then able to use hand puppets and shadow puppets

on the light table to retell the story of the little pigs, using their songs. Since incorporating songs

this week into the children‟s story telling, there has been an increase into the use of song during

the children‟s dramatic play in the classroom and outdoors.


Stage 4: Cockatoos Stories and Symphonies


Stage 4: Cockatoos Dramatic Play


Sport By Mr Spencer Clifton

The Nest had a fantastic week of sport, we started with a few short sprints to get warmed up

followed by a problem solving exercise that involved the children collecting soft balls and plac-

ing them in the ball basket. Our next activity made use of a mini obstacle course which fo-

cused on developing the children's stability and strength for walking finishing the lesson off with

some soccer ball exposure where the children kicked and threw the balls.

The Fledglings started the lesson off with a running exercise to warm their muscles up followed

by our new animal movements that aim to stimulate the children's imagination and help

strengthen their muscles. Our next activity involved bean bags in which the children matched

the colour of the bean bag with the correlating hoop colour. Our next exercise made use of

the classic game Simon says with a slight modification that focused on strengthening and sta-

bility instructions. We finished the lesson off with some soccer ball exposure where the children

kicked and threw the balls.

The Stage 2s started the lesson off with some controlled running exercises followed by our ani-

mal movements which target muscle strength in their legs, arms and core. Our next activity in-

volved different colour hoops placed together around the exercise area with the children find-

ing the correct colour that has been called out. Our next exercise continued on our catching

and throwing, where we placed a variety of targets around the exercise area with the children

moving around trying to hit the targets.

The Stage 3s and 4s had a fantastic lesson where we started with a running activity that

warmed our muscles up followed by our animal movements targeting leg strength.

Our next activity involved the game called Pacman which focuses on spatial awareness, agili-

ty, balance and team work.

Our next exercise continued on from last weeks soccer skills where we focused on controlled

kicks, dribbling, ball control and ball movement. Our first game continued with last weeks air-

plane balance followed by two dribbling activities, the first involved a zig zag dribble between

markers. The markers act as restrictions which encourage the children to manoeuvre their bod-

ies in order to successfully dribble through the markers without using their hands for assistance.

The second involved a dribbling game in which the children made their way up and down the

dribble runway.


Sport


Music By Mr Justin Sze

Stage 1 & 2

This week, we begin a new theme with the little ones. We continue to explore the con-

cept of Up and Down through the song, “Grand old Duke of York”. We also introduced

the drum to the children. Unlike the shakers and bells, the drum is a membranophone

(stretched skin around a frame) which is hit to make the music. The children are thus ex-

posed to a variety of musical timbre as they play with musical instruments of different

materials.

We continue to use the shakers and bells to instil the sense of the steady beat to the little

one. The steady beat is an important concept for children no matter whether they

would play Classical, Jazz or Pop Music in future. It is also important for them to incul-

cate this for activities such as marching, bouncing a ball and various other synchronized

activities. As you sing or listen to music in your cars etc. through the week, you might

wish to tap or pat the steady gently to reinforce this concept.

Stage 3

We are going on board a train this week! All aboard! (Train whistle). We explored musi-

cal concepts such as moving faster and slower (accelerando and ritardando), these

are the Italian terms children will need to understand as they study Classical repertoire

at higher levels. But instead of learning these words for an AMEB Exams (one night be-

fore), our young friends are enjoying and experiencing the concept through the music!

This way, when they eventually play a musical instrument, they would have no problems

executing these musical directions.

The above concept is woven into many different songs about trains. One of the songs,

Hinei Rakevet, is a song in the genre of Klezmer Music (a Jewish version of Jazz Music

played by Yiddish, Jewish Immigrants in Eastern Europe). One of the objectives of our

Music programme is to allow our children to listen to a variety of Music from around the

world; not just Classical Music or Pop Songs.

Stage 4

We played a game, “Here comes a Blue Bird” which is a musical game requiring a high

level of co-operation among the children. Very impressively, the children did well to

make the game work!

Now, we sing about another bird; the Woodpecker. After we sang “Woodpecker,

Woodpecker, I hear you tapping”, we then learned a rhythmic pattern (musical motif)

which represents the Woodpecker, a different pattern which represents a Robin, and a

different one which sounds like an Owl. These were then arranged into a piece of music

where different children took on different “roles” and created our own little “bird orches-

tra”. Finally, we explored the wind chimes, and again talked about how we can‟t see

the wind but we see the effects and then sang the beautiful song, “I can‟t see the

wind” while playing with the scarves.


Music


Mandarin By Miss Sherry Zhu

Next Sunday is the Dragon-Boat Festival. It would be great for kids to know more about

tradition, history and stories of China. For that reason, I will arrange a culture lesson for

kids in the following weeks.

For preschool children, it can be difficult for them to access those topics by speech, so

we‟ll explore culture through activities and images. As surfing and rowing are popular in

Australia, the children should have a reasonable understanding of the concept of the

dragon-boat festival. I will prepare a short video introducing the festival.

Preschoolers will also learn to make a boat using paper. I hope that the lesson can be

an effective platform for kids to know more about Chinese culture.


Mandarin


Dance & Drama By Miss Laura Hudson

The Nest/ Fledglings

The children will go on an adventure with a genie (teacher in role) using a magic carpet, using

their fine motor skills and senses to accomplish the tasks that await them.

Skills learnt this week:

Following direction by watching and copying the teacher

Listening and responding to the teacher

Fine Motor skills

Used their sense of touch, smell and hear

Memory recall

Activities include:

Looked. felt and rubbed the magical mirror before a genie appeared

One of the children rubbed the bottle and a genie appeared with a map.

This map would lead them to a cave. A cave that would have many surprises. Along the

way they came across many obstacles and had to solve the riddles along the way

Rode on the magic carpet

The children followed the map and came to a Washing line, with pegs and socks on. The

children used their fine motor skills to take the pegs off the washing line to help the genie.

Before the children entered the cave they discussed what it might sound, smell and feel

like.

Tapping sticks were used to create atmosphere and suspense

The genie appeared from the cave and invited everyone in. Once in the cave the genie

described what it felt like.

Stage 2 Objectives:

The children will train to be astronauts and fly to different planets. They will discover a new plan-

et, name this and give it an action just like they did with the other planets.


Memory Recall

Used their sense of touch

Listened and followed direction

Worked as a group and individually

Used their body to create shapes

Activities include:

The mission for this week was to try and find the new planet in the solar system?

The children began by training as astronauts to go into space. Learning the basics includ-

ing walking as an astronaut, controlling the rocket, the countdown and where it would

land.

Each child was given there own launch pad, they had to put on their space suits, get the

rocket ship ready to launch and remember which colour and number was their launch

pad

Once the children had blast off into space they visited a number of planets, each of the

planets had an action associated with it, that the children made up. E.g. Mercury is hot so

they decided to jump as fast as they could from one foot to the other, Earth has lots of

water so they decide to do a swimming action. The Flight Director informed the children

that news had just come in that there is a new planet in space. We visited this planet and

renamed it. Some suggestions included: the Wiggle planet, Frog and Princess Planet.

Again the children had to think of an action to go with this planet.

Used their sense of touch (touched green slim – jelly that they found on the moon)

Finished by flying back to earth in the rocket ship, did they accomplish their mission?


Dance & Drama By Miss Laura Hudson

Stage 3 & 4 Objectives:

The children will travel in a time machine to visit different times of history and the future. They will also ap-

ply key drama words that they have leant over the past couple of weeks into the drama.


Memory Recall

Used their body to create different objects

Mime

Listened and followed direction

Spatial awareness

Working as a group and with different people

Activities include:

Egypt –make the shape of the pyramids using their body

Find Hieroglyphics in a cave and spell out what it says

Pirates

1716 – Discuss Black beard Realise he‟s the captain we are on his ship

Captains Coming Game

Walk the plank

Dinosaurs

Mix and match Dinosaur names to the dinosaurs

Do the Dinosaur Stomp/ The dinosaur dance

Future

Q&A We‟ve been in the past what do you think about the future?

What do you image the future to be like?

What would you want to be a thing in the future?


Dance & Drama


Italian By Ms Valentina Procopio

Italian, what a lovely language...

This week we did our Italian lesson, we sang a song " Ciao, buongiorno come

stai?" (“Hi, good morning, how are you?") All the children really enjoyed this song and

they also started to repeat the words.

Then, one by one, I gave every child a box where inside there were a pictures of ani-

mals; with so much curiosity they took one animal, and all together we repeated the

name in English and then in Italian. It was so much fun and I was really surprised when I

saw all of them enthusiastic and able to remember so many Italian words.

At the end of the lesson, each of the children had the opportunity to stick each the ani-

mals onto the farm board, repeating the kind of animals in Italian, duck - "papera", dog

- "cane”, pig - "maiale", chicken - "gallina" , horse - " cavallo" and cow - "mucca".

I'm sure the children really appreciate this lesson, and I'm wondering what they will

learn in the next one.


Italian


Yoga By Ms Kelly Nance

The word "yoga" means "union." It is the joining together of our body, mind, and spirit, aspects of

ourselves which should not be divided in the first place. Yoga connects and fuses our mind and

body through breath and movement which ultimately impacts on our positive sense of self and

wellbeing. Through fun yoga lessons the Reddam House ELS children have had the opportunity

to engage in this union of body and mind while gaining the many benefits along the way in a

non-competitive and safe environment.

Benefits of Yoga

Builds Self- Confidence and a positive self-image

Inclusive- there are no winner and no losers

Build strength and flexibility

Improves balance and coordination

Improves body awareness

Improve focus and concentration

Teaches children to respect and pay attention to their bodies

Nourishes creativity

Increases awareness of breathing and effects of breathing

Aids to slow down the nervous system

Develop self-control and connect children with their feelings.

Release energy

Cultivate compassion

Develops patience, mindfulness, leadership and other social/emotional skills

Calm the body and mind

Integrates physical, emotional and cognitive experiences

Reduces stress and increases calmness

Love & Peace, Kelly


Yoga


Ballet By Ms Tess Spiedel Connolly

In the past week, the younger classes have been practicing their 'good toes' and'

bad toes', their sensitive hands as well as their sharp hands.

I have now added a curling and stretching exercise to the class which all the babies

seem to really enjoy. The older classes have been continuing to rehearse their jumps

and spins. I have recently introduced them to gallops, skips and tendues - exercises we

will be mastering over the next couple of weeks.

All groups have been going through their jazz and drama routines at the end of class. I

am pleased to see that the children are enjoying the syllabus and am looking forward

to introducing some more exercises to them in the not too distant future.


Ballet

simone’s message by ms simone cooke, principal · 1 . reddam early learning school | st leonards...

Documents