Welcome to all the new and returning families to Chapel Hill Community Kindergarten. Phoebe and hope that you and your child feel “at Home” at our Red Group pre-kindy. Our program is short in length but very full of opportunities for your child. Here is a short list of what happens each afternoon at Red Group – free play, creative arts, climbing, social interactions, stories, music, digging, games and so much more.
The children have settled in and are happy playing alone or parallel to other children. Some have joined Red Group with a special friend and others are seeking to make new friends to play with. Social interactions and learning how to get along in a group are important skills that we work on during the pre-kindy year. For some children this is their first experience away from their family, so we like to spend time getting to know each other and building trust.
We see children as capable and competent; they already have a wealth of knowledge from their first educators; mum, dad and other family members. Phoebe and I have really enjoyed the last eight weeks discovering what the children already know, what they want to do and how we can encourage them to try something new. Resilience is one of my favourite words and I want every child to know they “can do it” and to help them build their self-confidence to try something new or challenging.
The children are enjoying all areas of the kindy, but the rain has stopped us from fully exploring the upper playground. With the warm weather we have been having water play is a favourite with many of the children, especially running it down pipes and planks. During water play children are improving their problem-solving skills and enhancing their social and language development. Maths and science concepts are also explored during water-play, what an amazing activity filled with rich learning opportunities.
Easel painting is offered most weeks, with a variety of colour combinations each day. We also tried finger painting this week, which many children found very engaging. The children are keen to use all the equipment on the stationary shelves, such as scissors, sticky tape, hold punches and a multitude of drawing materials. Play dough is a favourite activity for some children, offering wonderful opportunities for creative expression. We use scissors with the playdough for children to help develop their fine motor muscles and cutting skills.
We have been exploring climbing and jumping the last few weeks and working on how to safely climb and to bend out knees when we land. The children are all at different stages of learning this skill, so we always meet children where they are and scaffold their progress as needed.
We get together as a group near the end of every session to sing, chat, play a game and read a story. Phoebe and I are amazed at how keen and interactive the children are at Group Time, it is always a joyous time to share that special time together. If any parent or family member have a special talent to share with us at Group Time please let me know, we would love you to come and visit.
There are only two weeks of Red Group for Term One, then we have the April school holidays and Easter. In Week Ten we will have a mini Easter Egg Hunt on our last day of Term, which is Tuesday 30th of March.
