Kornmehl
Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmel
Welcome
Over the past few weeks, we have welcomed many new families and children to the Pre-school.
The first few weeks when a child is settling in is a time of crucial importance to their later happiness in the Pre-school. All children are individuals and while some children will adjust fairly easily to the new environment and new routines, others will take longer to feel comfortable and secure. We have been concentrating on developing secure relationships and a sense of belonging to the groups and the Pre-school. The Early Years Learning Framework takes the view that the lives of children are characterised by belonging, being and becoming. From before birth, children are connected to family, community, culture and place.
The children are all settling into their new classrooms and becoming more familiar with each group’s routines and rules. They are also getting to know their teachers and friends. This takes time and we need to allow the children space to explore, discover and feel a sense of belonging and trust. We work hard in these first few weeks to establish connections and relationships with families and children in our care. We talk and explain things clearly to the children and there is repetition and familiarity from day to day. This allows children time to process and feel safe and secure. Children who have a positive start to their new environment are more likely to feel comfortable, relaxed and valued and feel good about themselves as learners.
Separation anxiety is a healthy and protective emotion. It is the child’s way of saying: “You are my safe base and I need to develop trust and confidence in alternate carers”.
Talking through the daily routine with your child each day helps to reduce anxiety. Educators also use this as a tool to familiarise children with what to expect each day, so that it is predictable, and they have time to process what is happening in their day.
At Kornmehl, of great importance is a focus on relationships, collaboration, communication and developing a sense of belonging. Ways in which we begin to get to know the children and to develop positive and trusting relationships is by listening to their stories, experiences and ideas; acknowledging how they might be feeling and supporting them in ways that are caring, nurturing and respectful, such as joining in their play, having fun together as well as sharing moments of just being, showing a genuine interest in what they are doing and celebrating their learning.
This is done in many ways:
- By establishing routines that are predictable and constant, children develop a sense of trust and familiarity that makes them feel secure and safe. This influences a child’s emotional, cognitive and social development and helps children understand the expectations in the environment.
- We are learning who is in our group and how to play safely and fairly, sharing and taking turns.
- We are learning about our environment, where things belong and where to find materials we are looking for, and how to tidy up together – teamwork! It is delightful to see the children starting to initiate their own learning, by self-selecting resources to use or choosing learning areas in which to investigate and play.
- We are becoming independent in looking after our belongings and knowing where our lockers and bags are kept.
- We are learning how to use materials and equipment respectfully, and the importance of leaving areas tidy and looking beautiful for the next person who comes to play.
- We have been singing and playing name games and learning to find our name cards in the morning and sign in.
Parents are the safe base from which each child can branch out and explore the world, grow and learn and become socially and emotionally confident. Getting off to a good start will help support your child through this very important period in their lives. Remember that going to Pre-school is an important life experience filled with opportunities for growth, skill development and fun. Like any new experience there are challenges for both the child and the parents.
We look forward to working collaboratively to make each child’s journey at Kornmehl a warm, caring, nurturing and positive learning experience.
Chinese New Year
All three groups have been learning about and celebrating the Chinese New Year.
We continued to explore this special celebration through the languages of drawing, painting, craft, stories, symbolic play and cooking.
The children have been listening to stories about the Chinese New Year and making connections with other celebrations, such as Rosh Hashanah and the New Year. We have been looking at pictures and photographs of the ways in which homes are decorated using lanterns. This has inspired the children to make their own.
The older groups were involved in the process of making lanterns. This included many skills, such as folding the paper into two equal parts, using the rulers to draw lines, decorating the paper using the correct pencil grip, cutting over the lines, and writing their name.
All three groups participated in making fried rice. Some of the skills involved in the process included using real knives to cut the cabbage, cracking and whisking the egg, mixing and using their senses to smell, feel and taste. Needless to say, it was delicious, and they all gobbled up their bowls of fried rice. As it is the Year of the Ox, we have also been practicing how to write ‘Ox’ in Chinese. The Home Corner has also been set up as a Chinese restaurant. The children are loving learning about other cultures and embracing the diversity of children in our Pre-school.
Purim
Over the last few days we have introduced the story of Purim to the children. This has been done using a range of three-dimensional props. We have kept the story very simple focusing on the fact that there was a bad man who wanted to chase all the Jewish people away and that he ended up being chased away. The heroine of the story is the lovely Queen Esther. Through the telling of the story the children are exposed to some new concepts – the fact that they are Jewish, that they are part of a community and that there is a cyclical nature to Judaism as Purim is celebrated each year at the same time in the Hebrew calendar.
The festival of Purim is such a bright, happy and colourful one, full of different sensory experiences – the shaking of the rashanim, the creation of brightly coloured masks and the dressing up in colourful clothes as well as the sweet and tasty Hamentashen.
The classrooms have been a hive of activity as the children have immersed themselves in the creative activities on offer. There has been a lovely, festive atmosphere in the rooms as the children delight in trying on different silly wigs and masks as well as making good use of the shakers to create some noise all in preparation for our Purim Parade on Friday 26 February 2021.
Happy Birthday
We wish a very happy birthday to Etta Pillemer (4). We also wish a happy birthday to our special educator Laura Meltzer. We hope you both had a lovely day.