Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

The Early Years Learning Framework version 2

Version 2.0 of Australia’s national Early Years Learning Framework was released in January 2023. The aim of Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Framework for Australia is to support early childhood providers, teachers and educators to extend and enrich children’s learning from birth to five years, and through the transition to school. The Framework confirms that early childhood is a vital period in children’s continuing learning, development, and wellbeing. Recognising children as competent and capable learners who have rights and agency, the Framework has a specific emphasis on play-based learning and the intentional role played by both educators and children in extending and enriching learning.

The main vision for the framework is that all children engage in learning that promotes confident and creative individuals and successful lifelong learners. All children are active and informed members of their communities with knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. 

Following on from my article last week on “Why play is important,” I feel the need to highlight the importance given to play in the new EYLFv2:

Play-based learning capitalises on children’s natural inclination to be curious, explore and learn. Children actively construct their own understandings that contribute to their own learning. In play experiences children integrate their emotions, thinking and motivation that assists to strengthen brain functioning. They exercise their agency, intentionality, capacity to initiate and lead learning, and their right to participate in decisions that affect them, including about their learning. 

Play-based learning: 

• allows for the expression of personality and uniqueness
• offers opportunities for multimodal play
• enhances thinking skills and lifelong learning dispositions such as curiosity, persistence and creativity
• enables children to make connections between prior experiences and new learning and to transfer learning from one experience to another
• assists children to develop and build relationships and friendships
• develops knowledge acquisition and concepts in authentic contexts
• builds a sense of identity
• strengthens self-regulation, and physical and mental wellbeing

Educators’ practices and the relationships they form with children and their families have a significant effect on children’s participation in early childhood education, engagement in learning opportunities and success as learners. Children thrive when they, their families and their educators work together in partnership to support their learning, development and wellbeing. Relationships are strengthened when educators recognise and affirm children’s home languages and cultural identities and when they create culturally secure and safe places for children and their families. 

Children’s early learning influences their continuing educational journeys. Wellbeing and a strong sense of connection, optimism, resilience, and engagement enable children to develop a growth mindset, and a positive attitude to learning. 

Resource
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf

Music

The children have begun music lessons with Jessica Yendell. This term, the children are discovering many aspects of music including keeping a steady beat, recognising changes in pitch and different ways music can be performed (e.g. loud, soft, fast, quiet etc.). They are achieving all this through songs and games such our Hello song, Bee Bee Bumble Bee, See Saw, Apple Tree, Lucy Locket and many more. The children are also delving into the world of Indigenous music with lullabies such as Inanay Capuana, welcome songs such as Wanjoo, and others such as Ngaya Naba, and Taba Naba.

Hebrew

Morah Jemma has begun weekly Hebrew lessons on a Wednesday morning with all three groups. She welcomes students with her friendly puppets, Bensi and Sussi. This year, we are also meeting their cousin puppets who are visiting from Israel, Bensit and Sussit! Morah Jemma and her puppets have a conversation that introduces a challenge, question, or topic for the lesson. Humour is often used at the start of lessons to engage the children and to induce a positive and happy experience of Hebrew as fun and involving good humour! In most lessons, Sussi falls asleep at some point and wakes up halfway through the lesson, disappointed that he has missed it. But luckily, he wakes up in time for the story!

Hebrew lessons cover a range of accessible topics for the children, including, today’s weather, nature, ‘What is Hashem?’, Shabbat, the Aleph-Bet, Chagim, colours, numbers, animals and Mitzvot. Repetition is used from one week to the next to reinforce prior learnings, with a gentle scope and sequence to progress students with their vocabulary and understanding. 

Active participation is ensured through the timely inclusion of dancing and action-related games that utilise Hebrew action words. Challenge and humour are activated through games where Morah Jemma teaches parts of the body and students need to put their hands on their heads, shoulders etc. Then Morah Jemma becomes ‘tricky’ and puts her hands on her ‘Rosh’ (head) while saying ‘Beten’ (stomach) and sees how clever the children are to outsmart her! (The children are always cleverer than Morah Jemma!).

The lesson includes sensitively told stories that relate to the topics mentioned above. Lessons conclude with the singing of, and dancing to, the Aleph-Bet song supported by a three-dimensional, material Alpeh-Bet chart with pockets containing soft toys that start with each letter of the Alpeh-Bet. We then do a ‘funny version’ in which we sing ‘La La La La La’ to the same tune with all kinds of fun moves, ending our lesson on a high!

Purim

Over the last few days, we have begun introducing 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 Haman, who wanted to chase all the Jewish people away and that he ended up having to leave the town of Shushan instead. The heroine of the story is the lovely Queen Esther. Through the telling of the story the children are exposed to some new concepts: being Jewish, being part of a community and that there is a cyclical nature to Judaism as Purim is celebrated each year at the same time. 

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, dressing up in colourful clothes, as well as the sweet and tasty Hamantaschen.

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 Tuesday 7 March 2023 at 9.30 am. All parents are welcome to attend (Dressing up is essential).

Kornmehl Family Picnic

Our annual family picnic will take place on Sunday 5 March 2023 at 9.30 am. Each group will be meeting at Centennial Park in a different space. This is to facilitate parents being able to meet each other more easily, connect and get to know parents in their child’s group. Please bring along your bikes, food, picnic blankets, balls etc.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at this lovely social event.