Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl

Transition to school

Starting school is a significant event in the life of children and their families. We know that strong relationships and information sharing between families, early childhood settings and schools help support a child’s successful transition to school. It is a period of change that can be both challenging and exciting.

At this time of the year we focus on the children’s transition to school. We believe the more we discuss ‘going to school’ and the feelings and emotions associated with starting school, the better prepared and equipped the children are. For this reason, a lot of focus is being given to the children’s transition to school this term. We spend time talking about what to expect, how we are feeling, as well as going on walks with the children through the campus.

The transition from Pre-school to school offer opportunities and challenges. We acknowledge that different places and spaces have their own purposes, expectations and ways of doing things. For this reason, we aim to build on the children’s prior and current experiences to help them feel secure, confident and connected to familiar people, places, events and understandings. We are all important contributors (the children, families and early childhood educators) to a successful transition to school (EYLF, 2009). 

We need to think about giving children a positive understanding and experience of school as a safe, enjoyable place. We need to acknowledge that children have individual needs, interests and skills and allow and encourage positive communication between children, families, child care professionals and school educators.  We need to also to make time for the children to visit their new school environment before starting. The children enjoyed their first orientation visit up to Emanuel School on Thursday of this week.

We asked the children how they are feeling about starting school?

Nathan P – I think quite happy. I’m feeling nervous because I want to have more friends and not less friends.

Eden – Very, very happy. 

Maddy – I’m feeling nervous because it’s a new school for me. And I’m feeling a tiny bit excited, but it’s just that when I’m at a different school I feel a bit nervous.

Ryan – I’m feeling very happy cause I like going to a new school.

Jory – I’m feeling happy cause there is a big playground and because they have two classrooms that connect to each other.

Jordan – I’m feeling happy and tall. Because when I’m at school I feel like all grown up.

Ruby – I’m feeling happy cause my cousins and sister and brother will be there.

Eli – I’m feeling happy because I think my brother and sister will pick me up from school.

Sienna – I’m feeling a bit nervous ’cause I don’t know who’s going to be my new teacher.

Miri – I’m feeling happy and grateful because I’ll get to see my brother. And a bit worried because I might not know other people.

Toby – I’m feeling happy. And I’m feeling nervous because I don’t know what they’ll do there.

Tyler – I’m feeling happy because I like learning.

MUD DAY

Think back to your own childhood. Do you have happy memories of playing outside in the mud and the dirt?  After all, making mud pies is one of the iconic images of childhood. We are creating the experiences, the memories and the childhoods of today’s children. What do we want them to remember?

On Wednesday we celebrated Mud day, which normally occurs in June when it is cold and wintery. This year we decided to change our Kornmehl Mud day to Term 4, when the weather is much warmer and the children can experience the joy of engaging in mud play.

Mud play has many benefits for young children:

• Mud Play encourages creativity in children. It can also be soothing and relaxing, providing an outlet for children to express their feelings through their senses and exploration.
• It is important that children have uninterrupted time to play with mud imaginatively outdoors and experience nature. This facilitates opportunities for them to problem solve, come up with and explore ideas and exercise their minds!
• Mud Play is important for children to develop and practise their fine and gross motor skills, increase awareness of their senses (particularly touch), improve hand/eye co-ordination and develop their social and emotional skills, including taking turns and leading/following directions.
• Through Mud Play, children develop a sense of self and belonging in relation to their place in the world around them. Being in and around nature provides children with opportunities to explore nature, ground themselves and learn to care for the environment and the world around them.
• Mud Play is not focused on making or producing something with instruction and rules. It is about the process, not the product. This is what makes Mud Play so enjoyable for children, they are free from pressures of ‘getting it right’ or risking it not being ‘perfect’, it is learning to play and playing to learn free from restrictions with maximum benefit.
• Mud is an open-ended material that meets the different needs and interests of different children. With mud, there is something for everyone.

Below are some of the children’s comments:

Savannah: I just got so muddy. It was so sticky.

Aviv: It was fun. I liked playing in the mud. It felt chocolaty! I actually ate a bit! I jumped and was stuck in the deep mud.

Tomer: It was fun because I played in the mud.

Simon: I jumped in the mud and it splashed on the rocks. It felt soft and cold. It was fun.

Joshua M: I went in the deep end of the mud. First it felt so high and then it went right down. We were playing mud statues. When the music stops we fall down on our bottoms into the mud!

Courtney: It was so deep on the side of the rocks and I went there. It was so guey! The mud was all over me. It was cold. I like mud day because it is fun.

Tyler: It was good because we had so much fun. We were jumping in the mud and it splashed all over me. I had mud everywhere. It was soft and nice.

Noam: I got really muddy because I was jumping in the mud. It was in my ear and it felt soft.

Toby: I was playing in the mud and making mud cakes and jumping in the mud patch. It flicked up onto the bark chips and all over me. It felt cold. I liked playing in the mud.

Eden: I liked to sit in the mud and it was cool. It went all over me.  It was my first time in the mud. My Mum will freak out if she saw me.

Ethan: We were playing in the mud and we didn’t want to stop. When the mud dried on me it felt rocky.  I might turn into a rock. I want to do it again.

Miri: It was fun. I was running away from the mud monsters. I played with the clay and drew in it with a stick.

The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful. – E. E. Cummings

 Farewell to Mrs Longney

Sadly, we had to bid farewell to our wonderful music teacher Mrs Longney this week, who is leaving to have a baby. We have thoroughly enjoyed your interactive, fun, rhythmical and creative lessons these past few years. We will miss your energy, enthusiasm and love of music that you have so capably imparted to the children. We look forward to hearing about the birth of your baby and wish you much happiness on this new venture in your life. Please come and visit us when you can.

National Bandanna Day

On Friday, we raised money for Canteen to support children and teenagers suffering from cancer. We all purchased colourful bandannas and wore them to Shabbat. We are proud to be able to support others in our community and to instil compassion and caring in the children from this very young age.

Shabbat Project

This weekend thousands of people around the world will be celebrating Shabbat from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. There are amazing community events happening all around Sydney that we encourage families to take part in. The children all received a special Shabbat project apron and baked delicious challot on Friday at Pre-school wearing their aprons. They also all received a box containing a Kiddush cup for them to decorate at home. We wish you all a wonderful Shabbat.

 Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Tali Golovsky (4), Jordan Hill (6), Eden Marczak (5), Poppy Berkovic (5) and Amy Speiser (5). We hope you all had a wonderful birthday. We also wish our Special educators Renee Schneider and Lindi Bloch a very Happy Birthday.