Physical Fun with Lee Corlett

Lee Corlett facilitates sessions with the children and teachers on a regular basis throughout the year as part of our physical activity programme. Lee's sessions are always so much fun, as evident by the excited greetings he receives from the children when he comes through the gate. Each session focuses on particular skills and areas of physical development, so very essential for children's cognitive development and learning. Children and teachers can then replicate some of these activities during sessions so that children continue to practice and develop these skills. Do check out our Physically Active Programme folder at Kindergarten for more stories and photos of our children in action.

Ukulele Practice.

Over recent months I have been learning to play the ukulele. Sometimes I feel brave enough to bring it out during a session so the children and I can sing and play together. Today one of the children decided she would start her afternoon with some ukulele playing and singing.Off we went to sit under the big tree on the deck and very soon a small group gathered. We sung and played,relaxing in the sun, getting to know each other and enjoyed the music(the best part is the children don't seem to mind my VERY SLOW chord changes).So what was the learning ? For me it's about practicing the new skills I am learning and also an opportunity to share with children the pleasure that music and song brings. We sung many songs with many renditions, with each of the children contributing their versions. They each chose a song to sing and play , and were able to confidently express their ideas to the others.As we sat and played, chatted and sung together we learned new things abut each other which of course helps to build friendships. Children were also learning about appropriate ways of using instruments, and about the fact that music is a wonderful tool for helping us to relax, and also express creativity .What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

Curiosity the fuel of early childhood. Curiosity the fuel of life.

What a powerful phrase to capture what learning is for life.  I was reading "Junior Horizons" (Vol 11, No. 1) when I came upon this article "The fuel of early development- Curiosity".  I know that as a teacher and learner alongside 3 and 4 year olds that my learning happens everyday in many different ways and the cycle of learning never stops.  At Nayland Kindergarten we want children to be motivated to be curious and be motivated to learn, so providing opportunities for them to explore is just part of what we do.
Children are curious social beings, they explore, question and wonder and the more often they are able to explore and discover the more they will repeat the process.
This week settling back into kindergarten after a long time away took a little bit of time and with the support of the teachers and their peers.
Providing tactile, sensory experiences in groups is often the way to reconnect children with the environment and their peers and teachers and stirs their curiosity to engage.

Exploring oobleck provided just that opportunity!
There was a number of learning opportunities happening as children were observing, exploring, experimenting, measuring and testing their working theories about how this material feels.     This is science in action, as mixing water and cornstarch does something unusual when mixed together - (try it out at home -google Oobleck)
The substance becomes a liquid, but when squeezed in your hands, it becomes solid. Two things commonly cause this type of change—temperature and pressure. You can
roll Oobleck into a ball, but when 
the rolling stops, it will become a
liquidy mess!  As the children experimented the adults were exploring it as well, curiosity is the fuel of life as it starts from birth (or before some might suggest) and children will continue to be curious if we value it.  We started with one bowl of yellow oobleck and one of blue and before long the children had noticed it changing colour and yes we did dye some children green for the day.  Oh and some adults too.

The next day the children experimented with white oobleck and then we turned it into finger paint with some hot water.
 The following day the children returned to the water play area where they saw the bowls set up again and they were soon settled and busy.
Settling back into the kindergarten had taken no time at all and the conversations and explorations going on were just magic.
So what was some of the learning?
Water, finger paint and oobleck provide children with opportunities to understand basic science concepts such as gravity, color, water pressure, movement and properties.

They are developing maths concepts as they explore weight, volume,measurement, counting,

shape and size, classifying, and explore their

own physical capabilities.

Literacy concepts are explored as children

use language to describe their experiences and

add meaning to their hands on play. When teachers work alongside children as they explore sensory experiences and the many concepts associated with it,  it relevant and meaningful which makes it powerful learning for children and adults.

Curiosity grows confidence in social learning and   it may just lead to a cafe starting up in the sandpit alongside, with baking and making coffees (don't you just love our wonderful Nelson Cafe culture) and exploring maths again as they explore the value of money.  $10 for a slice of cake or $1 for a flat white- I will be back to have a coffee that is for sure.

A new start to the year!

Coming back to kindergarten before schools
start means that many of our ex kindergarten children come to play with their siblings.  This not only supports their younger brothers and sister to settle back in after 5 weeks away, but it also means that they  able to return to some of their favourite places to play.
They are great role models for our younger children, showing them how to be creative with the materials available.  Sydney, Jake and Connor were all part of our visual art research and art exhibition in 2008/2009 and they were often our teachers as we were the learners.  There is a culture of "children as teachers" and "teachers as learners" embedded in our kindergarten  programme and this is evident throughout the kindergarten environment.

What's happening over the fence? When we arrived back on day one the walk way to kindergarten had been dug up, although a little inconvenient, what a wonderful learning opportunity. We watched the The very friendly road workers showed us their skills pushing the concrete around until it smoothed out to make a new entranceway.  Never let a learning opportunity go by.  
There has lots of activity on the pedestrian crossing this week, as it is now controlled by volunteers and Nayland College to improve the flow of traffic and keep our children safe. 

It is all about community!

We started the year knowing that the ECE funding cuts were about to kick in on the 1st February and how this would impact on kindergarten and our families.  Once again our amazing families have come together as a community to share resources, time and ideas, as to how we can work together to minimise the impact.    
The hum of a community working together is like no other and the sharing of items and food donations is just astonishing.  So again thanks to our fantastic community of children and families.
The teachers have been planning how to get to the fish market in Seattle to live the "Fish Philosophy" (check it out- just google "Seattle fish market"), but we don't need to go now because we know that we have our own "Fish Philosophy" market at home.

Over the holiday period families supported us by repairing and sewing new dress ups, repainting and remodelling some of our furniture, topping up our sandpit (which was very low and required a big truck, digger donated by Kyle Whiting Contractors and sand donated by Fulton Hogan- a huge saving to the kindergarten), new noticeboards were made with board donated by the MDF plant, and material donated by Hubbers Furnishings.  It was really helpful to have families taking turns checking in on the kindergarten over the 5 week holiday break to water, mow lawns etc. 

Thanks to everyone who pitched in to help us out - it is all about community.

  

Yes we can!

The Nayland swimming pool is about 100 metres away and we have been talking about taking small groups of children swimming for over a year now,  it seemed quite a tricky thing to plan as we needed 1 adult to 1 child in the water at all times.  But once again our amazing families jumped at the idea and within days we had it organised and were ready to go.     

What an amazing morning of fun, laughter, peer role modelling and bucket loads of courage and lots of learning for all of us.  Can we do this again and again "YES WE CAN!"  What a wonderful way for children and adults to get to know each other in a different learning space, and for children to be our teachers.  
Next time we could bring more than 10 children as  the pool could accommodate at least 20 children and adults.





Thank you to all our families for always making yourselves available to support as we explore our community and find out about what children and families do outside kindergarten.

I do not like to admit it but it was my first swim for the season, and with the temperature at about 26 degrees it was like having a bath at 10am in the morning.                                                                              
We will have to return to practice all the new things we had learnt for the morning like going down the slide, jumping off the edge and going underneath the water.  I am sure the others will want to come now they have heard about our amazing morning.

We made it to 1000 (excuse the maths equation- should be 10 ton)

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Ok so my maths is not so good it should say 10 ton, but I quite like the ton idea, so just go with it.

We are almost there!!

Watch as the blog clock ticks over 1000 views, how exciting to watch as the red dots spread right across the world and Nayland Kindergarten has an opportunity to share their early childhood programme internationally.
We will have to celebrate 1 ton when we get there.
Alana and Leece (her mum) did this picture together at the painting easel and I think it portrays our philosophy at Nayland Kindergarten, "creativity, depth and challenge are key to learning".

Our annual wheelathon- whatever your wheels

At the end of every year our wonderful committee organise the wheelathon, so that children can learn about bike safety and families can come along for a social event and family fundraiser.  It is always loads of fun and the children really try hard to ride as many laps as they can on their preferred form of wheels.  It was exciting to have so many families along in support and thank you to all those families that made sure their children's bikes and helmets met the safety rules.  
 

This year we had 50 children riding and they did an amazing job with only a couple of crashes, which were quickly patched up and away they went again.  
Thanks to the parents who helped out in the middle of the track and to the family who cheered them along.  There was a prize giving at the end to give out certificates and prizes and a bag of lollies for the great effort.


 

Great effort to all the decorated bikes and children.

Great effort for safe riding and having lots of fun doing it. 

Thanks for all your fundraising efforts, we will purchase 2 bikes for kindergarten for next year. 

Levity visited Kindergarten

If you hadn't heard of Levity Beet before I am sure you would never forget him after his
visit to afternoon kindergarten.  What an amazing performer, creating music from recycled materials and showing stunning innovation and fun.  The children were captivated for 45 minutes and adults were spellbound as he worked his magic with his instruments.  We will enjoy his music next year as we purchased two of his CD's to add to our collection.

The big red bus

It was time for an afternoon excursion and a red double decker bus trip around Nelson was our families first choice, so we did it. We had two hours of fun, it was hot, hot, hot upstairs and there was lots of chatter as the children (and parents) saw Nelson from a much higher perspective.  It was rather funny to pass by the traffic lights and be level with the red, green and orange circles.  

Our trip took us out to Richmond, along the deviation, down to Tahunanui, along Rocks Road, around the boat marina, out to Founders park and up to the Centre of New Zealand Park for afternoon tea (and a lolly scramble).  Then back on the bus and back to kindergarten just in time for school to get out.  The time raced by but it was a great way to have a kindergarten session with a difference and an outing into our beautiful community.

What fabulous parents we have!

Today Kirstin (Luca's mum) came along to tell the children a special story about the caterpillar who wanted to fly.  It was even more special as she had made all her own props which were beautifully hand made.  We are hoping that we can have a workshop at kindergarten to learn this skill and what a brilliant way of using recycled resources and sharing our skills together as a community.
Kirstin had a captive audience who asked her to retell it several times.

We enjoyed Kirstin's storytelling so much that she came back a few weeks later to share a christmas story with the afternoon children.  This time Kirstin and Lara (India's Mum) did a puppet show which was magical and funny.  We love your story telling ladies, we want you to come back and share some more stories with us.  Some music too Lara, and we will enrol Lily for you.
 Now we want to know how to make those puppets Kirstin, lets set a date and maybe our families would like to come to a workshop too.

Did we let a little (lot) of Rain spoil our fun

Certainly not.
After 2 months without a rainy day we were feeling confident that our Christmas picnic party would be held under bright blue skies.
The ballon lady, face painters, Lions train and Father Christmas were booked and the children and teachers walked to Isel Park to meet afternoon children and parents who were to join us there.

On arrival, we enjoyed our morning tea and the fun began with children choosing their balloons and lining up to have their faces painted. A few spots of rain turned into a downpour as we bundled bags under tarpaulins then we took shelter under the verandah of Isel house to continue.
The train arrived and trips taken around the gardens. Children chased bubbles in the rain and then Father Christmas arrived to organise a lolly scramble.

The rain had well and truly set in to stay as children and parents headed home to dry off and warm up.

Tahunanui Community Centre Preschool

On Monday 8th November we took a group of 10 excited afternoon children to visit the Tahunanui Community Centre Preschool in Muritai Street. We have a number of children who attend this preschool or used to attend prior to starting at Nayland Kindergarten as well as some children at the preschool who will start attending Nayland Kindergarten next year. I saw this is an opportunity to foster links between these two EC settings. We were warmly welcomed when we arrived and I was surprised at just how readily the children started to explore the place, both indoors and out. There were so many new experiences and equipment on offer and the children did not waste a minute. My plan was for the children to have kai time there but they were far too busy for that! However we did join in with their mat time before we got back into our cars and returned to Nayland. What fun we had all had!

I think if I was to come up with one highlight for the children it would have to be the abundance of pets at the preschool.....frogs, fish, birds and the most favourite of all, (although not for me personally!), the two rats that belonged to one of the teachers and were there that day. It was exciting to watch the delight and sometimes, the uncertainty, on the children’s faces as they had hands on experience with these animals. The range of bikes, ride-ons and cars were also very popular for many and provided new challenges and risks as the children zoomed around the bike track.

This excursion was an example of children experiencing an environment where connections with the wider community are affirmed and extended. It is about children coping with change to the usual routines and how they respond to such change. I noticed that all the children, with the knowledge of having their friends alongside for support, showed courage and took risks as they explored all that was available to them. They were fully engaged and having fun. They were showing just how confident and competent they are and how ready they are to engage in active exploration, even in an environment not necessarily familiar. They were open to new learning experiences and approached these with wonderment and excitement. I found this just so exciting myself!

Visit to Nelson South kIndergarten.

Last week we took a group of children to visit Nelson South Kindergarten.We have some connections here already as this is where I taught before I came to Nayland and also a group of Nelson South Kindergarten children came to us after the fire earlier in the year.The children from Nayland were amazing. They quickly got on with the job of exploring a new environment and made full use of just about everything.
We couldn't have done this trip without the support of the Nelson South team and also the parents who came with us. Thanks so much to you all.