Diverse thinkers

Children at Nayland Kindergarten have diverse learning opportunities and experiences.
They are confident, capable, competent learners who are able to think co-operatively, interdependently and independently.

When I posed a provocation in small group their thinking showed diversity and the ability to think independently, even though they worked alongside each other.

Tanya Batt visits us again

Whenever Tanya visits Nelson we love to catch up with her for some more storytelling.  We believe her journey through the expressive arts in early childhood and the way she brings this to children and adults   IS A DYNAMIC, MOTIVATING, INSPIRATIONAL EXPERIENCE.  She is without question THE BEST STORYTELLER IN THE LAND OF AOTEAROA.

This time we invited Tanya to do a session with 3 groups of kindergarten children in the morning and then run a workshop for teachers in the afternoon.

Check out her website - Imagined worlds and enjoy her storytelling.

Following children's interests

EVERYDAY I AM A FIREMAN!!  The fire play at Nayland Kindergarten happens everyday and a growing number of children, adults and teachers are engaging in the play.
So where to next the teachers wondered??  We could revisit the fire station and see what ideas the children bring back with them this time.  A couple of the children had been on the first trip and they were definitely the leaders in the play, so what would be different for them and how would the play change for the new children.
SO WE PLANNED A TRIP TO THE FIRESTATION.
I think the teachers and adults were just as excited as the kids.
There is always time for a social catchup in the park before hand and morning kai, then a game of tag, followed by a little chat about keeping ourselves safe on the busy city streets.  Then we were off...

     

The Firemen at the Nelson Fire Station were amazing!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with the children in such a meaningful way and for giving up your time so generously.

The children were so interested and the hands on opportunities certainly gave them an opportunity to be firemen/women too.

It was great to have 8 very interested and supportive parents helping during the morning, and I know that we learnt heaps too.

Even the adults had a hankering to hold the fire hose, but we had to share as time was running out, so we let the children have their turn.  Maybe next time adults.

We checked out the firefighters clothing.  What did they wear on their bodies, and how did they keep themselves safe from fire,heat and falling objects.

We talked about why firemen have to be fit, and why they might need to be strong to carry all their gear and to climb ladders.  We also told them that we are getting fit on the ropes and monkey bars.

We told the fireman how we keep ourselves safe at kindergarten and they were very impressed with the children's knowledge about safety.

The fireman had a big x box looking panel strapped to his body so that he could maneouvre the big ladder, turning it so that the hose was pointing right at us.  Yikes!  Funny that some of us thought it was a camera.  Then he spun it right around and extended it up to the top of the big tower.  The fireman practice climbing up the tower and also use the tunnels inside for crawling practice.

The firemen showed us around the many cupboards on the firetruck, showing us all the equipment.
The jaws of life were so heavy and the children thought they looked just like scissors.
We talked about them rescuing people from cars.
The children also learnt about the many helpful jobs that fireman do too.





The fire truck was so well equipped.

 We were surprised by the many different fire  vehicles in the yard.

When we get back to kindergarten we will put up the photos so that children can think about the different vehicles and the jobs they do.

Maybe our firemen play at kindergarten might consider many of the ideas from the morning and the many different vehicles we saw???




I can't wait to be outside next week to see what happens next in the play.....

 

Physical Exploration is key to learning

This term we have really noticed children taking on much bigger physical challenges, and the uninterrupted length of time children have to further their learning alongside their peers and teachers is a key enabler.

The teachers have showcased the physical challenges at mat times and throughout the morning by making children's learning visible and inviting children to "give it a go".  The photos speak for themselves.

 

The boys have certainly taken up the girls challenge to master some difficult upper body movements, they are motivated to tackle and master these skills.
THE CHILDREN AT NAYLAND KINDERGARTEN SEES THEMSELVES AS TEACHERS AND LEARNERS.

Children locking onto learning

One of the most exciting moments you experience as a kaiako working with children is when a child locks onto learning.  Once children see themselves as learners, capable and competent to learn new skills and develop new knowledge there is no stopping their endeavour.
This is evident everyday as we watch children  persevering with difficulty and challenging themselves further alongside their peers.

Life Vest Inside - Kindness Boomerang - "One Day"

KINDNESS

Such a simple concept with a huge impact. Teachers have been talking about kindness in our work with children, each other and our community. A simple task each day; it could be give someone a smile, acknowledge them for something, say Hi, say Thank you, bake a cake....... This is my challenge, how about make it yours. Let us know how you get on.
check out this website to learn and think more about kindness.
http://elp-kindness.blogspot.co.nz/

RAK Day - Random Acts of Kindness Day 1st September 2014

As a community wouldn't it be great to think about ways we could do random acts of kindness as a community for other people, how would the children be involved? - post your thoughts here.

HAVING FUN WITH OUR FRIENDS FROM BIRCHWOOD, STOKE, AND TAHUNANUI KINDERGARTENS.

We were all dressed in red and off we walked to Isel Park where we met Lee Corlett and our kindergarten friends. Lee set up four stations for us to have fun. We played scarf tag, noodle fun, parachute games and kicking the big balls. After another fuel stop we all had a go at tug-a-war. I am sure Nayland won the challenge!

  It was so hot on the way home we ditched our back packs and stopped in the reserve for a well deserved special treat of a lemonade mini ice block. Great walking everyone it was a long walk back after all the hard work at the park.

Summer - sand + water = Fun, science, engineering and social skills.

What do you get when you add sand + water + enthusiastic learners?  During the  past two weeks the afternoon children have been gravitating towards the sandpit and mostly staying there all afternoon.  Working together in groups to create rivers and pools of mud, wonderful to jump, splash and sometimes even swim in.  Powerful learning takes place while children work in small groups,  finding out how to work together, problem solving through trial and  error, and finding new and different ways to make things work. You might call this “PLAY”, but for children it is very serious work as they go about their business, exploring the properties of sand and water with their whole body, creating waterways to redirect water and learning how to share spaces                                                 with others. Powerful learning indeed.

The Bug Hotel is open for business

Kaiako had been discussing the interest in bugs and insects and how some centres have containers set up for children to view insects etc inside. Thinking about our garden and the fact we like children to explore the bugs in their natural habitat etc I went searching for an alternative viewing place and came across bug hotels! Google image the words and you will see all types of amazing structures.
I printed off some examples and then a team of children joined me to plan, build and construct Nayland Kindergarten's very first bug hotel
 
There was a whole community of builders who worked on the house with children helping each other manage the large black pipes and the taking turns at the sawing.














After construction we began to fill the tubes and pipes with things we thought the bugs might like. Thank you Reuben for bringing in the pea straw and other things you thought about. Children found sticks, bark and leave from the kindergarten garden to add.



















There was a quick trip to Margie's to gather bricks for the base of the bug house. That was heavy work. Well done guys! Ka pai to mahi.

Have you discovered it yet?  

Angus and Reuben became the leaders of the project and worked on it to the very end, preparing the site, laying the house in place and making a very cool sign. 

 To date we have seen spiders, lady bugs and baby cockroaches.

Over the fence

Living on a busy road gives us many opportunities to see life happening over the kindergarten fence.  When the big truck and digger parked outside out fence it was an invitation for us to watch the digger making a big hole in the concrete ready for more fibre optic cable laying.   It wasn't just the boys watching, it was the girls too and the friendly workers chatted and told us about the job.

Expanding our digital literacy repetoire

We have had Kidpix 3 & 4 for a number of years so thought it was time to upgrade and add some 3D experiences for children and to enhance literacy opportunities.  With the touchscreen PC all up and running again I downloaded kidpix 3D, art rage and explored the many features of the computer, finding the webcam avatars which proved to be an enormous amount of fun for teachers, whanau and children.  So many opportunities and so much fun!!  A must for every centre!!

Kidpix 3D has all the creative art experiences as well, but this week was all about exploring other possibilities too.  As there is a growing interest in movie making kidpix offers a mini version so that children can manage it by themselves. 

Sharing skills and knowledge within our community of schools

When the Broadgreen Intermediate girls came across to question a small group of  4 year olds about kindergarten they never expected to get a lesson in Highland fling, but that is exactly what happened.  Our very dynamic little 4 year old demonstrated the Highland Fling and then raised the bar by expecting the visitors to get it right, she was happy to correct them and to demand excellence. It is great to see learning being shared and learners becoming the teachers and vice versa.
Lots of laughter and fun was had by all.

Later that week we had an opportunity to visit the Child Studies students at Nayland College with a group of 15 children.  They had designed individual lunchboxes for each child and planned the healthy contents to tempt children to try some delicious morsels, possibly for the first time.  The children were delighted and they gave the girls some very useful feedback.  Thanks Nayland College we will see you again next year, and maybe this time we might cook lunch for you.  Well maybe not all 1200 of you.