Fledglings (1E)

By Tatiana Botrel, Jane Teh, Vivianne Zeaiter and Joyce Matsui

Celebrating our favourite animals

“Childhood is a time to be, to seek and make meaning of the world. Being recognises the significance of the present, as well as the past in children’s lives. It is about children knowing themselves, developing their identity, building and maintaining relationships with others, engaging with life’s joys and complexities, and meeting challenges in everyday life. The early childhood years are not solely preparation for the future but also about children being in the here and now.” (EYLF, V2.0 2022)

Taking into consideration this extract from the Early Years Learning Framework, it is important to consider the children’s interests when planning the weekly experiences in the Fledglings. When the children are heard, the educational planning is more meaningful and effective.

Over the past few weeks we noticed the children in the Fledglings increasing their interest in animals. Anytime we promoted experiences with animals, the children engaged beautifully, actively participating. Through these interactions we can notice what the children know about the animals – shapes, colours, noises, etc – and plan how to extend their knowledge.

This week, we started to study this subject a bit further, setting up a beautiful animal display in the Mini Atelier table. The children explored safari and Australian animals with playdough, observing the texture of their skin and printing their shape onto the dough. At group time, we read the book, “If you’re happy and you know it” by P. Crumble and Chris Kennelt. In this book the authors adapted the famous nursery rhyme by using Australian animals as characters and singing their actions, getting them to actively participate at group time in the morning.

We also spent time creating an ocean painting on bubble wrap so we can turn one of our shelves into a blue ocean discovery area. The Fledglings sat around the table and had a great time exploring this sensory experience. They had fun listening to the bubbles popping while they slid their hands on top of the paints.

This is just the beginning of us celebrating our favourite animals, and we are looking forward to seeing where this adventure will take us.

Early Years Learning Framework references (EYLF, V2.0 2022)

Outcome 2: children are connected with and contribute to their world. Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment.

Outcome 4: children are confident and involved learners. Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another.

Outcome 5: children are effective communicators. Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts.