Kangaroo Group - Term 2, Week 1

Welcome back to Term 2 Kangaroos!

We hope you enjoyed your Easter break! If any of the children have any photos to share with the group, feel free to bring them in and we can discuss them at group time.

This first week back has seen the return of Karen as co-educator on a Monday. We have already noticed a change for the positive in the children’s dispositions and look forward to more fun activities with her.

It is a requirement for the kinder to conduct fire drills in each room and as we missed one last term, we have begun this term with a discussion of emergencies. Many of the children had already noticed that both Jess and Fiona wear whistles around their necks and had had discussions surrounding this. This meant, that as a group, the children were quite aware of when the whistles would be blown. We discussed how the children need to listen to Jess, Fiona and Karen if they blow their whistle and we even practised freezing. Though these drills are necessary for the safety of your children, the skills they learn are also transferable to everyday life; skills such as observation, listening and following instruction. This also demonstrates the children’s growing understanding of the world around them and developing independence.

During this term, the children will be provided with more open-ended art activities. There will be a range of materials for them to practise their fine motor skills via cutting, pasting and drawing. This will be complimented with a permanent sensory table. This will assist in calming the children along with giving them the opportunity to manipulate different materials with their hands. As the term progresses, more writing and drawing opportunities will be made available along with a push for recognising letters and sounds, particularly those in their own names. These are all in response to observations of this development from last term.