Educational Leaders focus on learning series-Article 1
Learning to read: Healthy Eating Activity with the Educational Leader
Article 1, 23rd of September 2019
As well as teaching the children individual letter sounds at Kindaburra we start teaching them to recognise the way the whole word looks, instead of trying to ‘sound them out’ by using individual letter sounds. After the ‘initial’ letter sound the rest of the word can only be worked out by learning the sounds that letters make together in combination with other letters- These phonic patterns take a few years of school to learn. For example, the ‘e’ in elephant sounds different to the ‘e’ in teeth or shine.
As well as eventually learning the letter sound combinations, children also learn to recognise words visually, by seeing them in books every day; as well as guessing the meaning within the sentence through accompanying pictures. Educators teach children to combine all these different strategies at Kindaburra, and their teachers will continue this when they go to school, to help them to learn to read.
“They (educators) plan opportunities for intentional teaching and knowledgebuilding” Early Years Learning Framework (Intentional Teaching)
Today Angelica, Yuna and Charlotte, in the Dingos room (Preschool stage 2) all joined Ms Tricia the Educational Leader for a reading game. The game focused on healthy eating and learning to recognise the words banana, capsicum and apple. It was a matching card game where the children had to take turns to turn over one pair of cards at a time. Some of the cards had a picture on them of either the apple, capsicum or banana and the other cards had the words. If the pair did not match they then had to turn them back over and give the next person a turn. As the game went on it got easier to remember where the cards were, so it also got easier to make a matching pair. Each time they turned a card over with the word on it the educator read it to them, so they had many chances to read the word. We talked about how long the word was and whether it had two of the same letter in it, so they could recognise that word and read it next time it was turned over.
We also talked about how the different foods were good for us. We are always trying to recognise the many different vegetables and fruits that are used in the healthy food prepared at Kindaburra by our chef. This also helps to raise the children’s awareness and appreciation for the wide range of healthy foods that we incorporate into our everyday meals. Yuna mentioned that she had seen capsicums at the supermarket yesterday, relating her learning at Kindaburra with the wider world around her and her activities within it.
By playing a fun game together the children enjoyed taking turns and learnt from watching the other children as they got to see the words repeated, making progress as a group rather than hiding the cards from each other when it was their turn. It is very important for children’s mental health to learn that winning can be about learning, having fun, supporting each other, winning togther and realising the different ways of achieving. Sometimes the children prompted each other on the answer and on other ocassions they told each other to wait and give someone a chance to remember the answer for themselves. They always took turns without trying to push forward and take someone else’s turn. They also prompted each other on what to do next when one of them seemed to forget. They appeared to take pleasure in each other’s success as well as their own, enjoying the feeling of togetherness in the group. This is laying the foundation for them to be able to work collaboratively in teams when they are older. Even by playing a simple game the children are gaining a wide range of valuable experience and learning as they simultaneoulsly develop their reading and social skills and focus on healthy foods.
“When early childhood educators take a holistic approach they pay attention to children’s physical, personal, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing as well as cognitive aspects of learning. While educators may plan or assess with a focus on a particular outcome or component of learning, they see children’s learning as integrated and interconnected” Early Years Learning Framework (Holistic approaches)
Before we started the game I asked the children to read the words without the pictures, just to check if the game would provide them with new learning. I explained that they wouldn’t be able to read the words yet, but that didn’t matter because we would learn to read them by playing the game. At the end of the game I asked them to read the words again, without any picture cues and all three of them were able to recognise and read the words. They all smiled and high fived me to celebrate learning to read the new words. It was clear to them that they made progress because of the test at the beginning of the game, and the retest afterwards.
Before we started the game I asked the children to read the words without the pictures, just to check if the game would provide them with new learning. I explained that they wouldn’t be able to read the words yet, but that didn’t matter because we would learn to read them by playing the game. At the end of the game I asked them to read the words again, without any picture cues and all three of them were able to recognise and read the words. They all smiled and high fived me to celebrate learning to read the new words. It was clear to them that they made progress because of the test at the beginning of the game, and the retest afterwards.
By reassuring them that they didn’t need to know how to read the words at the beginning, the children were able to have a sense of wellbeing when they didn’t know the answer which is a very important thing to learn. Additionally they were reassured that they would probably need to play the game a few times until eventually they would start to recognise the words. This allowed them to feel a strong sense of achievement when they did succeed with the new learning.
These two emotional states are very important for children to experience in order to develop their sense of self and wellbeing over both ‘not knowing’ as well as their ability to ‘learn’ given the right support. This can contribute towards strong foundations for more confidence, greater motivation and pleasure with starting school and hopefully with continued reassurance and support contribute to lifelong learning. Often children do not learn something instantly the first time it is explained to them so we have to repeat things in different ways to ‘consolidate’ their learning. In this instance it could be by the children seeing labels printed in the supermarket above the section that contains bananas or capsicums.
These two emotional states are very important for children to experience in order to develop their sense of self and wellbeing over both ‘not knowing’ as well as their ability to ‘learn’ given the right support. This can contribute towards strong foundations for more confidence, greater motivation and pleasure with starting school and hopefully with continued reassurance and support contribute to lifelong learning. Often children do not learn something instantly the first time it is explained to them so we have to repeat things in different ways to ‘consolidate’ their learning. In this instance it could be by the children seeing labels printed in the supermarket above the section that contains bananas or capsicums.
“When children are included in the assessment process they can develop an understanding of themselves as learners and an understanding of how they learn best” Early Years Learning Framework (Assessment for learning)
VOLUNTARY PARENT PARTICIPATION IDEAS
VOLUNTARY PARENT PARTICIPATION IDEAS
1. Reading with a purpose – shopping lists
We invite you to write a shopping list with your child. Fold a piece of paper in half and write the words on one side and draw simple pictures on the other side, reading the words to them and talking about the way the words look, whether they are short or long or if there is more than one of each letter. As you go around the supermarket, keep asking them to read and find the next thing on the list. Each time they struggle to recognise and read the word, unfold the other side to quickly show them the picture, and let them have a go again, always encouraging and telling them how great they are doing when they succeed. Please email us (ad.kindaburra@gmail.com) with any feedback over how they went.
We invite you to write a shopping list with your child. Fold a piece of paper in half and write the words on one side and draw simple pictures on the other side, reading the words to them and talking about the way the words look, whether they are short or long or if there is more than one of each letter. As you go around the supermarket, keep asking them to read and find the next thing on the list. Each time they struggle to recognise and read the word, unfold the other side to quickly show them the picture, and let them have a go again, always encouraging and telling them how great they are doing when they succeed. Please email us (ad.kindaburra@gmail.com) with any feedback over how they went.
“Assessment, when undertaken in collaboration with families, can assist families to support children’s learning and empower them to act on behalf of their children beyond the early childhood setting” Early Years Learning Framework (Assessment for learning)
2. Email us your recipes with capsicums in them
We would like to make a collection of capsicum dish reciepes with the children. Email a recipe of a dish that you make at home with capsicums in it, and if possible a photo of the dish at ad.kindaburra@gmail.com We welcome recipes from all rooms.
If you can please include a head and shoulders photo of yourself and your child we can put that on the recipe. If your recipe is one that is traditional for your culture please let us know the culture so that we can share that with all our families. It helps to create a sense of community when the children can all learn about each other and share different aspects of their life at home. Please involve your child in watching or participating in sending the email, so they can see how you attach the recipe and photo to the email. They can then see us open it at the centre, to help their understanding of the purpose and processes of email.
2. Email us your recipes with capsicums in them
We would like to make a collection of capsicum dish reciepes with the children. Email a recipe of a dish that you make at home with capsicums in it, and if possible a photo of the dish at ad.kindaburra@gmail.com We welcome recipes from all rooms.
If you can please include a head and shoulders photo of yourself and your child we can put that on the recipe. If your recipe is one that is traditional for your culture please let us know the culture so that we can share that with all our families. It helps to create a sense of community when the children can all learn about each other and share different aspects of their life at home. Please involve your child in watching or participating in sending the email, so they can see how you attach the recipe and photo to the email. They can then see us open it at the centre, to help their understanding of the purpose and processes of email.
“Cultural competence encompasses…gaining knowledge of different cultural practices…” Early Years Learning Framework (Cultural competence)
“Children bring family and community ways of being, belonging and becoming to their early childhood settings. By building on these experiences, educators help all children to feel secure, confident and included and to experience continuity in how to be and how to learn” Early Years Learning Framework (Continuity of learning and transitions)
-Patricia Tattersfield (Educational Leader)
