Annie Dennis

As many of you have noticed we have recently had a hatching program visiting Kinder. Out of 18 eggs, we watched 17 eggs hatch successfully into beautiful yellow and black chicks.

Last Friday Henny Penny Hatching came to collect all but six of the chickens. Three are going to live at the Swingler household, and three will be remaining at Kinder. We are currently in the process of voting on names for the remaining three. Oswald, Egghead, Cracker and Penguin are a few of the finalists.

We have also been working on illustrating calico bags to send to our Timor-Leste friendship school. They look fantastic.

We have begun talking about school for next year. We will be focussing more on our transition program next term. This will include increasing our independence and bringing lunch boxes to Kinder for practice runs.

Group A’s Past, Present, Future project has been a great success. please come and have a look at some of our future illustrations and comments. It’s worthwhile.

Group B have been exploring the process of freezing. We have enjoyed orange juice icy-poles and lemon juice icy-poles, which were not so enjoyable!

Recently we have enjoyed having parents involved in our program. Hannah’s mum spoke to us about the brain and its functions, and answered our many questions. Mattia’s dad also came in and made fresh pasta, which we ate very quickly.

All the children are looking forward to the incursion visit from Indigenous performer and story-teller, Boori Pryor.

End of Term 3 already and when we reflect back to the beginning of the year there is one HUGE difference – children are playing together in small and large groups rather than alone or in pairs with known friends.

There is often a large age range in this group, and it has been great to see some of the older children actively encouraging younger ones to join them. Recently one of the oldest children initiated a project to turn the cubby into a steam train. It needed painting, windows, a number, wheels and coal. The project lasted the whole session, and by the end involved eight children, all with assigned tasks and happy to be participating.

Our excursion this term was a train ride from Northcote station, into town and back to Northcote. On the walk, children noticed numbers, letters, signs and colours, amongst other things, and the train ride, of course, was a hit. Parent involvement in these events is essential and very much appreciated.

The children are enjoying the new improvements in the yard, completed during the working bee. Having the hammock fixed is a huge highlight.

In the block area there is still an interest in fire-fighters and creating fire engines.

Children are having input into planning the indoor and outdoor space. Discussions at group time involve deciding on projects to investigate.

The hammering bench has been increasingly busy, with the children’s hand-eye coordination becoming very accurate.

Charlotte, our chicken, passed away recently, so the children have been discussing death and lifetimes.

There’s a strong interest in dramatic play, and collecting crystals outside, and the children are very excited about the upcoming excursion to All Nations Park. There has also been a lot of discussion about what makes a good friend!

Lately there’s been a strong interest in space and rockets, and the children have been working on a rocket project, involving the making of space suits and other equipment. The children have also been exploring things that fly, parachutes and air flow.

There has been a lot of discussion about animals that enjoy winter and snow environments.

The new monkey bars outside allow children to build on their gross motor skills and arm strength.

Work has begun on the children’s portfolios, which are personal folders for their learning.

The children are very excited about the upcoming excursion to All Nations Park. There has also been a lot of discussions on what makes a good friend!

Term 1 was very busy with the children getting to know each other and making new friends, exploring the new environment, painting and pasting, and JUMPING ONTO THE BIG BLUE MAT!

So far in Term 2, lots of families attended the kinder picnic!!! Looking ahead we have a parent coming in to bathe a baby sibling with the children, and another parent coming in to make magic potions.

And then there’s… FINGER PAINTING!!!

Lots of parents attended interviews at the end of Term 1, and there’ll be another opportunity at the end of Term 2.

As Term 1 got off to a sweltering start, the children settled in quickly, indulging their summer sensibilities by setting up an ice-cream shop and ‘selling’ all flavours of ice cream, and making illustrations of different cones. This lead on to actually making our own ice cream – the chocolate sorbet was a real hit!
In keeping with the season, the fireman dress-up was very popular over summer.
The children have spent a lot of time talking about ‘memory’, asking questions such as ‘what is memory?’ This was extended into playing the game ‘memory’ and ‘the memory box’.
Outside the children have been playing ball games and cricket, helping each other with ‘tips’ on how to play them successfully.
The children have also been involved in the volcano project and the building of a city of Pompeii model.
Term 2 has begun really well, and everyone is excited to be back. So far there’s a strong emergent interest in dancing and performing for audiences.

• Lorenza finished last week
• Grp B had a mini excursion last Tuesday to Northcote Station after Lorenza project work with them
• Popular interest is weddings
• Emergent reading – recognizing first letters and whole words.
• Amanda (Mirriyindis) Mum and Kimberley working on indigenous cultural day
• Painting clap sticks
• Making damper
• East Timor project, lots of discussions with children, working on photo book

• Everything is going really well apart from a couple of traumatized chooks, new behaviour guidance strategies will be put into place to ensure everyone’s safety.