Exploring Patterns With a Lightbox

The children used tweezers to pick up the gems, a great way to strengthen fine motor skills and also lots of fun!

A visit from the Police

What an exciting morning in prep. We had Police Officers, Constable Tyrone and Snr Constable Dan visit to talk about police work, road and car safety and stranger danger. When students were asked what does a police officer do, here were some of their responses:
Zac, "They put the baddies in jail"
Elijah, "They give you a ticket if you go too fast"
Liam, "They are like superhero's"

Prep learnt about crossing the road safely. They learnt to cross at a crossing or lights, to hold an adults hand, and to "look right, look left and look right again". Always, Stop. Look. and Listen! Charlie said "to stay safe you hold your mum's hand when you cross the road". Koa stated "Always stay with your mum and dad".

Constable Dan touched on Stranger Danger and what to do if someone approaches you that you don't know. Charlie stated, "Say no". Harmony's response was "only talk to people if you know them".

After the talk, students were asked what they had learnt, here are some of the responses:
Chase, "Hold hands when you cross the road"
Charlie, "Cross at the crossing"
Mya, "Hold hands"
Koa, "You don't talk to strangers if you don't know them.

Prep loved holding and observing the police badge and cuffs.

 

The best part was when we went out to the Police van and got to explore inside.

Here is what students responded with when asked their favourite part of the visit:

Harmony, "Pretending I was a jail person in the back of the car where the baddies sit".

Levi, "When I was in the front seat, in the middle seat and the back. I liked all of it".

Elijah, "When I went in the back of the policeman's truck"

Eliannah, "sitting with the policeman's hat and driving". 

Issac, "I love daddy."

Mya, "My favourite one was when you take the photo in the car with the police hat on.

Sean, "oh, the police car. I went in the back of it as well".

We will be continuing to explore different jobs within our community as apart of our Project Based learning this term. 

Mini Construction World

I love how mini worlds can take a child's imagination to BIG places! Our mini vehicle construction site has been a hit over the past few developmental play sessions. 

Prep Architects!

Welcome to MACC architectural services! Over the last two developmental play sessions we have been exploring being an architect and builder in our Dramatic play area. The students were introduced to blueprints and and how to design a blueprint at the draughting table using a ruler.

Creating a Prep Window Collage

Following in Jeanie Baker's footsteps where her illustrations are created by collaging materials together, we designed our very own Prep 'Window' collage using natural and man-made materials. The students took some time to observe through the big glass sliding doors and describe what they could see. We discussed if what they could see was natural or man-made. 

Natural or Man-Made?

Is it natural or man made?

This discussion evolved from our Window storybook where we see the environment gradually change from natural to a very built up and man made environment. 

I asked the students if they could think about and explain the difference between natural and man-made:

Charlie - "Natural things are dirt."

Michael-Jay - "Could sand be man-made?"

Chaise- "Trees are natural, they grow out of seeds."

Michael Y. - "The flowers are natural from soil. Top soil, mango seeds and cow and chicken manure are natural."

To further investigate the difference between natural and man-made, we created a Venn diagram using hula hoops. The students sorted through a tub of natural and man-made items and placed them in the correct hula hoop. As each item was chosen we discussed what made the object natural or man made with questions such as "does it grow from a tree or out of the ground?" and "can people make this object?"

Belonging in my Neighbourhood

Last week we delved into quite a deep class discussion after I asked the question - What is a neighbourhood?                                           

Jacob - "It's someone who lives next to you."            

Seth - "A neighbour."                                                           

Maddison - "You talk to your neighbours."                      

Henry - "I have a neighbour on this side and that side but I play with my neighbours on that side."       

Liam - "I have a bike park in my neighbourhood."         

Levi - "There's a neighbourhood what lives on that side but my house is in the middle."                       Zac - "Charlie and my cousin is my neighbour."           

Peyton W. -"Well, I'm in the middle and I have two neighbours. Margaret is on this side."                            

Owen - "My neighbour is Anastasia."                           

Michael-Jay - "I have four neighbours, dogs and people in my neighbourhood."                                     Noah - "I have a next door neighbour that's very busy. I have a pond nearby and a bus stop and a park and a little cafe that's open at night time."            

Zachary - "I ride my scooter in my neighbourhood."                                                                       Jacob - "There is another Jacob that lives next door to me and my brother is Harry and my neighbour Jacob has a little brother Harry as well. We are the same age!"                                                  

The children loved describing their neighbourhood to their friends. From this discussion we then created a neighbourhood on our tinker table. Cardboard houses, roads, people, animals and vehicles made out of mobilo and Lego were built and placed on our neighbourhood table.