Term 2 was certainly a busy one with the weeks flying by and we are now heading into term 3 after a school holiday break. Over the holidays I have been working at a school holiday program in my hometown of Torquay. I think that this is a great way to build upon my skills in a different setting and provides with me an opportunity to collaborate and build connections with other educators also. This is an important part of the teaching profession and as an educator I encourage learning relationships amongst children and therefore do this myself.
In the last week of term the Koala group were introduced to the “Alert Program’ by Melanie a local Preschool Field Officer from connections. This program is focused upon emotional regulation using sensory integration. The use of a metaphor of an engine is used to encourage the children to think about their arousal states for example “Fast speed” is “revved up red” and ”Just Right White”. This approach then looks at encouraging children to have their bodies in an ideal state appropriate to the learning environment. The visual element is age appropriate and appeals to the children in a simple way. We will continue to use and explore the Alert Program and incorporate this into mat times and everyday interactions with the children. The children responded to the initial introduction of this approach and I am looking forward to implementing this into my own everyday practice. We also hope that this will tie in well with the introduction of Yoga this term in providing further strategies for the children to be able to connect with their bodies.
Late into term 3 the Koala children were showing a strong interest toward all things AFL football. The children had been requesting footy anthems to be played every session and Jo and myself reflected on where we could take this interest further. We decided to use this interest as a basis for a collaborative art project, with the children making their own football oval. The children have also been able to put their fine motor skills to work cutting up all the football logos and using these to create a ladder. We hope to encourage the children to take responsibility for changing the football ladder weekly, using this as a learning opportunity around numeracy exploring different placing and numbers.
Looking forward to a busy and fun term 3!
Koala Group
