Into the Classroom | Exploring different seasons
In Pre-Nursery, we are learning the differences between the two seasons, summer and winter.
The children can identify the different clothes you wear in summer and winter. The children picked the clothes and put them on by themselves! The children were learning to name the clothes in both languages, Mandarin and English. These sorting and matching activities were fun and helped the children understand why we wear different clothes in different seasons.
The children had a range of activities to enhance their understanding and knowledge of the seasons and they really enjoyed exploring winter! The children investigated the different textures of the artificial snow and ice and used the different fine motor tools to make snowballs, while learning new words in English, for example, cold, hard, ice, snow, warm and soft. The children are learning the names of polar animals too!
During the carpet focus time, the children again looked at the differences between snow, ice and water and the different textures of the materials by having hands-on experiences while learning to name them in both languages. To enhance their learning the topic was carried into the outside classroom, letting the children have more hands-on experiences, feeling the texture of the ice with winter animals frozen inside and experiencing the feel of the winter weather.
In Pre-Nursery, the children are developing their skills working together, making special relationships with each other and most important, developing their independent skills! We are all learning to listen to each other. The children are also starting to understand that they need to share and take turns with the equipment; as well as starting to think critically of ways to achieve what they set out to do.
We have songs to sing, and the children can follow instructions and actions to join in. Our theme has a sensory story ‘polar bear polar bear what do you hear’ We used a sound storybook, paperback and board book in both languages along with animal props to support the children’s understanding listening and language development. By giving the children lots of opportunities to engage with the story, by re-telling or repeating words, and phrases to the storybook, and by having the character to play with in the sensory story tray, we can enhance their use of language in mother tongue and English.
Following their experiences of exploring and having opportunities with real snow, the children were provided with different media to create pictures. The children were able to paint a snowy picture using their imagination and creativity skills enabling them to be creative and think critically with their own ideas and by achieving what they set out to do. It is not the end product that is important but the process with which the child goes through, choosing the craft materials and the tools they want to use. Some of the children are starting to hold the tools in a three-finger tripod grip getting them ready to write.
The children can now hold a conversation describing their picture either in Mandarin or English and sometimes can switch between the two languages.