School report: May 2014 - An abundance of curiosity
We are continuing to see Lucas begin to feel more at ease in the Nursery, and as a result we have seen his curious side emerge. Lucas now explores all aspects of the program, and is beginning to learn the routines, being able to predict when exciting events are about to occur. With his interest in these experiences increasing, educators have been planning for him to participate in a wide range of literacy, music and investigative experiences he hasn’t previously shown an interest in, exposing him to a range of new ideas and concepts.
One of these experiences is ‘What’s In The Box?’ Educators bring out a white box, and it is a game of surprise and intrigue as the children wait in anticipation to see what is in the box. Sometimes its books, sometimes resources, sometimes felt pieces; the list is endless. Lucas has grown to love this experience. When he sees the box, his eyes light up and he quickly follows whoever is holding the box, eager to join in. Books are a favourite for Lucas and on one occasion when we finished reading the stories that were in the box, he repeatedly cried out more. We kept replenishing the books in the box, and Lucas enjoyed a half hour story reading session. Children came and went during this time, however Lucas stayed, eager to hear every story, and study every picture in the book.
As we have engaged Lucas in a broader range of experiences, we have noticed he has an interest in sensory experiences, and have thus been sure to include him each time. Lucas loves the sandpit, and sits for up to twenty minutes, filling containers with sand, tipping it out, back and forwards, feeling the sensation of the sand trickle through his fingers. He is a little more hesitant about messy experiences such as painting, goop and dough. He does show interest, however sometimes may only use one or two fingers to explore, other times just preferring to watch. As the month has gone on, we have noticed that the wet messy play isn’t as favourable to him as the dry sensory experiences. When the children were helping to prepare the goop, Lucas was eager to place his hands in the dry cornflour, but once the water was added there was some hesitation. He did place his hands in, and move them through the gooey substance; however it took a few minutes of watching the other children enjoying the experience and encouragement from his educators before he did so. Interestingly, he is now able to tell the difference between the dry and wet substances purely from observation, not needing to feel it first.
Through all these experiences we have continued to model language for Lucas, in an attempt to further develop his vocabulary. This is still a work in progress, with ‘book’ and ‘more’ being his favourite words thus far.
Analysis of Learning: Lucas is beginning to demonstrate curiosity in his surroundings and is enjoying exploring a greater range of experiences and resources. He demonstrates a keen interest in books and stories, and can concentrate on these for extended periods of time. Lucas is also showing enjoyment of sensory tactile experiences, and as he participates he is beginning to learn more about his world, for example now being able to distinguish between wet and dry substances without needing to touch them. We are continuing to work on language development with him, and encouraging him to learn new vocabulary.
Where to Next: We will continue to work with Lucas on further developing his vocabulary, using books to discuss pictures and identify familiar objects. We will also continue to engage Lucas in sensory experiences, and use these as a way to further develop his understanding of concepts such as mass, and volume, by providing a range of containers and scoops of various sizes that allow for open ended explorations.
