The Primary Principal's Post

Play-based Learning in Early Years

Spending time in our Early Years (EY) classroom is often the highlight of my day! Watching these young children navigate through a sea of learning centers is entertaining. The EY classroom is a huge space, organized with different kinds of play-based opportunities throughout. Some of these spaces are for unstructured play and some spaces have more structure with teacher facilitation. The EY classroom is designed to allow for student choice and ownership, allowing students to move to areas and activities that appeal to their interest and learning style.

In this picture you see three students building a tower, using a variety of toys. If you watch for long enough, you will see the tower go up, and then come down, and then go up again in a different form. If are to ask any of the students the purpose of a block, you will receive an answer that is calculated, with a rationale to justify why. Each block on the tower has a purpose and a story... learning in progress!

Play-based Learning is one important aspect of our EY program and time is given each day for unstructured play. If you would like to read more on the topic of child development through play-based learning, the following website has some good information:

https://www.wonderschool.com/p/parent-resources/learning-through-play/

Learner Profile Focus - Reflective

As we move through the month of November, we want to move onto a new learner profile focus. Students who are REFLECTIVE know their strengths and weaknesses. They try to think about these things, and they make changes where they can. They give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and consider their personal strengths and weaknesses in a constructive manner.

How can parents help to develop students who are Reflective at home?

Students, look back and reflect on your work in Term 1 and spend some time reflecting on what went well and what you might want to improve. Make a list of your goals, and the specific actions that can be taken to achieve these goals. You might want to list action that your child will take independently as well as action parents will take to support them. For example, if one of the goals your child sets for herself is to improve her writing, her action might be to keep a journal and write in it for at least 10 minutes each night. As a parent, you might decide that the two of you will participate in shared writing, for a set time each week and produce a book of narratives together.