Learn with Play at home

Teachers say children can’t hold pencils, tie shoes, or use scissors.

Children today are struggling with basic fine motor skills, and experts believe increased screen time is a major culprit. Teachers report that young students are arriving at school unable to even turn the pages of a book.

Researchers say the decline in hands-on activities — like crafting, outdoor play, and puzzles — is being supplemented by screen time for years.

The problem? With screens replacing traditional playtime, kids are missing out on crucial movements that develop dexterity, patience, and focus.

To help reverse this decline, we must allow children plenty of outdoor play, which naturally incorporates endless fine motor opportunities (i.e., digging in the dirt, grasping & hanging from tree limbs, picking up small pebbles, etc.).

Let the children play!

learn more https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088520062200031X?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-kids-are-losing-fine-motor-skills?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Fresh playdough for my individual fine-motor tubs for my preps.

Back home from our annual family camping, and still have my daughter’s 16th birthday and a week down at the beach with friends before I *really* get stuck into the working year, but I just can’t resist starting off with a little bit of organisation for the school year ahead. The allure of a fresh diary and pretty highlighters are too strong.

This is set to be a big, exciting year, teaching my beloved prep level again (this will be my 11th year teaching Prep, if my calculations are correct 🤔), but with a whole lot of additional best practice learning, inspiration, reflection and professional connections, after being offered a place in the 2025 Teacher Excellence Program.

I am very excited for what’s to come and to make this my best teaching year yet.

My prep (foundation/kinder/first year of school) kids have some messages for the world.
These children are our future and taking care of our world means ensuring a future for them, their children and the generations to come.
No sea creature unit is complete without teaching an age appropriate global and environmental perspective and including information on the state of our world and what our young people can actively do to protect our oceans and sea creatures.

How is it this time of the year again already? This year has gone by too quickly.

Lots of under the sea learning this term.
Inspired by the book “Commotion in the Ocean,” we made our own portholes and the children chose what they would spy through their one. This led to some great descriptive writing pieces. It’s been valuable incorporating both fiction and non-fiction writing and reading, through some wonderful mentor texts. All within this topic that children find fascinating.

Trip trap, trip trap. “Who’s that trip trapping over my bridge?!”
Preps writing adjectives to describe their big, green, mean, smelly… (you get the idea!) trolls!
Incorporating lots of literacy learning and experiences through our Fairytale unit this term.

We’re studying Fairy Tales this term in Prep and last week we looked at the story of the Three Little Pigs.

I challenged my class to design a “Super Pig House” with the criteria that it must:
1) Be wolf proof
2) Have an escape route for the pigs
3) Be super cool! (Our interpretation of that means- Interesting, different, special, wondrous!)

After the designing process, students created their good copy using materials of their choice (most opted for watercolour, crayons, markers or a combo of those) and then had to label the interesting parts.

They were all super engaged and begged me throughout the week to keep working on them, which is exactly what you want. The biggest challenge is getting students to want to write. Achieve that and learning is so much easier.

This is just a few of their wonderful pieces.

“Mum, you are…”
Learning about adjectives whilst describing our wonderful mums.
Gorgeous portraits of their mums and the words that best describe them. An incredible effort, over a couple of days, by these 5 & 6 year olds. They were very proud of the end results and excited for their mums to see. 🥰

Children often struggle with “having a go” at things that are challenging, for fear of making a mistake or getting something wrong. In school we are always trying to reinforce the message that everyone makes mistakes and that mistakes are part of learning.

It's okay to make mistakes. There is no failure, only feedback.

In uncertain times, one thing that is certain is the profound power of you to help their world feel safe enough. You are everything to them and however scary the world feels, the safety of you will always feel bigger.
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When the world feels fragile, they will look to us for strength. When it feels unpredictable, they will look to us for calm. When they feel small, we can be their big.
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Our children are wired to feel safe when they are connected and close to us. That closeness doesn’t always have to mean physical proximity, but of course that will be their favourite. Our words can build their safe base, “I know this feels scary love, and I know we will be okay.” And our words can become their wings, “I can hear how worried you are, and I know you are brave enough. You were built for this my love. What can you do that would be brave right now?”
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We might look for the right things to do or the right things to say to make things better for them, but the truth of it all is the answer has always been you. Your warmth, your validation, your presence, your calm, your courage. You have the greatest power to help them feel big enough. You don’t have to look for it or reach for it - it’s there, in you. Everything you need to help them feel safe enough and brave enough is in you.
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This doesn’t mean never feeling scared ourselves. It’s absolutely okay to feel whatever we feel. What it means is allowing it to be, and adding in what we can. Not getting over it, but adding into it - adding strength, calm, courage. So we feel both - anxious and strong, uncertain and determined, scared and safe ‘enough’.
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When our children see us move through our own anxiety, restlessness, or uncertainty with courage, it opens the way for them to do the same. When our hearts are brave enough and calm enough, our children will catch this, and when they do, their world will feel safe enough and they will feel big enough.♥️


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📚Peaceful Parenting Resources: http://t.co/T8goym3P6Z 📚
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www.LRKnost.com

Fighting a rare, incurable cancer, but I'm still here!💞 L.R.