LATEST STORIES
Caring for our Environment
In our 4-year-old room, we’ve been exploring how to care for our planet, focusing on literacy-based learning through BestStart’s Set for School program.
Storytelling for Cognitive Well-being We read stories like Five Little Men in their Flying Saucer, The Messy Magpie, Celia Seagull and the Plastic Sea, and Rubbish and Recycling to spark ideas on environmental care. Tamariki used props to retell these stories and took part in activities like setting up a recycling center, garden shop roleplay and an animal rescue station (washing oil from animal toys or saving them from getting tangled in rubbish) to bring these ideas to life.
Print Awareness and Vocabulary Children practiced recognizing words and creating new ones using “oil” as a base, forming words like “soil” and “foil.” Key terms—recycle, pollution, decompose—were introduced, and tamariki used whiteboards to practice writing and understanding vocabulary related to nature and conservation.
Book Knowledge and Expression We explored parts of a book, and tamariki proudly held their own mat times, identifying book features to their friends. They also sang songs like 5 Little People in a Flying Saucer, linking them to what they learned. This has sparked discussions on what they observe and how they can help care for our world. We became familiar with the components of picture books both fiction and non-fictionEach time we read, we talk about the parts of a book—front, back, spine, publisher, illustrator, writer, title page, contents, index. We noticed the tamariki holding their own mat times, being the teacher and pointing out these features to their friends.