| Newsflash |
|---|
| Preparatory Year |
|
|
|
|
Early Years Curriculum Guidelines Explained
The preparatory year is based on the Early Years Curriculum Guidelines. The five key components of effective early years curriculum are:
Understanding children – their individual learning and development and their home/life context
Building partnerships – the need for the child, teacher and other people (e.g. home tutor’s) to work together, so children learn effectively
Establishing flexible learning environments –how to organise materials and spaces (indoors and outdoors), people and time to maximise learning.
Creating contexts for learning and development –explains the five contexts that young children need to be involved in to learn well – play, real-life situations, investigations, routines and transitions, focused learning and teaching.
Exploring what children learn –describes the five Early Years Learning Areas: Social and Personal Learning, Health and Physical Learning, Language Learning and Communication, Early Mathematical Understandings, and Active Learning Processes.
The Five Early Years Learning Areas
Language Learning and Communication
This area involves children speaking and listening in a range of situations, and exploring the patterns and conventions of our spoken and written language.
Early Mathematical Understandings
In this area children focus on thinking and reasoning mathematically. Children will develop those understandings that are the foundations for future success in mathematical thinking.
Active Learning Processes
In this area children develop understandings about when and how to use thinking processes and learning about problem solving as they investigate their environment. This area also incorporates early mathematical learning's and technology
Health and Physical Learning
In this area children build a positive sense of self and others by developing their independence, gross and fine motor skills and when making choices about their own health and safety.
Social and Personal Learning
In this area children construct early understandings of cooperating in social situations and negotiating roles and responsibilities. Children also develop a sense of being a capable learner as well as developing independence towards learning and personal organisation.
Reporting on your child’s learning
In the preparatory year you will receive a report card from your child’s teacher at the end of each semester. The report card will cover the five areas of learning but will be under the headings of :
· Language Development & Communication
· Social & Emotional Competence
· Early Mathematical Understanding
· Active Learning Processes
· Health & Physical Well Being.
The report will also contain comments and observations from on air lessons including the specialist lessons as well as field events. Also throughout the year your teacher will share with you some observations and work samples from the Early Learning Record.
Units of Work
Each unit will cover 10 days of activities. For each unit you will receive a Home Tutor Guide which breaks each day into sessions and explains the activities that you and your child are expected to complete. An activity book which contains any extra sheets or information is also sent out with each unit. Each unit also comes with Supporting Learning Cards which help you as the Home Tutor support your child’s learning. You will be referred to these pages throughout the unit and these should be filed in a ring binder for future reference.
To get the most out of the prep units of work you need to be involved in your child’s learning by participating in the activities where appropriate with your child. Remember prep is a play based program and your child needs to actively participate in the program to help their learning.
Play Boxes
Each day session 4 refers to your child’s play box. This box looks very similar to a preschool theme kit. This session allows your child to explore materials and equipment from this box.
The Ideas books in these boxes as well as the Let’s Play ideas card will provide you with information needed to implement this session. Throughout the year your child might also receive individual play boxes which have been put together to meet the needs and interests of your child.
You will not receive any Let’s Play activities until the first unit of work, but until then please use the play box information that you have as well as any other ideas from the books that have been provided.
These Let’s Play activity cards should be stored in a folder so you can access them easily and to help you to revisit some of these activities with your child.
Year Boxes
As well as play boxes you will be also provided with a year box that will contain resources that are referred to often throughout the units of work.
The types of things provided in the year box include:
· Video/ DVD / CD’s
· Magnetic letters
· Books
· Game
· Bucket balance
These resources although fun to play with out of school time should only be used within the school room to support your child’s learning. Please do not allow other children, older or younger to use these resources. This box is kept for the year and needs to be returned in a clean and tidy condition. Any resources that have not been returned or are in an unusable condition will need to be paid for. If necessary an invoice will be sent to you.
Supporting Learning Cards
The cards are provided with the units of work and are cards that offer information and advice on certain topics such as:
· Learning about reading books
· Cutting with scissors
· Beginning to write
· Holding a pencil
· Reflecting on play
· Sequences and patterns
These cards should be stored in a folder that is accessible as you will be asked to refer to them often. The Supporting Learning Card referring to the Play Box has been supplied in your introduction package so you may refer to this from the beginning of the year.
On Air Lessons
Please refer to the on air timetable for the phone number and pin number that needs to be used when you receive this.
During 1st term we would encourage you to sit near your child to help them manage during the lesson. During the lesson time on air protocols are followed which include, Saying your name after you have finished calling in, saying your name when you want to call in. Your child’s teacher will go through these on air protocols but you can help your child by reminding them of these on air rules.
From 2nd term we encourage you to be within earshot of the lesson so if your child really needs assistance you can do so. We find that by this stage your child interacts with his teacher and peer and participates in the lesson better without the distraction of having someone sitting right beside them.
Home Tutor Sessions are conducted regularly throughout the year. These sessions will be an important opportunity to find out more information and ask any questions.
|
