Posts

Henry's Map (Literacy Development Through Fiction)

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Dear Parents and Carers As the term goes on, foundation have been jumping in head first as our Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) learning focus on geography continues. Building on our work on place, foundation have been looking at how locations and their features can be shown on simple maps. Foundation have been focusing on special places and places familiar to them, most notably the places they see on their way to school. Image 1: Henry's Map Cover In class, we read the story 'Henry's Map' by David Elliot . The story is about a very neat pig who sets out to make sure that there was a place for everyone on the farm. Henry decided to draw his sty and set out to draw all of the other animals in their places on his map.  As you know, a note went home which asked parents and carers to help the foundation children take special notice of the places they see on their way to school. This was tremendously helpful, and I want to thank you all for taking the time to ...
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Special Places (Citizenship in Geography Context)

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Dear Parents and Carers As we progress in our Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) learning over the term, foundation have been learning about citizenship through Geography. They have used the key inquiry questions 'What makes a place special?' and 'How can we look after special places? which linked heavily to the  Sustainability General Capability in the Australian Curriculum  and outcome two from the  Early Years Learning Framework . Curiosity, wonder and respect for places and environments are fundamental to creating students who go on to enjoy and develop their geographical thinking beyond the early years of schooling (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, n.d.). In order to spark thoughts about place and space, we identified and photographed special places around our school . The whole class agreed that the playground was a special place to most students in our class. Together, we brainstormed a word wall that included things we see, do and...
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Hey, Little Ant (Civics and Citizenship)

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Dear parents and carers This term in Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) foundation have been learning about how to be good citizens who have skills to participate in our democracy. This unit of learning has drawn upon skills and outcomes from the Australian Curriculum (ACHASS1005) and the Early Years learning Framework outcomes one and two (EYLF). Citizenship education with young children is all about children learning how to participate in and contribute to their community (Bae, 2009). It is about giving them skills that will one day translate to them being active and informed citizens. At this stage, we look at developing skills like making choices, being fair, and taking responsibility in ways relevant to the children (through stories, in play, through local events and by learning about issues that affect them) (Brett & Duff, 2019; Division for Early Childhood, 2014) .  Children in foundation have been learning about how to explore...
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Welcome and Introduction

Hi all This is just a brief welcome post to let you know a little about the purpose of this blog! Throughout foundation (prep) this term, we will be delving into three key topics of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS). Future posts will go into further detail about these units of learning. These  units of learning will be developed based on the Australian Curriculum and the Early Years Learning Framework outcomes where appropriate. The blog posts will share what, why and how children are learning, and also share ways that parents and carers can support this learning at home. We are looking forward to sharing the learning we do in this exciting area as the term goes on. Kind regards Hayley Koehler
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