Month: August 2018

On Wednesday night the darkness fell at Flinders and hundreds of tiny sparkly lights began to shine. Then slowly and quietly but with a buzz of excitement many, many children and their families began to arrive. Up the path they travelled, whispering, laughing and eyes sparkling.  Preschool House and Toddler House were having a Festival of Light. A gathering of all. This had been many months in the planning, the children have been thinking and working and discovering all things light. We had worked with light boxes, torches, rope lights, black lights, florescent light, fairy lights and snake lights. We had discovered shadows and natural light. Again and again we had revisited. The Preschool children had worked with the Toddlers and the Toddlers had shared their learning with the Preschool children and on this special night, the night of the Festival of Light, as a community of learners we were going to share all we discovered with our families. So now as the Toddlers wonder where the ‘party’ has gone? And the Preschool children ask “when we will be having another light festival?” We know it must have been a night that won’t be forgotten for a while. It was amazing.    

The youngest citizens at Flinders are the babies. They watch with interest the comings and goings on the path from the veranda of Baby House. They enjoy the experience of walking the paths of Flinders. They like being helpers with visits to the office, the laundry and other houses as well helping to water the gardens. These have become regular occurrences. Flinders has a strong focus on sustainability, the importance of caring for our world is imbedded into the Early Years Learning Framework as well as Flinders policies and procedures. The educators at Baby House have asked how babies could be more involved and how a sustainability focus could become part of the practice and rhythm of Baby House. So grew the daily ritual of visiting the kitchen and emptying the food scraps into the compost bin. The Baby House children and educators are paving the way to a more sustainable Flinders. The children respond with joy and excitement by being involved in the process of visiting the kitchen to dispose of the scraps. The ritual explores the path and surroundings, viewing the kitchen herb garden and observing the growing that is occurring there. We watch out for visiting birds taking a bath or looking for a worm in the garden. The opportunity to test our physical skills using the stairs to reach the kitchen, carrying the buckets and bags up the hill and practicing our walking down the hill to Baby House. We share daily stories of the adventure,Read more