A morning in Pre-Kinder

We have a lot of new friends in Pre-Kinder. As they transition from their toddler room to the Pre-Kinder room, we focus on building their knowledge and confidence in our Pre-Kinder routine like the morning routine.

Examples of this are how we engage with and use our resources during our work/learning cycles, how we use the mats, putting resources back to their correct spot and checking to make sure no pieces have been left behind, cleaning our areas after eating, putting rubbish in the bin, tidying and washing our dishes, and transitioning through the day.

Outdoor play to practice gross motor skills

Every morning, we start our day with outdoor play. This allows the children to practice their gross motor skills as they crawl over the climbing equipment, ride their bikes, and explore the forts. The children also practice their social skills when they take turns on the swings and offer to push each other. Some children played with the small connecting pieces as they tried to make rockets.

Group time: a moment to connect

Around 9:30 AM, it’s time to go inside. The children put their hats in their hat pockets and their shoes in their lockers and sit on the mat for group time.

The educator started group time with a song greeting the children and asking them how they felt, followed by Acknowledgement of Country. It was wonderful to see so many of the children join in to help with the actions. The educator went around doing a ‘roll call.’ When she called each child’s name, they responded with ‘I’m here!’ and/or raised their hands. The groups responded, “Good morning!” to each of their friends.

When all the children were welcomed, it was time to dance. We danced to Taba Naba and burned a lot of energy, so we progressed to wash our hands and transitioned to morning tea.

Work cycle in Pre-Kinder

A work cycle is a Montessori-inspired approach. It gives the children a block of peaceful focus time to practice and learn (new) skills. Our rooms are prepared to entice exploration by the children. The children can follow their curiosity and interests as they engage with the different resources and activities.

While some children enjoyed quiet time with books on the mat, others used their recognition skills with the colour-sorting activity. Some friends decided to build stairs and towers with the different blocks, focusing on which block was to go next and even removing a block after they noticed it was smaller than the one they wanted to place next. Little artists enjoyed drawing houses and saying. “This is my house.” In the home corner, the children used their role-playing skills, making dinner and taking care of their babies.

The Pre-Kinder learning cycle

The learning cycle is where we focus on teaching the children life skills. We follow the process of raising awareness, exploration, elaboration and utilisation. During this learning cycle, the children used the mats, grabbing them for an activity they would like to use and practicing rolling them up and putting them back.

About our educational program

At Enrich Early Education, we follow the Early Years Learning Framework and enrich it with our EQM approach. The EQM approach combines Emotional Intelligence teachings with the scientifically proven Montessori method. You can read more about our approach here.