DAY 1

My first day there was in the morning, and I felt a lot of excitement and a little bit of nervousness when I came to the centre to start my placement in the toddler room. Immediately upon entering the room I was started by the lead educator who was already preparing the day themed learning corner, the friendly blue waves ocean world corner, with blue fabrics waves, seashells and plastic marine animal’s toys. The learning space was visually appealing, but it was positioned to allow a free exploration and deliberate learning considering the address of the EYLF Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners (DESE, 2022) and NQS QA 3: Physical Environment (ACECQA, 2020).

This was shortly followed by the first children who mostly came with small backpacks and with comfort toys of home. I also greeted them at eye level as I have been taught it is a good activity providing a feeling of trust and belonging (Early Childhood Australia, 2016). As soon as one child saw the ocean theme setting up, she could not stop pointing at dolphins. I helped him to learn more by asking questions that had no specific answers like, what do you think Dolphins like to eat? This kind of questioning facilitated early stage of critical thinking and vocabulary quests which had connections to EYLF Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators.

Morning was bright and adventure new. Some attracted themselves to the water play table to be filled with floating sea creatures. There were small fishing nets by which I directed them to take them up with and as we went, we named them. The activity not only promoted fine motor skills but also promoted turn taking and sharing that benefits social competence and EYLF Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity. My role also included ensuring the water safety and hygiene practices were maintained and I would model and reinforce handwashing after play (NQS QA 2: Children Health and Safety).

At a later date, I became one of the classes, reading Commotion in the Ocean. The bright combination of colours and the beat of the jingle rhymes locked the children away. I asked them to do what they characterised the animals doing-loopy-like fish and sliding-like sting rays and included body movement to a literacy experience. This holistic demonstration indicated the idea of the play-based pedagogy that implies the advancement of several spheres of growth at the same time (Edwards, 2023).

Another chance to spend time together productively was snack time. I sat with the children to discuss what are their favourite foods and promote healthy eating behaviour. It is also possible to say that the setting enabled peer modelling since children already attempted to eat food after seeing their friends eat it. These are basic daily activities that despite how easy they might sound, play such an important role in developing independence and wellbeing (EYLF Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing; NSW Health, 2022).

Afternoons provided more sedate ways of entertainment. The ocean corner had some children gone to it to make collages using blue tissue paper, sand and shells. I noticed the different styles that different children used to work with: some of them were paying extensive attention to orderliness of arrangement of pieces, others tried to overlap the textures. This diversity was based on the personal learning preferences and concerned the value of appreciating each child as a unique creative individual (NQS QA 1: Educational Program and Practice).

Professional Reflection:

Today made me even more confident that thematic, sensory rich environments are indeed amazing in their capacity to arouse interest and interest in toddlers. I discovered that minor adjustments in the style of my questioning can prolong the thought processes of children and that the use of movement, telling, and using the senses in learning adds to the reality of learning. I too realised the need to balance pre-planned teacher driven activities with the chance to explore on their own. In the future, my goal is to develop more accurate skills of scaffolding learning without being so direct and leave children to experience the chosen process on their own and to be informed by their curiosity.