Early learning is about exploration and F1 are masters at it!

Exploration in the environment, exploring a process, exploring new tools, exploring                different ideas and exploring new concepts. I have been looking back on everything we have got up to this half term and exploration is definitely something that our children have been doing lots of. We have been observing caterpillars turning into butterflies. We had five chrysalises on Wednesday morning and by Wednesday afternoon we had two butterflies! We have been planting seeds and seeing them grow. I know that Ava’s beanstalk is huge because her Daddy told me and I have seen photos of lots of others in our friends’ homes.  We also have been examining mini beasts in the woods. In Tree-mendous Tuesday this week Mrs Fenton shook a tree to see what fell out! There were  insects galore!

We are interested in what children learn and that is important but how they learn is even more important if they are to become learners for life in today’s society.

Exploration is the path towards building new ideas, problem solving, communicating,  thinking, and it gets the children invested into the process in a way that is more meaningful to them.

That is why the development of our outside area is so important. It is looking amazing! The fence has been painted by some of our daddies; we have sourced tyres from a local garage and they have been filled with: sand and the Small World farm animals, a variety of herbs so the children can explore using their senses. We are aiming to put a bowl with water inside another one because our F1s love transporting water. The flower beds have been dug and plants, that have kindly been donated, have been planted by the children so they can develop an understanding of growth, decay and change over time.  Maybe a few of the flowers have been picked, but they do look so pretty! We just explain that once they are picked, they won’t be able to grow. You see there are lots of lessons being learnt! We are going to plant some vegetables, too so the children will be able to eat what they have grown and it will hopefully encourage some children to try things they haven’t tried before. Children learn through their experiences and with all the open ended experiences that F1 are exposed to daily, I’m sure you’ll agree that there is a whole lot of learning occurring in F1!