Language stimulation at Candy Floss Preschool

We spent the whole morning at Candy Floss preschool on Thursday, and I was exhausted! I don't know how the teachers at the preschools manage! It was filled with giggles and story telling and games and hugs, and 3, 4 and 5-year olds, and tears and snotty noses and children fighting and dirt and grazed knee's. I have a new appreciation for preschool teachers!

We tried to follow the children's lead with their activities, and incorporate language development into their play. For example, when they were playing with hoola-hoops, we could target spacial relations, such as next to, inside, and outside the hoola-hoop.

We read a few stories with them, and this time we made sure that we were not confined to the words on the pages in front of us. We eventually had all the children acting out their routine of washing their faces, brushing teeth etc. We used the most animated facial expressions and this really kept the children interested and having fun! The aim of this was not just to stimulate language development, but to create an awareness of personal hygiene.

We did a few rhymes with the different groups, and it was interesting to note the difference between the 3-4 year olds and the 4-5 year olds both in the rhymes, language abilities and participation. It was easy to spot how much being in preschool for an extra year has impacted on the children who are older. With this being said, there are many children in the community who do not have any sort of schooling until they enter grade 1, and at this stage they are far behind the other children.

We are busy planning to host a workshop for parents, and through our tutor's guidance are learning a lot about working with the students from OT and Speech, what we should and shouldn't include, who should be invited, and they kind of material that should  be made available. There is lots of planning to still be done!