Download Phonics Q & A recording
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Links referenced in talk:
Jolly Phonics Letter Sounds (British English) – YouTube
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Why introduce preschool children to woodwork?
The children will be doing woodwork projects from time to time as we believe this is a wonderful medium for children to work with. We would like to explain why we think woodwork is such an important activity and reassure you that safety is always prioritised.
Woodwork has a long history in early childhood education dating right back to the beginnings of early childhood education with Froebel’s Kindergarten in Germany back in the 1800s. Since then, it has been embraced by many countries all over the world. Woodwork is one of those special activities that truly engage children and encompasses all areas of learning and development. Children really respond to the challenge and very much enjoy working with wood and real tools. Elise has completed a comprehensive course focussed on woodwork for 3–5-year-olds and has been sharing her knowledge with the whole staff team.
Chagford Montessori staff get stuck in, on an in-house training day.
Woodwork encompasses so much learning – children will be developing their physical coordination, fine and gross motor skills, and hand-eye coordination; they will learn basic mathematical concepts, such as shape and measure, and develop their mathematical thinking skills; they will be developing their understanding of the world – seeing tools as a basic technology, understanding wood as a material and observing many scientific concepts such as the rotation of a wheel, levering nails back up or using a drill, to drill holes. They will be developing their language with new vocabulary, using language to talk about their ideas and to problem solve. Children develop their mark-making and drawing to express ideas on paper and also mark on the wood itself. But there are two areas where woodwork really excels.
Hammering golf tees into a pumpkin is good preparation for doing woodwork
Firstly, it develops children’s self-esteem and confidence – it is empowering for children to create with real tools, and they take great delight in their achievements, and it develops a can-do spirit. Secondly, it develops children’s thinking skills - their creative and critical thinking as they problem solve and express their imagination with wood – which is not easy to work with! In terms of safety, this is always prioritised. We adhere to strict guidelines such as the children must always wear safety glasses and sawing is only ever done with 1:1 adult supervision. Part of children’s development is that they need to learn to manage risk and make judgments to protect themselves, so they are better able to make decisions in all situations that life presents.
Learning through watching others.
Each child who participates has as long as they want to use the resources, guided by Elise and some children have worked in the area for one and a half hours at a time – what fabulous engagement and concentration!
Once each child has had a go at basic hammering, they can put their skills to work by combining an assortment of small wooden blocks, beads, bottle tops, fabric, etc. Following our Montessori principles, Elise works with each child at their own level; some are happy banging nails into a strip of insulation foam, and others have made quite detailed models and progressed to using the vice and screwdriver too. We are inviting children who are 3 years and above to participate, one morning per week.
Learning through doing: using a vice and a screwdriver.
