International Mud Day

Ooey-gooey, squishy, slimy, squelchy, sticky mud!

Last week, to celebrate International Mud Day, PNN hosted a Playdate with Prescott with lots of muddy activities and fun. Our little visitors enjoyed painting pictures with mud, washing and scrubbing toy cars in the carwash, playing with ‘wiggly worms’ and jumping in our mud puddle. The weather was perfect for some messy play in the mud and a hot drink to keep warm. The morning concluded with a special story time with Mrs Watson where the children helped to create ‘Wombat Stew’. It was a wonderful, muddy morning, and we look forward to having our Playdate with Prescott friends back again in Term 3 for a special weekend Family Fun Day.

The fun didn’t stop once the little ones had gone home though. Throughout the rest of the day our PPN students had a chance to enjoy the mud puddle as well. There was lots of excitement, squeals of delight and messy fun!

Mud play is such an important part of developing learning skills and sensory play. It fosters creativity and imagination, provides an opportunity to develop social skills, and is beneficial for mental health and the immune system. Most importantly, it is fun!

Year 1 Visit Uleybury School Museum

Last Friday, the three Year 1 classes braved the cold and travelled to One Tree Hill to visit the Uleybury Historic School Museum. Each class spent time rotating through three stations to experience life at school in the 1800's.

They dressed in olden day costumes and spent time in the historic school room being taught by the old school master, Mr Squire. He taught the children the strict rules of past times of classroom behaviour like giving the teacher complete attention, getting the cane and having to stand in the corner with the 'dunce' cap on for disobedience. They also had a go at using a fountain pen and ink well to write their letters and a slate and chalk to have a spelling test. The children then went outside and had fun playing with some olden times toys and equipment like hoops, puppet theatre, hobby horses, scooters and billy carts. Finally, the class got together to discuss what they had seen and completed some written activities about their experiences.

It was a fantastic day that I am sure will remain in the student's memories for many years to come.

Interschool Chess Tournament

Prescott can be very proud of each and every player, who played with great sportspanship and courage. Celine (Yr 2) played in her first tournament, and on her first game she had to play against a Year 12 student! Well done players, and a special congratulations to Isabella Gosden on winning the highest scoring girl player.

 

Year 2 Visit Tea Tree Gully Historical Museum

The Year 2s had a wonderful and very informative time on our excursion to the Tea Tree Gully Historical Museum.  We were able to experience what daily life was like when Tea Tree Gully was settled, play some old-fashioned games and tour the major historical sites of the township.  It was marvellous fun but we are so glad we live in 2023!

Composting for Nature

This week, we managed to have the final Year 2 classes come down to the veggie patch where we learnt about composting and planted some herbs and vegetables.

We discussed how important it was to compost our green waste, and the process we need to go through to have our composting system work properly for us. We then prepared the soil we were going to plant with some of our amazing compost created in our very own compost patch from our green and brown waste. Once it had been mixed through, we dug a hole, filled it with water and planted our herbs. We are excited to watch them grow and decide what we are going to use them for in the future.

Have you grown any herbs in your garden at home? 

We are in our final week for Term 2. I know many of our children are quite tired, as are staff. We have certainly have been hit by illness in recent weeks. Our staff will be undertaking professional development and preparation sessions next week, and we are grateful for the opportunity to do so. I would like to wish you all well for the mid-year break, and if you are travelling, that you travel well and return to us safely.

I have a vivid memory from my childhood, maybe 7 or 8 years old, of constructing a plane from a cardboard box, adjusting it with weights (pegs from the clothesline), tying it to the clotheslines, and then spinning the clothesline round and round to make I “fly”. I spent a long time on this project without anyone else joining in or helping. It has remained in my mind as a really rewarding experience. With the holidays almost upon us, I was reflecting on this story and thought that maybe, the school break might provide families with an opportunity to experiment with some different ideas and activities with the kids.

As a parent, I often overestimated the value of high-energy, super-entertaining activities for my children, and my cardboard plane experience reminded me that sometimes quiet times are even more valuable. It brought to mind an article I read a while ago about the value of quiet times for children. This holiday break may provide you with an opportunity to have a go at some of the suggestions included. I hope you find it challenging and helpful.

“My son was a toddler when he dropped his nap. I had been dreading it — but the sleep resistance was real and our bedtime routine was getting all messed up. I knew it was time — naptime had to go.

For myself, nap time had become my time — to recoup, to prep dinner, to work, to do something uninterrupted. I really didn’t want to give up this time.

I did some research, on “what to do when your toddler drops their nap” and came across the idea of a daily quiet time for kids.

What started as a way for me to preserve those uninterrupted hours has turned out to be one of the best long-term parenting decisions I ever made! As it turns out, quiet time is not just for toddlers — it’s for older kids, siblings, and families. It’s a way of life.

What is Quiet Time for Kids?

Quiet time is a short period of the day that your child (and you!) spend doing independent and quiet activities.

Your child can spend this in their room or play area, wherever they have books and quiet toys.

With very young toddlers, this may be something you do together in the same area — but still relatively independent. Perhaps you read while your toddler quietly plays or looks at books.

The Long Term Benefits of Quiet Time

1. Provides Space for Your Child’s Developing Creativity

It is only when kids are faced with constructing their own entertainment that true creativity comes out. I was amazed at the things my son would create during quiet time, even at the young age of 3. Research shows that boredom leads to creativity. And, perhaps it’s not really boredom per se, but being faced with filling a period of completely unstructured time. Unstructured time is something we have almost lost in our busy lives and it is certainly something we are not used to filling without screens.

In one study, children were either asked to perform a structured activity with instructions or to play with salt dough with no instructions. Afterward, each group was asked to create a collage with colored tissue paper.

Children in the unstructured group showed more creativity and used more colors in their collage than did the group who did the structured activity.

In this modern age of instant gratification and entertainment, we fill all of our time with structure and stimulation — without even meaning to do it.

You may be met with resistance from both younger and older children alike when first introducing this unstructuredness — because it is hard to learn to fill your own time. See tips below for how to start the habit of quiet time in your home.

2. Increases Your Child’s Autonomy

When a child is faced with unstructured time they must use their brain in a different way — in an innovative way.

They must make decisions, plan, and create — hallmarks of critical thinking and executive functioning. Research supports the idea that unstructured play leads to more self-directed executive functioning.

Kids need this unstructured time to be able to practice these skills. They also need time outside and lots of time playing pretend with other kids, but there is a different kind of play that emerges in quiet time.

Do you ever feel fully immersed in a project or a task, so much so that you lose the sense of time? In positive psychology, this is called a state of flow and it is associated with creativity and a sense of enjoyment.

Children only really achieve this immersive state of flow when they are playing uninterrupted. Perhaps it can also happen during physical activity, but the most natural space for flow to occur is during unstructured play.

Quiet time provides the space and opportunity for your kids to get into that magical state of flow, allowing room for the development of executive functioning skills.

Over time, the ability to play independently will become one of your child’s skills. They will be able to entertain themselves, handle boredom, make decisions on how to structure their time, and play on their own. It won’t be something only done in quiet time — it will spill over into other aspects of your child’s life.

3. Provides a Chance to Recenter and Recharge

When my son was five years old and in school every day, I dropped our quiet time habit for a while. I figured he was scheduled enough, why schedule a quiet time too?

Instead, he came home ate a snack, and watched a small bit of TV. And then the meltdowns started. The crankiness. The grumpiness.

So, I started our quiet time habit again — a shorter time right after school and the grumpiness magically went away.

For Swedes, who are more socially reserved than we are (on average) this applies to socializing with others as well. It’s not because Swedes are colder or even more introverted, but rather because they value balancing energizing social time with recharging quiet time.

Quiet time provides the chance to disengage, to recoup — a mental break. This is a healthy habit no matter your age. It is a lifestyle choice.

Tips for Starting a Daily Quiet Time Habit With Your Kids

1. Start Slow and Have A Visual Aid for Time

Your toddler is not going to play quietly for an hour all at once. Start with 15 to 20 minutes a day and work up from there.

Young children have no real concept of time. I find toddler clocks can be really helpful for starting a quiet time practice. I love the My Tot Clock, (you can see my full review here) because it has 5 different colors that you can program for different things.

We had yellow to wake up, dark blue to sleep, and green for quiet time. I programmed the green to come on for how long I wanted quiet time to be that day and would say something like, “Okay — play or read quietly until your clock turns yellow — when it’s yellow you can come out and quiet time is over.”

Starting slow is key — if you set the clock for 10 minutes and your toddler successfully plays quietly for that whole time, then they will feel like they accomplished something. If you set it too long at first and they come out over and over — they will feel like they can’t play for that long on their own.

When they do play successfully and have fun doing it — comment on it, “Wow, look at what you built during quiet time! Wasn’t that fun and relaxing?” Just commenting on the successful days or things they did will help build the habit.

2. Have Ready to Go Activities

Okay, I know I said quiet time should be unstructured and ideally, it would be completely open, but that’s unrealistic for younger kids and when just starting out.

Vygotsky, a child psychologist, talks about how when something is challenging for a child you help to scaffold that behavior until they can do it themselves. Just like scaffolding can hold up a building before it can stand on its own.

You don’t build the building for them– you scaffold it. In this case, you don’t provide the entertainment, but you provide possibilities for entertainment.

Quiet Time Bins

When we first started, I had five small bins with different toys in each — mostly toys my son already had but didn’t play with often. One had animals and puzzles, one had cars and paper and crayons, one was full of building hexagons and so on. (These are very similar to the bins we had). I would pull one box out each day. Eventually, the boxes were available in the closet and he pulled one out himself or did something else. Here are some more ideas for calming activities for kids.

This is a great way to rotate toys. It is also a great way to have some toys in your child’s room that belong just to them. For example, older siblings can play with their little Lego sets in their rooms out of the way of younger siblings who might destroy build or try to eat the pieces.

In a household of multiple siblings, having the time and space to do your own thing can become something all the kids enjoy.

Books and Music

Quiet time for kids is a great time to introduce the habit of reading, even with pre-readers. Get a stack of books your child would be interested in from the library and don’t pull them out until quiet time.

Another way to ease the transition, especially as you are working your way up to an hour, is to start with a short book on CD. We would get the ready to read books on CD at the library that come with the book and the CD. I would start my son’s clock and the CD and he would listen and then play.

Have you ever noticed that kids get into the flow of play better with music in the background? While I like the idea of quiet time with very little outside stimulation, for reluctant kids quiet music playing in their room can help.

3. Quiet Time Changes As Kids Grow

For younger kids, quiet time takes the place of naptime. But as kids get older and have long days at school and do more after-school activities, they need different types of quiet time.

The After School Sensory Quiet Time for older kids

Kids are so, so tired when they start Kindergarten. For my son, going up to his room after school and playing quietly would have sent him to sleep! I found that quiet time looked a little different during elementary school.

To unwind from a long school day, sensory hands-on activities could be best. Playing in the sandbox or with playdough, swinging, laying in the hammock outside — all of these can help overwhelmed and overtired elementary kids.

The Before Bed Quiet Time for older kids

This is the game-changer for older kids! Remember that feeling of dreading when your little drops their nap? How about when your older child doesn’t need that early bedtime anymore?

We have always been an advocate of early bedtimes, but about halfway through first grade my son wasn’t tired at that early bedtime anymore. He had a harder time falling asleep. The bedtime routine got longer and more drawn out. The sleep resistance was real. Sound familiar?

So, recently we started the before-bed quiet time. This is when kids can play quietly or read in their room before bed. For my son, I introduced it not as quiet time — but as his time to do what he wanted until he felt tired.

All sleep resistance went away!! And mom and dad’s time to unwind reappeared. It is a win-win. My son gets much-needed downtime at a time in his life when his schedule is much busier and we spend our evenings relaxing instead of battling bedtime.

The Lifestyle Family Quiet Time

All of this is grand when routines are normal and schedules are predictable. But what about vacations and holidays? Don’t those tend to be the most overscheduled times of all?

This is where quiet time as a family comes into play. During winter break institute a hot chocolate and reading time where the whole family cozies up on the sofa and reads to themselves.

On vacations schedule some downtime — rest between the pool and the beach, an afternoon of reading, or start the habit of family hammocking (yes it’s now a verb!). It’s so easy to go, go, go, but some of my best memories are the times it rained at the beach and we stayed inside and played games and read all day.

Make quiet time a part of your family’s schedule and life and enjoy the recharge and balance that comes with it.” (Soderlund, 2023)

Have a great break with our kids,

Mark B

Good afternoon Prescott Family,

We were created to be seekers of fellowship. We try to spend time with our friends and family, but the busyness of life can get in the way, or we are the ones to get in our own way.

When I moved out of home, a few years ago now, I found myself spending more and more time alone. I didn't really mind it till I saw my friends hanging out on social media. It wasn't because I didn't get invited to join, it was more that I didn't have the motivation to go, to leave the comfort of home. 

And when we went through covid, I got a bit too comfortable with being alone again, “Oh I won't go to church today, I can just stay in my PJs and watch it online.” 

Now there's nothing wrong with having some alone time, I know I need it to help recharge my social battery or spend time in prayer. But I found that the more I spent by myself, the more my relationships with friends and family would decrease. 

In Hebrews chapter 10 it reminds me that we should not forsake time spent with each other.

“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT.

I was certainly blessed to have friends that would motivate me to move out of my comfort zone and remind me that we were made to be relational. 

Throughout Jesus’ ministry he was constantly with people, whether it was sharing a meal or healing them. He made the time to do life with them. But he also had that one-on-one time, just him and God, it was a balance.

I’m still working on the balance in my life, and I want to encourage those of us that are still working on it too. I pray that we can motivate one another to seek out opportunities for fellowship, it could be a coffee date before school pick up, a catch up on the weekend or a time of prayer while waiting for the bell to go.

Even a Connect 4 event, which we are having this Saturday night, can be the perfect time to build or rebuild those relationships we’ve let slip.

So, many blessings for the rest of this week and I look forward to seeing you at Connect 4. 

Pr Andy.

A school holiday survival guide

It’s almost that time of year that teachers and students love but parents often dread…school holidays! Children are released from the confines and routines of the school environment and parents start hearing the dreaded words… I’m bored!

So what is a parent to do? Here are some tips for not only surviving the school holidays, but actually turning them into something you and your child can enjoy together, that won’t cost a small fortune.

Allow your child to become bored (within reason)

That’s right, sometimes children need to be allowed to be bored. As a parent, you often feel like you need to keep your child entertained every minute of the day. But allowing them to feel some boredom can encourage them to find ways to keep themselves entertained, learn to use their imagination, and develop creativity. You may be surprised by the imaginative games and activities children will come up with if given the chance. Just remember to keep an eye out so that they are engaged in safe activities.

Discover your local neighbourhood

Local councils will often offer programs for children to attend during the holidays, you can also check out the local park, library or find out if other interesting events are happening near you. (Click here to see activities from Tea Tree Gully Council, City of Salisbury, and Port Adelaide Enfield Council) If the weather is fine, many areas have fantastic walks that can allow you to explore nature and get some exercise. Use paper or digital maps to look for places you haven’t been before. A simple internet search will let you know of a variety of suitable events happening where you live.

Family friendly activities

If you have children of different ages it is often difficult to keep them all happy with one single activity. Try sitting down with the whole family and decide on a few activities that the whole family will do together. Including your children in the decision making and planning is always a good start to any holiday. A trip to the zoo and lunch, a picnic at the beach or botanical gardens, or games at the park can all be enjoyed by different ages. Make sure everyone agrees on at least one thing so everyone has something to look forward to. These activities are also great chance to inspire some drawing, writing, or photo and video work that can be shared and kept as a memento of the holiday.

Educational activities

Teachers do not generally assign homework over the holidays but this doesn’t mean children can’t learn during their time off, just make it fun!

One of the best ways to supplement children’s normal learning routines is with activities that won’t feel like chores. Take advantage of your local museum or art gallery, they usually offer free workshops that children of all ages can take part in and will often have some educational value included. Design and test various paper aeroplanes to see which ones fly the furthest or stay in the air the longest. Have an art day at home, paint some canvases, make play dough together or draw on your driveway with some chalk. Bake a cake or cookies together and ask your child to help measure out the ingredients, they could even plan a meal, do the shopping and help prepare it – but make sure they agree to clean up too! Activities like these will apply children’s school-based learning to practical real-world situations.

Have FUN!

With some thought, a little planning, and family discussion, the school holidays can be an opportunity to bond as a family, enjoy some relaxed time together, let your imagination run wild and even learn something! And don’t worry…the holidays will be over before you know it. 

Children With Special Needs Holiday Camp

Last Day For Term 2

As highlighted previously, Term 2 is a nine week Term for students. Week 10 of this term will be pupil free as our teachers complete a range of professional development activities. The team at Prescot myOSCH are available throughout the week if you require care for your child (see calendar of activities at the bottom of this week's newsletter).

During the last 4 weeks, each class has participated in a whole school gymnastics program, funded by Sporting Schools. We have explored some of the basic gymnastic skills including, balance, jumping, rotation and the use of hand apparatus. Many of our students thoroughly enjoyed this!

If your child would love to continue participating and developing their skills in gymnastics, Tea Tree Gully Gym Sports would love to have them come and try out their gymnastics sessions. They have a few ‘Come and Try’ sessions coming up in the holidays and they also have their regular classes (see the flyers below). If you have any questions, feel free to contact them at:

Email: Memberservices@ttggymsports.com.au

PH: 8264 9867

As we move into Term 3, we are also moving into some new sports. From Week 6 we will be learning and developing our tennis skills, thanks once again to a generous Sporting Schools grant. If students would love to practice and develop their skills before this, there are some great holiday clinics coming up at the Valley View Tennis Club. These clinics run in both weeks of the school holidays, so there are lots of options available. See the flyer below for more information!