This
month has seen a significant change occurring in the Mitchell Room. It
started with the exploration of a digging patch and the discovery of
earthworms. This sparked curiosity in all things living, particularly
critters in the garden. As we explored the life of earthworms and their
role in the garden, we moved onto the life of seeds and plants leading to
the question "what is it that plants need to survive and grow?" We
discovered that different living things need different environments for
survival and this knowledge inspired the children to ask, "How do we care
for our environment so that all living things can survive?"
Caring for
our world has become the
major focus/topic of interest in the Mitchell Room.
While
attending the Early Childhood Australia Conference in Canberra I attended a
number of workshops that led me to question how we in our centre were
contributing to a sustainable, environmentally friendly environment. This
question, together with the children’s interest in caring for our world led
to a recycling revolution in the Mitchell room. No longer do yoghurt pots
and other lunch packaging add to our garbage, all recyclable material is
either placed in the recycling bin or retained for future use. We have
established a compost bin in our yard and all suitable food scraps are added
to this daily.
As a
direct result of these practices, we now have approximately ¼ of the garbage
we previously had. Already other rooms in the centre are coming on board by
saving their paper scraps for us to recycle into new paper, or use for
papier mache. The Outside School Hours Care program are adding their food
scraps to our compost bin. We are also working towards growing our own
vegetables and flowers with peas, beans, lettuce, tomatoes and sunflowers at
various stages of growth.
This is a
very exciting undertaking, the children whole heartedly embraced the notion
of recycling, so we ask parents to support their children in reducing waste
by considering packaging some products in re-useable containers as far as
possible – cling wrap and plastic wrapping on some products are the main
items that cannot be recycled.
Thank
you
Annette,
Scott, Tara and Trudy.
Congratulations to Scott and Sam who will celebrate their wedding early in
November.
