Entry Two - Social Studies

Currently my centre has been developing our programming and planning wall in our preschool room directed towards becoming a diverse centre and educating the children on their own and different cultures in the centre. Parents are encouraged to come in to the centre to share knowledge about their culture during a mat time and prepare an activity that they children can engage in. By doing this the children are able to hear from the people they know and care about as to where they came from and their cultural background. The children are able to develop their individuality as well as find was as to relate and learn about the cultures of their peers. By linking the knowledge to the past the children are able to learn that New Zealand was once a diverse country and has now become a multicultural country and through that change I believe that the children would greatly benefit from this change.

The way that we support children’s understanding in the economic world is educating them about purchases. An activity that we do together is playing shop. The children are given a set amount of play money and they move around the centre collecting their products. When it is time to come to the checkout some children realise that they don’t have enough money and so they children must make the decision of what items are essential to them. This helps children relate to the real world because I think that it prepares them for situations that they will face when they are out in the community.

By getting the children out exploring the community is we take weekly to monthly trips around the community. Since I have started working in my centre we have been to the local park with other centres to attend a reading, the children have played on the equipment, we have been on a bus ride to the Papatoetoe library to learn about different cultures, and the children go on school visits every second week. We have also been visited by the police who came to speak with the children and had a fire truck come and park in the carpark. Our children are learning about the places and environment around them and have on numerous occasions had discussions with teachers and parents about what they experienced and their enthusiasm about wanting to do it again. The school visits are preparing them for their next step in life. At the schools they are able to learn the routine and the placement of materials in the classroom.

By educating the children about the past we have done science experiences with volcanoes and explained what processes were happening and what became of these events. On Anzac day the children made poppies and were given a brief explanation by the teachers as to why this day was celebrated. The children were also given the opportunity to make Anzac biscuits which they shared with others and their parents. Through these experiences as they were done with other children, the children are able to learn together and how to work positively as a team.

In relation to the well-being of a child (Ministry of Education, 1996), the impact that social studies has on the children’s learning is being able to respect others and work as a team. Understanding that their own culture is being respected and included give children the sense of belonging. Children know where they fit in in society and what role they need to play when interacting with others shows their contribution in the centre and in society. Children are able to communicate positively with their peers. Exploration is the child’s way of finding out how things work and the impact that they have in order to keep things working in the environment and in the relationships that they share with others.