Learning through play is central to early years education, and it’s just got easier in the Uphill Kindergarten. Our 2022 Christmas Appeal – Are You Sitting Comfortably? – was a great success and the new intake of youngsters in Baby Class are really enjoying the low tables and chairs that have transformed their classroom. Teamed with a range of early years resources we had tucked into our suitcases, the children are learning to sit at the tables (a challenge in itself!) and play with blocks, wheeled vehicles and other toys – when they are not enjoying action songs, learning their letters and numbers, and playing outside.
The children in Baby Class are just 3 years old, so napping is important too – and look, the tables are just the right height for 40 winks!
As well as toys, we donated 4 plastic washing up bowls to the Kindergarten – a quick and easy way to introduce sand and water play as an extra outdoor activity.
Never having seen diggers or tipper trucks before, the youngsters soon figured out how to load them up with sand!
The water play was great fun too. The teachers quickly set up a game where a boy and a girl from each class competed to fill their water bottles, urged on by excited chanting from their class mates. An excellent activity for developing hand-eye co-ordination!
The Uphill Kindergarten is a caring community of adults and children. In the first week of term we witnessed a wee girl helping a new member of Baby Class to wash his hands after morning break…
…and the Uphill Junior School headmaster, who has two children of his own in the Kindergarten, welcome this pair of Baby Class twins to school on the first day.
The majority of preschool children in Uganda still don’t have access to Early Years Education, especially in the rural areas, but at Uphill even the youngest children have the chance of a quality educational experience.
Tags: Early Years Education, Uphill Junior School, Uphill Kindergarten
