Under the Sea

Children in Early Years have been enjoying learning about ‘Under the Sea’, and as an enthusiastic diver and lover of the sea, Ms Armbrust has enjoyed sharing her passions with her class.

This unit of work has been a wonderful opportunity for children to get creative; producing colourful displays, a range of different crafts and finding many ways to be inspired by nature.

There are, of course, also many deep questions which come up when talking about the World’s oceans and children have been able to broaden their understanding about the world around them through this enquiry based approach to their learning. One of the few downfalls of living in Nanyuki is the fact that we are so far from the ocean, but luckily for FS1, children at Braeburn are spoilt for choice when it comes to books and so the students have been able to travel in their imaginations through stories like The Rainbow Fish, Tiddler, The Little Seahorse and the Big Storm, Cosmos the Whale and many more.

Creche have been using the unit to teach colours; matching the fish to the fish bowl. They have also loved reading and drawing the story ‘The Sea Horse’. And what is more fun than getting fishing rods and seeing what sea creatures you can catch on your hook?! It is such a great way to learn new language, count and work with others.

Children in FS1 have been reading and story mapping Tiddler, the magical story by Julia Donaldson, about a fish who loves to tell tall stories. The class have also been using fish to subitise and count, and this unit ties in nicely with their current maths focus - volume and capacity. As they learn new words and information, the students add them to the class Under The Sea map, which is growing every day.

FS2 have created a beautiful aquarium on their walls and can tell you lots of different facts about the sea. Here’s what a few of them had to say about their hard work:

Kubi and Aaron: The Japanese Spider Crab is the biggest crab in the whole wide world and it can live to be 100 years old!

Myla: Jelly-fish can change colour!

Ben: Fish have scales on their skin which makes them feel comfortable in cold water and helps them swim well.

Yaya: Whales have a hole in their back where water comes out when they breathe!

Their learning has been supported by singing along to some wonderful songs, like A Sailor Went to Sea, 12345 Once I Caught a Fish Alive, and Row Row Row Your Boat (and more) to name a few. It’s safe to say that everyone has had a whale of a time (Haha).