INTEREST IN SPACE

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30934, 15 December 1965, Page 2

INTEREST IN SPACE

Answering Children Parents do not have to feel at a loss when their children want to know about space and rockets if they follow the advice given at the Christchurch Kindergarten College students* annual display on Monday. This year, the college curriculum was extended to include science. It had been found that preschool children wanted to know about many things which fall into the scientific category and that many had an inexhaustible interest in space. The students built a space exhibit with models of rockets, planes, and satellites and suggested that parents could prepare themselves for the spate of inevitable questions by reeding books on the subject written specially for children, available at-public libraries. It is considered that children’s knowledge of space should not come entirely from space comics and Mevision.

Another display was entitled “What is Sound?” Children are introduced to the concept of sound by a dock, megaphones made of cardboard, metal keys and forts, amplifiers, and rubber bands round boxes and wood.

This year some of the students made a display of the 10 ways to Ml a story. These are with objects, project books, puppets, pictures, story cards, flannel graphs, a drum, shapes, and books. They also compiled a book which contained the scripts of stories demonstrating these methods. The stories are original. A feature of the display was a section for original stories. This section was started four years ago and drew only a few entries.

Now many of lhe girts are writing and Miurtrating their own children’s stories. The standard is so high it is difficult to decide which is the best Dressing a doll is a compulsory project. The girts have to each make one outfit. But they do not stop at one; Many of ta doMs on dtoplay came with a complete wardrobe.