Assignment 7
DUE 30 July 2025
,LSP1501
Assignment 7
DUE 30 July 2025
Foundation Phase Life Skills and Movement Integration
QUESTION 1: Integrated Life Skills Programme
1.1 Theme Selection
Theme: My Body and How It Works
This theme offers a comprehensive framework that not only aligns with the
developmental priorities of Foundation Phase learners but also reflects the
epistemological stance that learning in early childhood is most effective when it is
concrete, embodied, and situated within familiar contexts. By focusing on the learner's
own body, the theme anchors abstract concepts within immediate, lived experiences,
fostering both engagement and internalization.
1.2 Mathematics Concept Integration
Concept: Counting and Measurement
The human body serves as an accessible and familiar unit for exploring mathematical
concepts. Counting fingers, toes, and limbs becomes a tangible gateway to numerical
literacy. Moreover, measuring body parts such as hand spans or foot lengths introduces
foundational ideas of comparison, estimation, and standard versus non-standard units.
This reinforces the constructivist view that mathematical understanding emerges
through active manipulation of real-world objects.
, 1.3 Exploration Through Music and Drama
The interdisciplinary integration of music and drama enables embodied cognition, where
learners internalize abstract mathematical sequences through rhythm and performative
action.
Songs such as "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" reinforce sequencing and body part
identification, while dramatized play involving health professionals (e.g., acting as a
doctor measuring a patient) embeds the concept of measurement in narrative, social
contexts. These activities engage multiple modalities—auditory, visual, kinaesthetic—
thus supporting differentiated learning.
1.4 Promotion of Healthy Living Habits
This theme also provides an ideal platform to instil lifelong health-related behaviours.
The focus on personal hygiene, nutrition, and routine aligns with public health
imperatives and the Life Skills curriculum’s emphasis on holistic well-being. Storytelling
and puppet shows not only make these habits memorable but also serve as culturally
relevant pedagogical tools. Moreover, this reflects the socio-constructivist
understanding that learning is socially mediated and culturally situated.
1.5 Lesson Structure and Time Allocation
Focus Area Estimated Periods per Week
Life Skills (Theme Activities) 2
Mathematics 3
Creative Arts (Drama/Music) 2
Physical Education 2
Total 9 Periods per Week
This time allocation supports an integrated, transdisciplinary approach, ensuring that
thematic learning permeates core developmental domains.