Pre-KG Blog 13 Shape walk

Pre-KG Blog 13  27.Nov.2020

Shape walk 

Colours and shapes are all around us and are some of the most easily recognizable and interesting things in a child’s environment. Children notice that red flowers are different from yellow ones and that a car wheel has a round shape and a hat a triangle shape.

The Pre-Kindergarten children are getting very knowledgeable about their subjects and they are very eager to find and show them to their friends and teachers! 

After looking at one of our most popular shape puzzles again, we decided to take things further and identify shapes outside the classroom and even outside the school.

So with shape pieces in their hands, a very keen group of Pre-KG children went on a “shape walk” to spot corresponding shapes and they became more and more excited about their findings.

Not only did they find the “usual” geometric shapes, but also flower, leaf and ABC shapes ! They also had a fun “shape to shape” run !

A big thumbs up for the great observation and cooperation skills of the Pre-KG children who connected their classroom learnings smoothly to their outside world.

Kindergarten 27 Nov. 2020

This week Blue Team was busier than usual. 

We prepared the Christmas calendar which we will start to use next week with the whole Early Years!

Blue Team is trying to find out how to express their feelings (happy, angry and sad ) which we are often talking about, with drawing. We made 3 stations to show the "artwork". Children went around the stations with their partners and showed each other their pictures. Well done, everybody!

This week, as part of our year-long "Sharing the Planet" unit, Yellow Team planted daikon seeds in paper cups. They had been very interested in the daikon plants we had seen at the farm near our school last Friday, and had wanted to try growing their own. We used dirt from our garden area, and watered the seeds. After only two days, some seedlings began sprouting up! We will continue to watch what they do and take care of them.

Yellow Team have finished their St. Martin paper lanterns, which they had worked on with great care of the course of the past couple of weeks. Our classroom is now filled with the children's holiday decorations as well as other art.

When we went to play in the Green Field this week, some of the children discovered the grate-covered hole at the back of the field. When they shouted into the hole, they found that they could create echoes. And many of the children learned the word "echo" and what it meant for the first time. It was a wonderful example of the children's spontaneous learning through play.

Kindergarten 20 Nov. 2020

This week blue team boys had a great idea. They were talking about streets for the cars. I suggested that they draw streets on big paper. We used a long ruler to make straight lines. The children started to talk what can be beside the streets. First they came up with "shrine." Then with "pool" and "Daiei" etc. After they finished making the streets, for the whole week they took the "street paper" on the floor and played with lots of joy.

I read a book to Yellow Team called "Andrew's Amazing Monsters." In the book, a boy draws friendly monsters that come alive while he is sleeping and throw a surprise party for him. So the Yellow Team students drew their own monsters. Then we hung them up in the classroom in hopes that they would come alive. I wonder if anyone met their friendly monster during nap time today.

Pre-KG Blog 12 Our daily food - the power of bento !

Pre-KG Blog 12  20.Nov.2020

Our daily food - the power of bento !

Food is such an important part of our daily life, giving nourishment for body and soul, showcasing cultural habits and celebrating special occasions.

In Japan there is the wonderful custom of eating “o-bento” for lunch or any occasion that requires a neatly packed box full of goodies and love.

The children in Pre-KG also enjoy their daily o-bento and often talk excitedly about their mum, dad or grandparents making it. It is heartwarming to see that the children really cherish this effort and the connection it gives them between home and school.

Taking a clue from their daily habit of eating their bento lunches, the children have been starting to make their own (pretend bentos) at school. Luckily their teacher had accumulated a lot of recycled bento boxes, so the children laid out a real feast.

There was a lot of food on the table - healthy bentos, sumptuous bentos and some yummy looking fruit tarts.

The children also thought about providing water, realising that we need to drink as well as eat. 

Everyone was happy to see the delicious food on the table and we are all blessed and lucky to have our nourishing food made with love every day !

Kindergarten 13 Nov. 2020

The Blue team is enjoying the Autumn season. Eda decorated her hair with leaves and in the classroom each child made an Autumn collage. They are hanging from the ceiling, and it looks like we are in a forest.

The Yellow Team students have also been enjoying the cooler Autumn weather. We went to the flower field near the school to observe what kind of plants grow this time of year. The children were surprised to find daikons growing where there were once tulips, and they enjoyed looking at the many different varieties of flowers which are flourishing even in the colder weather. 

On our walk, we also gathered leaves and noticed how they are much brighter and more colorful than they were in October.

Later in the week we went to the green field to play, and I was particularly impressed as I watched four of the children sharing a soccer ball and organizing their own game together.

Pre-KG Blog 11 Puzzled!

Pre-KG Blog 11  

Puzzled!

The Pre-Kindergarten children have shown great interest in puzzles recently!

Every day we offer the children a variety of puzzles to choose from and the children have really upped their game with some children being able to finish puzzles of up to 20 pieces now.

Puzzles are an important educational learning tool for young children as they provide many skills such as hand-eye coordination, shape recognition, fine motor skills, patience, concentration and goal setting as well as cognitive learning opportunities and benefits. Additionally, they teach children about the concept of whole and pieces of a bigger picture.

The children in the Pre-KG class also sharpen their observation skills with “I spy” type books. They encourage each other to look for an item and then display great joy at finding it!

One of the most beloved puzzles shows animals and an connected item which got our children really thinking, especially about the sheep and the wool.

The children were completely puzzled ! What was the connection there? 

As we have a lot of inquisitive minds in class, we looked at 2 video clips of sheep being shorn and wool being spun. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53KoRxxr1jc

Now that this puzzle is solved, please ask your child about the connection between sheep and wool!