Warm weather = water + sand + sunhats + outdoor learning fun!

Our sandpit is a popular place for outdoor learning and this moves to another dimension with the addition of water to make rivers, lakes, waterfalls (and of course pools to splash and jump in)In the childrens words water makes the texture of sand change from 'dry'.......to 'sticky'.........to 'sloppy'.......to 'liquid.' 'Why does it disappear into the sand instead of staying on top of it?' Not only are spades used for digging, they can also be to 'stood' in a row to be counted and identified by colour and size (maths concepts are everywhere)

When we need repairs and maintenance done at kindergarten, if at all possible we involve our children as well. This week they have learnt about repairing punctures in their bikes and how to keep the bolt in the gate working properly by cleaning out the bolt hole....ka pai - well done. And isn't great to see so many wearing sunhats. Remember - No hats = no outdoor play!

Fruits, Vegetables, Gardening and Gold Award

Hi Everyone :). What an exciting fortnight it has been! Firstly, we received the Gold Accreditation Award for our Active Movement Activities from Sport Otago. The official presentation by Amanda Taylor will take place at our Celebration Lucheon. We have also been successful with obtaining over $1000 funding from HEHA (Healthy Eating Healthy Action) for enhancing our outdoors with vegetable/fruit gardens, equipment & resources. This will benefit our kindergarten & our wider community :). Come along on 25th November at 11.30 am for our Celebration Lunch. Please bring a plate of Healthy Food to share. Here's to Gold :). Please feel free to post a comment as we love your feedback. Thanks :).

Here are some pics from our Halloween Night -

Those that turned up to the Halloween/bbq/disco evening had a great night

The govt cuts to early childhood are of great concern. Your support at the quiet march (in response to these hard hitting funding cuts) this Saturday beginning at 1pm from the dental school would be appreciated. Our children deserve more! Lots of participation in active movement. Building fundamental movement patterns through actions such as rolling, balancing,jumping and stepping. Keep on the move,everyone

Changes had to be made to our proposed ripper rugby session with Amanda Taylor from Sports Otago. Rain meant we were confined indoors- however we had some awesome active movement indoors instead. A ripper rugby session is proposed for next term instead

Reaching for the Stars

Hello again everyone. We have had such a fantastic time using our wonderful imagination flying planes, being bugs, butterflies, princesses and creatures great and small like spiders, cats and even bats. Here are some great pictures of our children and teachers teaching and learning in our refurbished kindergarten setting & appliances too. Enjoy the pictures and and we look forward to seeing all of you at our Halloween Night tomorrow. We look forward to good food, great atmosphere and lots of fun :).Start time 5pm see you here :)

Flying High............at Concord

Delta wing, canard, flypaper, classroom cruiser..............these are unfamiliar names to many but not to our children who are passionate about paper planes and flight. Over the last week we have been learning to make our own paper planes - following step-by-step instructions. What a sense of achievement as the finished planes are put to the test and fly across the outdoor area (some even over the fence) It is great to share in the enthusiasm of the children as they explore maths concepts and colour, listen to and follow instructions, problem solve and learn about spatial awareness and conversations about flight............................ how we can fly (hot air balloon, rocket, plane, helicopter, paragliding..) and where we could fly to (moon, planets, Australia, Singapore, Auckland, Christchurch....) Let's see where this leads to next!

1st week - Term 4

We hope you all had a restful term break.As most of you will already know there have been very exciting renovations done at the kindergarten over the hols with the kitchen and bathroom receiving timely overhauls. New frontrunner and inside paintjobs have also made us look spick and span.

With the weather being a lot nicer we have taken the opportunities for outdoor play. Please remember to apply sunscreen and don't forget the sunhat. No sunhat no outdoor play!

Wow ! It is the last week of Term 3 :)

How the weeks for term 3 has just flown by. It's already end of term clean and tidy-up. We would like to thank all our friends, whanau and families for all your help and support this term. The last day for term 3 is Friday 24th September and we return on Monday 11th October 2010. Here are some photos of events and happenings which have taken place at Concord Kindergarten. :) Ka Kite Ano

Beautiful - Bokashi - Bugs - Bears

We were all enthralled by the performance of the Kapa Haka group from Calton Hill School when they visited us on Tuesday. In fact as you can see the children revisited this over and over again on the laptop computer. Thank you to the school for taking the time to call in - further cultural learning for us. We are in the process of revitalising our gardens and are currently digging in our 'bokashi' compost. This 'sludgy, brown mix' has been produced from our food scraps - a fascinating, if not slightly smelly, learning experience for the children. Next step will be planting the flowers and vegetables as well as the strawberry plants and berry bushes donated by two of our families. Of course digging in the garden always leads to the discovery of 'creepy crawlies' and what better excuse to take a break - to investigate and learn more about the Huhu grub we have found in a piece of rotting wood. And to finish off a busy week we celebrated with a 'Teddy Bears Picnic' - bears, soft toys, music, stories, honey sandwiches and teddy bear treats from Jamelia's grandmother for a Friday of fun.

Welcome to Samoa

We were fortunate to have Hoani's dad and Grandmother visit us and cook some delightful Samoan cuisine- (chop suey and taro with coconut cream). Very yummy indeed! A great learning opportunity for the children to experience a part of Samoan culture and make meaningful connections with the wider world. A big than you to Hoani,s family for making a valued contribution to our programme.

We look forward to learning about other cultures which make up our learning community.

It's a Small, Small World :)

Kia Ora. Talofa Lava. Ni Hao. G'Day. Ciao. Namaste. Selamat Datang...Yummy delicious Singapore Fried Rice. We have been learning about the different cultures of the world and this has included the cooking and tasting some foods of the world. Here are some photos of our Singapore Experience. Enjoy and we look forward to learning more about Samoa & the Cook Islands next. Parents, Caregivers and friends we would love for you to share a little about your culture with us too. This can be in the form of foods, music, dance, stories etc. We also making the world a smaller place here through global maps and skype too :). Join us at Concord Kindergarten as we explore the World.

The Bubble Makers

This morning we discover treasure in the sandpit.......a new bubble machine. The pictures tell the story as we put it into action and the fun begins. Watch, run, chase, stretch, reach for, catch the bubbles...........pop! pop! pop! pop! See them float away higher, higher and higher up into the sky until they disappear. Time to make more bubble mix - detergent, sugar and water - mix well and leave for 3 days then it will be ready for more bubble fun!!! Our learning continues from our 'Pirate Fun' outside in the big yellow box as we find buried treasure (just like real pirates). Bubbles provide opportunities for extending physical skills - motor development, hand eye co-ordination, a sense of fun and excitement and co-operation as children chase the bubbles together. We learn how to make our own bubble mix. And guess what else pirates do - they 'visit' to different places, just as we are doing through skype and learning about other cultures.

KIWIANA

We have started to look at the various cultures in our kindergarten community. To follow alongside this theme much of the focus is on 'kiwiana' and New Zealand culture this week. Today in the art area the children completed various screen prints which incorporated aspects of 'kiwiana'. Prints of objects many of us are familiar with as New Zealander's such as gumboots, The Buzzy Bee, koru patterns, jandals and sheep to name a few. The children really enjoyed the screen printing process and there was also rich discussion surrounding the objects they were printing. I talked with the children about how we associate many of these objects with our culture here in New Zealand. We will continue to explore the kiwi culture for the remainder of this week, it will be interesting to see where this leads, watch this space!

We continued on learning about Emergency Services in our kindergarten Programme this week. Today we had Senior Constable Paul Howard come along to tell us and interact with us about the role of the Police. It was just wonderful learning all about the police officer's work, his tools and watch the lights and sirens go too. Thank you so much . Watch this space :)

PS We look forward to Amby's (Ambulance) visit this Friday

Our friends the birds and more skyping!

Check out these photos for our ongoing encounters with nature and birds in our area. After initially making feeders from dripping and bird seed we have (following a parents suggestion) extended their diet with a mixture of brown sugar and water. This is so popular we are refilling their bowl twice a day. Our "City Birds' book is a constant source of interest as children use it to identify the birds they have seen.........lots of waxeyes and silvereyes and a cheeky little fantail who loves to flit teasingly just above the childrens heads. Somewhere at the back of kindergarten we have heard a bellbird but as yet he has managed to keep hidden........we will keep looking. We certainly have some enthusiastic 'birdwatchers.' Our 'skyping' continues this week with an 'online' video chat to Kate and Mia (3 years old) - from Helen's family, who live near Melbourne.

Week 2 of Term 3

Week two of term three has come and gone already, and as always it has been all go at kindy. This week the children have been exploring in the outdoors as we have had some great weather. The children have observed new birds in the outdoor environment and have been conducting research around these. They have made bird feeders and placed them in the trees outdoors to see what birds they attract. This week we skyped a class of children in Korea. One child here at kindy has an Uncle teaching in Korea so the children had the opportunity to gain an insight into another culture and continue exploring the use of skype.

Term 3, 2010

Hello everyone and a warm welcome to all our children, families and friends. We have started Term 3 with many busy learning activities already in full swing. We have been continuing on sustainability in our programme as well as Active Movement and creativity throughout our learning environment. We continue to look forward to your interest in following our blog and we always enjoy getting your feedback. Thanks and here is to another great term :)