December treasures

Hi everyone. Wow where do we start? We have been so busy at kindergarten with active movement, gardening, mosaics, favourite toy day, learning more about the diverse cultures in our community as well as more exciting activities before the end of term.

Some important dates to remember will be

* Our trip to Kettle Park (Dinosaur Park) via Dunedin Stadium on Friday 10th Dec 2010

*BBQ for all families and whanau, visit from Santa & Christmas Raffle Draw 14th Dec 2010

*End of year Picnic for all children 16th Dec 2010

*Last Day of term 17th Dec 2010

We look forward to see you all at the above events :)

Mosaics and Christmas Countdown

Mosaics (1) This week children are creating their own designs for pavers for our outdoor area. The process will continue over a few weeks so all children will have the oportunity to be involved. As you can see by the photos they will be part of the complete process - from carting them in from the car right through to deciding where they will be laid in the ground......so watch our blog for progress.

Friday 3 December - Time to put up our christmas tree and decorate it ......

Sunday 5 December - The Santa Parade - we know many of our families will be there!

Fun happenings

Lots of further opportunities to explore active movement when Amanda from Sports Otago visited to present the gold award accreditation. All that hard effort finally paid off!

Some children have loved the sensory experience of Nevaeh's gelli baff.

During the week we have taken the chance to explore our wider world when Maja and Sophia's papa/dad taked with us about Germany. Rajneesh (Rachel's mum) brought some very tasty Fijian/Indian cuisine for us all to try. There was even dessert and many went back for seconds! Thank you Sascha and Rajneesh and families for bringing something of your cultural identity into our learning community.

Kia Ora and Hello

Hi yet another week has gone by. Time flies... our programme has included incorporating Kaupapa Maori with Senior Teacher Lee & Kaumatua Huata. We learnt some fun interesting facts and songs and our very own mihi too.

We have enjoyed more growing, planting and care of fruit and vege plants including tomato, strawberry and sunflower seedlings too. See you here on Thursday 11.30am as we receive our GOLD accreditation from Sport Otago. Bring a plate of yummy , healthy food to share. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure :)

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!