Pre Primary Tigers
Newsletter May 2016
Dear parents,
Another few weeks have passed in our Tiger Group and the children have been busier than ever! I have to admit that I haven't taken that many pictures of our work; we have been too busy! We have had some big celebrations and lots of other fun activities these past few weeks. We also had to say goodbye to two very loved members of our group: Max Becker, who moved with his family to Darmstadt and Miss Jenna, who moved back to England to be with her family. It has been an adjustment for the children, but we are making the most of the time we have together. We learned that it's okay to be sad sometimes.
Open for business!
During our food theme, we had a supermarket in our classroom. Every play time up to 4 children would buy and sell different foods. We did a lot of sorting (by colour, by taste, by type)
Germs!
To show the children how things grow, we also showed them how germs grow, ...on your hands! We had these petri dishes out for a few weeks and looked at them through magnifying glasses. Luckily we have some great connections in the secondary school.
What, Spaghetti???
Yes, this is cooked spaghetti. After learning the letter W (and playing wiggle worm) some children got to practice their pencil grip. With tweezers they are transferring the worms from the bowl to the tray one by one. Great finger practice!
Theme: Food of the earth
After our spring break we started with our new theme: food from the earth. This was a wonderful time to learn about fruits and vegetables and how they grow. We also learned about healthy foods and sometimes foods and the children had fun using all of their new ideas in the classroom supermarket. We also took the time to learn about growing in general. What does a plant need to grow? The children were all very involved and came up with their own ideas for play. They made shopping lists, wrote price tags, made diagrams to see which fruit was eaten the most in our class. For the teacher that is a good sign!
What's inside?
We cut open several fruits and vegetables and took a look inside. How many seeds did we find? Were they big or small? The children made drawings of their findings.
F is for Food (and Fish)
We got to know a few more letters and their sounds. The B, the F and the W.
Cleaning and scrubbing our vegetables.
With the weather warming up we try to have some activities outside. And some of these activities are all about using our hands. In this case with water and soap.
Making a diagram
Each day we made a graph of the fruits and vegetables the children brought for breakfast. This was a good opportunity to practice 'more or less'.
Stone soup
One day I dressed up and told the children the story of stone soup. Every child had a different vegetable that they got to add to my soup (practicing the names of the vegetables.) They stirred and gave it a good whiff!
Making our own stone soup
After this we got to work and made our own stone soup. we were all quite hungry after that.
We used everything we learned about seeds and how they grow by sowing seeds ourselves in our pre-primary garden. we sowed and planted radishes, carrots, a pea, a flowering bush and lots of strawberries. Many children got a chance to get those hands dirty.
Theme: Family (Mother- and Father'sDay)
After learning all these wonderful things about how plants grow, it was time to investigate how we 'grow'. The children caught on right away and had some heartwarming things to say about growing up in our families. We discussed how families can have many different shapes and sizes. Some are big, some are small, but one thing they have in common: they love us very much! We talked about how we show that love and appreciation to others. The children helped pick out a song to practice. We sang it at our parent mingle on the 3rd of May. Many of you were there. Thank you for that! The children felt very loved. I know they were very nervous to sing and give you all the gifts we made. That took a lot of concentration on their part.
Parents Mingle
For Mother's day we had a Parent Mingle in the tiger class. This year we set up a small photo booth for families to take pictures with their kids. These lovely girls helped set it up.
My Family
The children talked about what families look like. After that they got to draw their family. Some children added the family dog, or even their house.
Dressing up for Europe day
This is just one example of the beautiful cultural wear we saw in our classroom.
Europe week
Our last week we learned all about Europe. What is Europe and why is Europe important enough to celebrate? We got to know the flags and landmarks for many European countries. We also made our own flags and explored some of the countries. We learned a little bit about France and Germany. I am impressed with how much they already know and how much they learned about the different countries.
Other fun events in the Tiger Class
- To say good bye to Miss Jenna we threw her a big party. The children thought about all the things you need for a party: Balloons, Music, Treats, Gifts, Games and Friends. We had all of those!
- For World Book Day each classroom decorated to show a favourite Children's book. We chose: The Queens Knickers. The children had great fun thinking of different knickers a Queen could possibly need and then designing them and making them. Our hard work was rewarded when we won first place!
- We were able to go see the Elementary school talent show, We got front row seats!
- We also got to see the Europe Day celebration in the gym. There was music and entertainment. The tigers enjoyed the show.
Birthdays in the tiger class
We don't only have parties, really!
Pearler beads
Another great activity to practice pencil grip, counting and looking at things very precisely. The girls are making a watermelon (for W) just like in the picture.
Quiet time
It's not all work in the tiger class....
Working time
...but sometimes it is.
Enjoy your holidays
I wish you all a wonderful time. It's been great working with every one in the pre-primary. I hope to see you all back soon!
Our next theme will be medieval times. For this theme we are hoping to set up a dramatic play castle made out of cardboard boxes. If you have any big boxes, we would love to use them!
Thank you for all your help and support,
best wishes,
Miss Erneke and Miss Rona