Aug News

The theme of the Farm Animals let us re-visit Zoology unit we learned earlier this year in March. We sang one of our favorite songs from Music Circle CD, We Went to Visit the Farm while pretending to be a variety of different farm animals using our bodies and voices. Another fun activity that our toddlers enjoyed was This Little Pig toes counting rhyme, where our teachers ran their fingers up the children's tummy and give them a tickle. Let’s not forget our group project which was making farmhouse out of cardboard box.

During story-time, the children listened to a very nice story about all the different animals that live on a farm in a book called Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. For the Early Years children, they learned colour mixing for their art projects. They have started building 3 letter words using Large Moveable Alphabet. Parents, you may notice that your child is bringing home some words to work on.

The month of Aug we dedicated to learning about Weather. We started off talking about different types of weather, for Sensorial activities, children learned about rainbow colours, identifying loud and soft sounds, then later in the month, we also talked about how different weather can help us and plants. Our garden is looking beautiful, by the way! We’re getting a lot of spinach and lady’s fingers. It’s a great time the children learn everywhere around us there are signs of growth and changes.

The year is racing by and it is glorious to watch your children grow. Now most of them are ready for more challenging work and we have moved them to another level higher. The children really enjoy being in the new environment and meeting new friends.

Here are our classes in the AM Session

Toddlers Group ages 2 to 3 with 16 children
Early Years Group ages 3-4 with 9 children
Preschoolers Group ages 5-6 with 9 children

Besides our regular kindergarten classes in the morning, we also offer enrichment programmes in the afternoon. Little Scholar Mandarin available for children ages 3-12 and Ready Reader Early Learning Program (USA) for children ages 2½-4 works to improve the reading readiness of children.

Talking about growth, Malaysia is going to celebrate it’s 52nd National Day on 31st Aug. So I got the children dressed for their nationality at school. The kids paraded around the school and then we all headed into the middle area for a song performance. Then we went to the snacks area to sample the foods of many lands. And of course I didn't miss the chance to take photos!

What a nice cake...from this cute little boy's mum...gotta love his mum for having such a great Merdeka spirit for baking us this cake came with a recipe for us to try too! Another chance to teach the children to spot for our Malaysia flag!

Look how cute they are. We were really into Merdeka spirit! Took a chance to have a group photo for the very first time. But the pictures! As usual, they are cruddy. Some children just refused to stay still for a second....never mind we'll try again next time...

Need I introduce our Malaysia national costumes? From left is girl in cheongsam with a not so suitable pose, Malay baju kurung and an Indian costume.

One in red Samfoo with direct translation from Cantonese means Blouse and Pants and another in Indian costume.

Our Extended Day

I have been meaning to post this up regarding our afternoon programme. In the extended day program, our teachers guide child in creative and playful endeavors. Children will enjoy a social and relaxing afternoon with free play as well as songs, stories, outdoor play and special activities. The school provides two extended day options: pick-up by 3:30 pm and pick-up by 5:30 pm

The afternoon schedule are as follows :

12:00 pm - 12:30 pm • Lunch & Cleanup
12:30 pm - 1:00 pm • Shower
1:00 pm - 3:30 pm • Rest Time (quiet time followed by optional lessons and activities)
3:30 pm - 3:45 pm • Character Building Session
3:45 pm - 4:30 pm • Tea Time & Cleanup
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm • Outdoor Play
5:00pm - 5.30 pm • Focus activity - Story telling, singing, art & crafts, cooking, playdough and Montessori Practical Activity

Toddlers Group Music and Movement time

July News

Hello again! Can’t believe that July has just gone... We have had a very busy two weeks in June and a whole month of July. A warm welcome to 5 new students and 2 members of staff who have joined us this term. We hope they enjoy their time with us as they experience new things each day. We would also like to mention that it was a pleasure meeting with you last week for our Parent Teacher Meeting. We appreciated your praises and feedback.

We have spent the last month learning about Dairy Food. The children sequenced pictures to show the day in the life of a dairy farmer and the process of milk from a cow to the table. At snack time the children were offered milk and ice-cream for tasting and smelling activity.

Our theme in July was Farm Animals. Since beginning of July we have been teaching the children the different sounds that the farm animals make by singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm. The children loved This Little Pig toes counting rhyme very much...They laughed out loud each time the teachers said "This little pig cried Wee Wee Wee all the way home!!" What the children loved best was when the teachers run their fingers up to the children's tummy and give them a tickle. We then looked at textured animals books and completed many fun crafts dealing with a variety of animals. There is a farm house with animals and tractor in the block center too.

We learned about baby farm animals such as chicks, ducklings, piglets, calves and lambs and we played the mummy and me matching farm animal game. We listened to the The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown.
After reading this story, we list what we might see on a farm. Our Early Years Group children completed a barn scene using paints, manila cards and lots of art materials. They also learned colour mixing for example red and white makes pink. Yes, pink for our cute curly pig...

Painting and mixing colours activity

Ducky craft using toilet rolls

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep called Woolly. Don't worry we will just leave him alone and he will come home...

Cute Curly pig

Children learned body parts of a cow

Concepts the children learned on Farm unit were :
o A farm animal lives on a farm
o Barns, stables and sheds are homes for farm animals
o Horses are farm animals that can be used for transportation
o Cows, chickens, pigs, sheep and goats are farm animals that can be used for food, Some supply us milk and eggs
o Farm animals eat corn, hay, oats and grass
o We can recognise some farm animals by their sounds

The children will continue to be taught the importance of washing hands after each activity. We will teach the children about proper use of the playground equipment, outdoor safety such as walking on the sidewalk, not running in the parking lot, and holding hands with an adult when crossing the street.

Don't you think that children nowadays just refuse to let you hold their hands when they are on the road ? Read a news recently that a mum reversed her car and ran over toddler. This news has freaking me out!! That's why we think it's our responsibility to remind children about raod safety.

Happy 1st Birthday

Here we are celebrating our first year!!! It feels like yesterday that I started this school and had my first student..which was on June6 2008 to be exact. I call this school my pride and joy..I am still enjoying every moment of it..watching the children coming to school happily everyday..

I have always tried my best to bring out the best of Montessori method of teaching to the children here...Montessori is my heart and soul..it's my aim to go beyond the kingdom of writing and paper. My job is very rewarding and I feel that I benefit by contributing to the society and a good educational program for our new generation of children. I believe the education that we provide makes a big difference in the lives of these children.

I want to thank all my staff all the hard work, passion, vision and love shown to the children. You really do deserve much praise and thanks! From an empty hall to a provision for over thirty children...now we have four classes in the morning and we have our very own Little Scholar Mandarin class in the afternoon that I created for children using the approach of learning Mandarin in a fun way. Now we have another surprise for you coming up in Jan 2010..we are going to be starting our English Early Learning Program for children ages 2-4.

I have to say that I am very very thankful to all the parents..it is because of you...our loyal parents and children that we are here. I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for always having faith in me to deliver to you the absolute best education to your child.

Early Years Group storytime

June News

We hope you had a great time with your child during the school holidays. The school was opened for Daycare children and they had great fun having longer outdoor play and the activities our teachers have planned for them like making Father’s Day card, clay painting and photo frame. You can see how much everyone in the school is enjoying the water table that we have put up in our garden too!.

Last month the children learned about Homes and Families and had a great time build three houses using different materials after listened to the story The Three Little Pigs. The Toddlers Group children also had fun making pig headband and they looked so cute wearing them. The Early Years Group children started to count by 2’s and 5’s and doing some addition with numbers. Since last month, we have started showing Toddlers Group children their names. As the teacher called out their names, they are able to tell very confidently.

Illness Reminder - This time of year can be overwhelming due to the Swine Flu attack. Pls read through the following and thank you for your co-operation.
1) Children with flu-like symptoms include: fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, or stuffy nose. must be kept at home for at least 7 days. Additional symptoms may be experienced with swine flu, including muscle pain, fatigue, and sometimes vomiting or diarrhea.
2) Children with flu-like symptoms must remain at home and not coming to school. For example, if a child becomes ill the night before school they must stay home.
3) If a child appears to develop symptoms of illness during school hours, the parents will be contacted and asked to pick-up their child immediately.
4) If a child contacts a communicable disease, the school must be notified immediately, as a notice is required for other parents to be made aware and keep a watch for signs of illness in their children.

We will be learning about Dairy Food in our classrooms this month. The children will learn sources of dairy products, types of dairy products while enjoying them, milk can be used to make butter, cheese, ice-cream and yoghurt, cows, goats and sheep provide milk. On a hot day nothing is better than an ice-cream treat! The children get to scoop their favourite ice-cream and sprinkle lots of toppings.

Preschool Group children are required to complete occasional homework activities based on the Letterland Blends and Diagraphs sessions they have in school. They are also expected to bring a booklet with spellings to learn at home. We expect the children to practise these every day and they will be tested on their spellings every week. Homework should never be a burden to parents and child. Ideally homework will give parents and children a pleasant opportunity to work together on topics they have learned that week in school.

Parent-Teacher Meeting - We would like to invite the parents to come to school for a Parent-Teacher Meeting. The meeting will be held for two days 6th and 7th July between 2pm-6pm. Your child’s work folder and progress report when we meet you. More details will be sent out next week.

May News

The Teddy Bear picnic on 22nd April was enjoyed by everyone. We ate Teddy Bear biscuits and sang Teddy Bear song. Besides enjoying themselves, they also learned how to wait for others before start eating.

Families and Homes will be the focus of this month’s theme. We will be telling children stories of The Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs. Through this theme, the children will learn the members in a family, family members care for and protect us, discover activitites that families can participate in together, a home is a place to live, home workers, rooms in a home, kinds of houses and materials for building a house.

Some of our activities at school will include :
o Find a room for the furniture – The children can place the furnishings in the proper room.
o Group project – Building house made from different materials.
o Acting out the story of The Three Little Pigs.
o Culture Table : Science – Children may observe and examine building materials such as wood, brick, sand paper and tiles.

This month, we will also be talking about a very important person in children’s lives that is mums. For Mother’s Day, the children will be painting picture portraits of their mummy and these masterpieces will be displayed for you all to see! All the children will also have the opportunity to create an individually decorated card.

Montessori Exercise of Practical Life

Pouring activity by a toddler who is not even 2 yet. Look at the skill that he has mastered. Oh we are so proud of him!

Maria Montessori