This week we will start to implement some serious measures in the wake of the Coronavirus. We seek your kind understanding and hope you will support the school with any measures we implement. This will ultimately benefit you and your love ones. The news coming out from all the media channels point that we need to implement some serious measures. Please ensure that your child wears a mask when they come to school. Avoid all unnecessary travel and visiting crowded places. Please wash your hand more often and if you have any signs of a flu please visit a medical center immediately and not come to school. Any students with any sign of flu symptoms will be sent home.
This week we continued to practice our manners and learning to be kind to each other. The children are young, so learning to be gentle when playing together is very important. The children start each day learning about emotions and what makes them feel that way, so they can learn to connect with each other and empathize when someone is feeling sad or scared. We read books and talked about how the characters feel, and reenacted their emotions.
In Singapore Math class, we practiced counting to 20 and practicing number recognition. The older children practiced writing their numbers and the younger children practiced their prewriting skills. We reviewed colors and practiced locating objects in a page based on color+name to learn how to identify objects with descriptions (Where are the red boots?) And helping to figure out objects by describing them (they go on your feet when its raining) this requires the children to think critically, and makes them proud when they can connect other words to guess the object (red+boot+feet+rain).
We learned about shapes and how different objects have shapes, and the children looked around the classroom to find objects with different shapes. Then we practiced making shapes using string, which required teamwork and critical thinking of how to make different shapes. We also played with clay to try and make different shapes. The children enjoyed seeing how the shapes could be made using different materials.
Every day we used a “Mystery Box” to practicing using our other senses to figure out the mystery object inside. We used descriptive words for the different objects (soft, hard, squishy, rough, smooth). This if fun for them because they can use their imagination to figure out the object, and understand that there are other ways of recognizing things besides just seeing them.
For science, we practiced “sink” and “float” to help remind them from last week, and observed different objects that sink or float. The children tried to guess before placing the object in water, and many times they were correct. We also learned that sometimes floating things can help us, or be dangerous. If a boat hits a log, that log can damage the boat and cause it to sink. The children enjoyed playing in the water, and they were able to learn the difference of floating and sinking in a hands-on way.
This week the kids went to Tara Park for their out door time. It was sure fun for everyone. Even the teachers had a great time. They could feel and see that the children were so happy. Our young student Zoli was so happy too. There the children had a great opportunity to practice taking taking turns and playing together.