Newsletter 25.03.16

Dear Parents,

Stomp, chomp, munch! ROAR!!!

Children in F1 have turned into fierce dinosaurs this week as we develop their interests. It is a delight hearing them say the vocabulary we are focusing such as huge/small, tall/short, stomp and munch in their role playing and conversation with other children. We have also been dancing and singing along the song Dino Pokey.

In the Creative area, children have been making dinosaur eggs using mudroc and balloons. They have also helped paint huge dinosaur stencils using sponges. It was indeed fun getting messy this week!

Our Funky Finger focus this week is about practising the use of small tool such as a tweezer. Children needed to pick a pompom ball using a tweezer and put it inside a bottle. Some children managed to learn the skill and a few were very clever to use their bare hands/fingers to fill up the bottle with pompoms.

Moving on to developing their gross motor skill, children have used the IWB and Activ Inspire to draw/make huge circles and lines. In the splash pool, children were asked to use a sprinkler cup to sprinkle water on their arms, legs, knees, shoulders and heads. This particular activity eases children's fear of splashing water on their faces. We have had a wonderful time splashing water in the splash pool.

In the Investigation area, they have found footprints on the floor leading to the Farm! One child thought they were arrows but after further exploring and investigation, we have learnt that they were in fact DINOSAUR footprints! 

Our Book focus this week was the story 'Things you never knew about Dinosaurs'. Ms Grace read this story to the children and afterwards asked them what they think about what the dinosaurs like doing. The wonderful responses they gave will be our focus activities next week. Click the link to watch a video of  a storyteller reading the book. It would be great to watch this video with your child at home.

We are very excited to tell and show all of you what we are going to do next week. We are certain that it will be a fantastic time in F1 as we start the week with our 'F1-nosaurus Dino-mite Party'. Please make sure to let your child come in wearing their dinosaurs costumes on Monday.

Have a lovely weeekend!

Regards,

Ms Grace, Ms Crislet and the F1 Team

Dino-mite Party

Newsletter 18.03.1

What a fantastic week we've had in F1!

Last Tuesday, we had another visit from our community partner, Animal Rescue and Care. This time, we had the pleasure of having Dr Nghia, a great vet who always ensures animal's health and safety. He taught us how he checks the animals with his special tool which is the stethoscope. He lend it to us and some children had a go at listening to the cat and dog's heartbeats. After checking the pets, we all agreed that they are both healthy and strong. 

A big thank you to Ms Koto, her friends, Dr Nghia, his assistants and the wonderful pets we've met for another successful sessions this year! Looking forward to working with you all again next year!

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For our main playground activity, we have put out buckets with water and lots of paintbrushes in different size and we did small and big marks on the floor. This activity is part of developing children's mark-making skills using small and big movements.

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For our fine motor skill focus this week, we put out plastic eggs and beans on trays and the task was to find the pair and put them together. This activity was very popular amongst all children. Victoria said "Egg surprise!"

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If you have been to the Fundino playground lately, you may have noticed some changes that we have done to develop and enhance the learning areas. One of our main goals is to develop a small garden so children can be responsible in taking care of plants. This week, we have asked children to plant 2 kinds of mint plants and coriander. All children were very excited to help out and we are looking forward to see sprouts soon! 

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For our focus groups this week, Ms Grace encouraged the children to make loud and soft sounds with an array of musical instruments. Ms Hoang facilitated a relay in the soft play room and asked the children to jump off platforms, run, go through the tunnel and jump on the trampoline. Lastly, Ms Crislet did a Maths activity where children were challenged to identify the number on cards and select the correct number and kind of animal from a big group of farm animal counters. 

Well done children for all the wonderful experiences this week!

Notices:

This week, most of the children expressed a great interest in dinosaurs so we are planning lots of fun activities to extend this on the coming week/s. In line with this budding interest, we are planning a dinosaur party on Monday 28th March and we request that all children come in on this day wearing dinosaur costumes (bought or made). More information to follow. 

Thank you!

Have a great weekend!

Kind Regards;

Ms Crislet, Ms Grace and the F1 Team 

Newsletter 11.03.16

Dear Parents,

You will see below a documentation of how the 'Farm Animals' interest amongst our children has started in the classroom. It has been a joy to see them engage in different resources and then talk about it in groups once a teacher start asking them questions.

To enhance their interest in Animals, we have had the opportunity to meet two lovely dogs named Misty and Ziggy as part of our community partnership with ARC (Animals Rescue and Care).

For our small focused groups this week, Ms Grace used a story sack to tell the story about Old Macdonald and the animals on his farm. Children were able to use the animal puppets and say the sounds the animals make. Ms Crislet on the other hand, used the interactive whiteboard and played a game called 'Can you guess what animals are these?' Ms Trinh reinforced good sharing and playing nicely with friends as part of our PSED (personal, social and emotional development) awareness.

We have also played an interactive game where the children had to click on the correct farm animals. Here's the link of the story and game that we've used in the classroom. Please have a go with your children at home.

Splash pool session will resume next week. Kindly make sure your child has her/his swimming kit to school.

Thank you very much and have a restful weekend.

Regards,
Ms Grace, Ms Crislet and the F1 Team

Ziggy meeting F1 children.

Small focused groups in action.

Moo! Baa! Neigh!

This week, we had lots of fun in F1! As we begin to extend different interests, we have made some changes in our classroom and also added some resources that the children may access as they play. 

In the role-play area, we have made our very own farm with 3 pigs, one horse and a cow which the children helped out in painting them. We are yet to add ducks, roosters, sheep! Children are also encouraged to wear different animal costumes and some of them are now having their favourites! 

As part of our role-play area enhancement, we have gathered  the children and asked them about what they want to add in the area and how we should take care of the animals. Bao Nhi suggested that the animals should eat and drink. Victoria said we should give them rice and egg. Henry and Kin said we should give them apple juice and milk to drink. When we asked the children what will we do if they get dirty and Victoria thought of giving them a bath, followed by Kin who said we should use shampoo and Bao Nhi suggested drying them up with a towel. Such wonderful suggestions so we will be adding them up in the role-play area next week. 

For our farm theme as well, Ms Grace and the children did some planting. They planted rice seeds and it will be placed by the farm role-play so children can have a go at taking care of it and also see how it grows. 

For our focus groups this week, Ms Crislet did an articulation exercise and vocabulary focus, Ms Thuy facilitated an activity about the sense of taste and Ms Grace led an iPad game about counting. Here is the link for the game: http://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/teddy-numbers

More activity photos this week and also some from My Tu's birthday celebration: 

Lastly, as part of our community partnership with Animal Rescue and Care, Ms Koto, an ARC volunteer, visited us last Tuesday. She taught us how to take care of our pets and what they need to survive. She also brought along her toy dog, Buddy, and we all had a go at giving him a gentle stroke. Ms Koto encouraged all of us to ask 'Can I tough your dog?' before holding the dog. These are all in preparation for next week's animal visit. 

Notices:

Saturday 5th March from 9am to 1pm: TX Family Fete - All families are invited for a fun and exciting morning!

Splash Pool Sessions: Please ensure that your child bring in his/her swimming kit every Tuesday and Friday. We would also like to remind you to please put your child's swimsuit and towel in a swimming bag. This is available in the resource room if you wish to purchase the school one. 

If your child will not be in school either because of a personal reason or sickness, please inform us via email or call the office.

On Monday, we will once again share our weekend news. Please send us photos or make a post in your child's blog about what he/she did over the weekend. 

Thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

Kind Regards;

Ms Crislet, Ms Grace and the F1 Team