K1 Frog Class 24-25

Dear parents and caregivers, We are excited to continue our UOI on Sharing the Planet! We read the story "Who Are You?" ( 你是谁? ) to learn more about various animals. The students enjoyed playing an animal guessing game during small group activities, which sparked their curiosity and engagement.  After exploring land animals, we shifted our focus to sea creatures, using the book "Underwater World" (海底世界) to discover marine life and their habitats. Due to typhoon, we did not have Chinese lesson that week, please kindly refer to the learning slide and read the story with your child. Additionally, students planted various seeds with their teacher, supported by the informative book "A Seed" ( 一粒种子 ) which highlighted the essential needs of plants such as sunlight, water, and soil. They examined seeds through hands-on sorting activities and played matching games to connect seeds with the plants they grow into. To relate planting to the fruits we enjoy, we read ...

There's nothing more satisfying than a messy table at the end of the week! When we set out this paper last Monday morning for a shape exploration activity—complete with pictures, mark makers, and stencils—we thought we’d need to change it a few times. To our surprise, it stayed in place all week, serving both morning and afternoon classes. Just looking at all those marks brings back memories of conversations, challenges, teachable moments, achievements, and overall engagement in learning . Here is how the children did it......just glorious! Teaching children how to cut safely and effectively is crucial for enhancing their fine motor skills and creativity. We began by discussing important safety rules, such as never running with scissors, always cutting away from their bodies, and keeping scissors pointed down when walking. We showed the children how to practice opening and closing the scissors without any paper to familiarise themselves with the motion. As they began cutting, we re...

Dear Parents, It was a pleasure meeting so many of you at last week’s Parent-Teacher Conferences. Connecting after this initial stretch of the school year is truly valuable for both me and you as parents. I found it enlightening to hear about what the children have been discussing (or not discussing!) at home regarding school. Their days are packed with activities, and we can be thankful that they are so engaged and happy that they sometimes forget to share everything! During the PTCs, I was getting asked questions such as "When is your math day?", "When do you teach the children to read?", "All my child says is that they played" "Who is my child's best friend," I thought it would be useful to send links to some recent webinars as reminders of what our philosophy at Hillside is, what it looks like and, most importantly, why. What is the PYP What does "Open Play" look like at Hillside Thank you for all the boxes you have been sending...