How Are We In Term 3 Already ??
Welcome back!
I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Easter break! We have reached the last term of K1. I was just saying to Delphine and Jill how fast the time has gone this year.
From the holiday photos you've shared, it looks like it was a busy time! We have made significant progress in the children's presentation skills, and I’m thrilled to see their hard work in public speaking starting to pay off. With all the holiday pictures, the children have been eager to discuss their experiences. This time, we had much more audience participation, with lots of questions being asked, such as, "Did you stay in a hotel?" "What was the weather like?" "Is that a camel?" and "Was that a real car?" Each question was relevant to the photos on the whiteboard. Ellie (PM) even initiated a guessing game with her photo, and the audience joined in. It was wonderful to witness such confidence and engagement.
This is exactly where I hoped to see most of them by the end of the year! I’d like to give special recognition to a few children who have not been as confident in the past but bravely stepped to the front of the class for the first time. I’m so proud of them!
----------------------------------
Last week, your child might have mentioned a spaceship crash and a missing alien (called Beegu)! This came about by an incident at Bradbury School, and it was actually a great activity to get them back settled and thinking after the holidays.
As part of the IB curriculum, we focus on the concept of "taking action". In the early years, this can be how we encourage young learners to become active thinkers about the world around them. This involves promoting choice, sharing ideas, and acting responsibly based on their discoveries through play and teacher scaffolding. By fostering this approach, children learn that their learning and curiosity can lead to positive change, helping them develop into caring individuals connected to their community.
In light of the incident at Bradbury, we decided to 'take action'. We discussed what happened, looked at the photographs, shared our thoughts during circle time, read a book for inspiration, and wrote a letter to the P2 students at Bradbury. Please see the letter below.
We did get a reply from Bradbury "The spaceship is still being fixed, and the children are learning to write messages in code to the alien" They will keep us posted on the situation!
-------------------------------------
Our new unit is How We Express Ourselves. This unit invites students to explore various ways of expressing thoughts, feelings, and ideas, fostering creativity and communication skills. This unit encourages students to delve into the various forms of expression, including art, language, music, and movement. Throughout the unit, we will be doing some art projects, drama & role play, musical exploration and also the art of storytelling
We kicked off the unit with a fun book dress-up day and set up a stage in the classroom. As you can see from the photos in the album, the stage has become incredibly popular! Performing in front of their peers helps students build confidence. It provides a space for them to practise public speaking, presentation skills, and even sing and dance to their favourite songs—all in a supportive environment.
Equally important is the experience of being a good audience member. Participating as an audience encourages students to develop active listening skills. They learn to focus, comprehend, and retain the information being presented, which is essential for effective communication. By supporting their peers, audience members can boost confidence for both the performers and themselves. Positive encouragement can motivate students to take risks in their own performances.
Additionally, observing others can inspire students to explore their own talents and interests, igniting their passion for the arts and encouraging them to participate in future performances or presentations.
----------------------------------------------
We have been discussing emotions, and the perfect book to support this is The Colour Monster. It's a great children's story that follows a loveable monster who wakes up feeling confused and mixed up. As the Colour Monster navigates through a spectrum of emotions—happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and calm—he learns to identify and understand his feelings better. With the help of a little girl, the Colour Monster discovers that it’s okay to feel different emotions and that each colour represents a distinct feeling. 
While the colour choices represent various emotions, I emphasise to the children that their colours for happiness, sadness, anger, calm, and so on may differ from those of others. Each of us has our own unique colours. Encouraging children to discuss their emotions helps them understand and manage their feelings more effectively. We’ve been exploring strategies for dealing with anger, frustration, and sadness, and we've talked about how it’s perfectly okay to cry. By creating an environment where expressing emotions is accepted, children can learn to navigate their feelings and recognise that this is a natural part of life.
Emotional intelligence (EI) is especially vital for four-year-olds, particularly with the upcoming transition to K2. EI plays a significant role in developing social skills, empathy, self-regulation, problem-solving abilities, and confidence. As children interact more with their peers at this age, EI helps them understand and manage their emotions, leading to improved communication and relationships. It also fosters empathy by helping them recognise others' feelings, enhancing their ability to connect and respond as appropriate.
EI teaches young children to cope with frustration, anger, or sadness in healthy ways, equipping them to handle conflicts and challenges effectively. By understanding their own emotions, children build self-awareness and confidence, making them more willing to express themselves.
-------------------------------------
Since the beginning of the school year, we have always had a mark-making station in the classroom. It fosters creativity by encouraging children to express their ideas and emotions through drawings, scribbles, and symbols. Unbeknownst to the children, it promotes early literacy skills by helping them understand the connection between marks and meaning, laying the groundwork for reading and writing. And since we have returned after the Easter break, there has been a huge breakthrough in letter and number formation
Comments
Post a Comment