Hot talk show at Early Preschool

Friday 28th May 2021

Dear parents,

In this week our class turned into a talk show where strong hosts raised hot topics and shared their experiences, views as well as observations.

Large group

Pattern talk show

Pattern associated with colour and shape kept being the talk of our daily routine. It has really created a friendly conversation among each other. Right after we sing our circle time songs, they just look at each other and begun taking about the patterns found on their clothes they wear. Thulani broke the silence saying, “ I have a funny picture on my t-shirt today.” And everybody looked at him curiously; some said “ It’s a bear.” Thulani responded, “ No! I don’t think so! He is just a funny one.” Archer also made us turn our heads addressing, “ Look! Maki has shinny hearts! Mine has a horse, a baby and lines.” Looking down at her t-shirt. Yanis continued, “ Here! She has starts.” Pointing at the pattern on Maki’s socks. Yazeed followed, “ Pink! ” pointing at the background colour of her socks; then Yanis looked at him and said, “ Look! Zizu! You have Dinosaurs on your cloth.” Being quite Maki grabbed our attention whispering, “ Golden!” pointing at her pattern of hearts.

In one of our sessions, the teacher was asking Siifen to describe or tell us about the patterns on her pants. Seeing her intentions Archi helped explaining, “ They’re flowers! Just like me! I have red flowers too.”

Tour around the Garden

Starting from last week, we’ve been exploring the existence of nature in a garden through books that talk about gardening and garden. We have tried to understand the life cycle of some plants in a simple way. Our discussion started with the natural development of a seed, before and after we plant it. Since our discussion was supported with pictures, it was easy for us to recall and relate the lesson with the experiences we had. Archer told the class, “ I have a garden in my house.” She also shared us the things her family do when taking care of it, “ My mammy plants small seeds. Daddy uses a hose to water the plants.” When asked, if she helps too; she replied, “ Me! No! Just daddy, mammy or Mesi do that.” “But, I’ll water the flowers tomorrow and and…..they’ll be tall.” Promising to help them grow. While we were watering our plants, Thulani pointed, “ Ow! My plant grows!”

We have also tried to explore the insects and animals that use plants as their habitat.

Small group

Monday

Cooperative Game: Jump Hulas

This game was inspired by one of our Athletes. Yazeed, we call him Zizu brought all the hula-hoops and laid them on the ground one after the other; then he started hopping from one hula to the next, just like a bunny. Based on this observation, we want the others to practice and each one of us enjoyed it. We have used all our energies to cross-jump and land at the pit of a hula-hoop trying not to step on the edges. The hula-hoops were set in different sets after each round, so that our sense of direction as well as flexibility can grow.

Tuesday

Literacy: our session started with a revision of our Zoo phonics friends we have learnt previously. Each time the teacher shows a flashcard, the kids stunned us by calling out loud the name of our Zoo phonics friend and sounding the letter. However, some of our friends seemed to have doubts of the names given to some of our Zoo phonics friends. Archer raised her hand and said, “ I have a cat, but her name is Tatti.” While staring at the flashcard of Catherina cat. Right after, Dee Dee deer was introduced as a friend who uses its long neck to eat leaves from a tree, sounding “ d..d…d….” as it wiggles its ears. Then the entire class started mimicking Dee Dee Deer. We all had turns to sort the letter ‘ d ’ out of different 3D letters and traced it to have a spatial awareness of it.

Wednesday

Math: After we recall the amount of snacks we fed to our Caterpillar, we have read the numbers all together starting from number one till four with the help our fingers. Then one of our friends said, “ Five! ” Hearing that the teacher introduced number Five as a Mammy with big tummy and a cap on her head. Soon after we start bringing five things from our classroom and put them next to the displayed number five as we count sequentially. We also sorted number Five out of different 3D numbers as well as number flashcards and traced it to understand its shape. Some of our friends helped each other in identifying the number.

Thursday

Art: For the past two weeks, we’ve been experimenting on the compositions of colours. So far we have seen both primary and secondary colours. This time we have used paints and experimented the three groups of colours: primary, secondary as well as tertiary colours. Every time an instruction was given, we dipped our paint - brushes into the instructed paint and dropped it on to our paper sheets, followed by a drop of a different colour and then mixed them together for a different outcome. We were so amazed seeing the change in the colours. Zizu was excitedly calling our loud the colours, every time the colours begun changing. He kept telling, “wow! It’s Green!” “ It’s Pink!”

Friday

Science: As part of our large group activities and the need to relate them with reality of nature, we had an adventurous walk around our School Garden. After listening to the use of a magnifier, we started to observe the insects/bugs that use plants as their shelter. Suddenly! Zizu shouted, “ Miss! Look!” as he watches the leaves with his magnifier and started galloping from plant to plant, then the rest of our friends followed him with their magnifiers. He was the first friend who made us realize that leaves are the home of different colorful patterns.

Pictures of the Week