WEEK'S UP FOR WEEKENDING 10TH FEBRUARY 2017

THE LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION 2017

It shows on the faces, does it not?  The excitement through this week was indisputably our preparations for the Lunar New Year that culminated in the celebration, very well attended by you!  The audience made all the difference to our amazing performers and their coaches. So, thank you!  The Lion Dance Troupe with cymbals and drums wrapped up the morning entertainment in a most festive way.

Our album of photographs may be accessed through this link: https://goo.gl/photos/EztcArmFWNTdTLk76

.... videos of the event!!


The month of February also brings us another celebration that is popularly observed worldwide.  We are referring to St Valentine's Day on 14 February 2017.  Please refer to the flyer sent, within your child's folder.  Kindly forward your messages to your child's class teacher, by 13 February 2017.  They can be in the form of notes, cards and anything else you can think of! 

IN THE MONTESSORI ENVIRONMENT

Exercise of Practical Life:

• Folding a Napkin (Diagonally) – a variation to folding napkins. This activity indirectly presents a geometrical design that the child will learn later when experiencing the 'Constructive Triangles' and the 'Geometry cabinet'.
• Sneezing and Coughing – as part of Grace and Courtesy, the children are shown how to sneeze and cough, especially in front of others, and to be aware of their bodies and control of movements

Sensorial:
 

Parts of a Rooster and Parts of a Bird - Further exploration of the world of zoology, learning the names of the parts of a rooster and a bird.





Topic:

World Alpine Ski Championships: was a media presentation related to events happening around the world.


Introduction and significance of greeting cards (in relation to our Valentine’s Day post box) – the significance of sending greeting cards to loved ones, to make them happy and to express one's feelings for the recipient.  Greeting cards are given on special occasions such as birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, etc. 

A quote,  "Handwriting helps the brain to learn by improving fine motor skills and expression.  It activates massive regions in the brain involved in thinking, language and working memory.  It is intimate and reveals personality.  Time is the most precious thing we have to give, so if we spend time choosing, writing and sending a card we are helping people feel valuable and worthwhile." Who would have thought a greeting card could do so much?

Events: Lunar New Year Celebration on 8th February.  The children had a great time and once again, thanks for your support.  

Songs: Valentine’s Day songs - 5 Valentine’s to Give Away, You are My Sunshine, Clementine, Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for you!

Mandarin

Group Learning:
a) Learning the names of the parts of a tree, b) Learning the names of the members of a family
c) Conversation: "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" - Learning how to phrase a question in Mandarin.
d) Valentine Song: 'I love You'



INFANT COMMUNITY






Group: We continued our discussion about Lunar New Year

Presentation:

1. How to eat a mandarin orange

• Peeling a mandarin orange (promoting the development of hand/eye coordination)
• Separating the segments
• Removing the seeds from the orange segments
• Eating the orange
• Finally, cleaning up

2. Walking in the classroom: 

• Walking around rugs - This exercise helps the children with developing gross motor control when walking around the class and being aware of and respecting their classmates' workspace.

Songs: 

1. Continued singing the Lunar New Year songs
2. Valentine Songs: We are happy family;  I Love You

EXTENDED-DAY

Highlights of presentations:

Exercise of Practical Life – Washing a chair, keeping their environment clean, and tidy

Sensorial – Touch boards and Touch Tablets - refining the tactile sense

Mathematics – Decimal System Addition (Dynamic): The children learnt the concept of carry over within each hierarchy. 

Topics – Artist: Henri Matisse 

Ongoing art project – ‘Collages’ by Henri Matisse

Art and craft – The children painted their Valentine hats for the party on 14 February 2017.

Songs: Continued with Lunar New Year songs and started singing Valentine songs

BIAN DANG BAN

Topics: 

We talked about engaging in a hobby, and the different hobbies that people adopt.

Writing Chinese characters: the strokes and sequence to follow, when writing Chinese characters

The 'P1s' (or children in their final year with us before graduating to primary school) started learning 'hanyu pinyin'.  Hanyu pinyin is the transliteration system used in the People's Republic of China since the late 1950s.

Songs: Started to sing Valentine songs

Cookery: Making glutinous rice dumpling - 'tang yuan'

HINDI MILAP

Group learning:

• Names of the family members - चाचा -चाची, मामा-मामी ….
• Parts of the body - कान, नाक…
• Names of the individual fingers in Hindi - अंगूठा, तर्जनी….

Story Time
पुराना कंबल
सीक्षा - बूढ़ों के साथ अच्छा व्यवहार करो।

Songs
१) अंगुष्ठ अंगुष्ठ दिखाओ तो ज़रा, 
यह उंगली दिखती हे पापा की तरह।
तर्जानी तर्जानी दिखाओ तो ज़रा, 
यह उंगली दिखती हे मम्मी की तरह।

मध्यमा मध्यमा दिखाओ तो ज़रा, 
यह उंगली दिखती हे भाय्या की तरह।

२) वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये.....

३) ऋतुओं की रानी है आई धनी चुनर अपने संग लाई,
जिसे ओढ़ धरती मुस्काई कन कन में उमंग है छाई।
डाल डाल नाव पल्लव आया जैसे बचपन फिर खिल आया,
रंग बिरंगे फूलों पर देखो भँवरा फिर मंडराया। 

४)  जग मग, जग मग चमके तारे,
      छोटे छोटे प्यारे प्यारे, 
      आसमान में इतनी ऊँचे, 
      जहाँ हमारे हाथ ना पहुचे। 
      जब सूरज छिपजाता है, 
      चाँद कहीना दिखलाता है, 
      यह हस्ते मुस्काते आते, 

      अंधेरे में राह धिखाते।