We Love Our Pets
For the next few weeks the Foundation Stage students are learning about Pets.
This week, one of my Pre-Reception students, Jan Pani (5 years old), brought his hamster Matt to school for the day. He showed the other students how he cares for his pet. We were very entertained by the little hamster, even though he slept most of the day. Jan and his sister Mia also have a pet rabbit called Hiccup. They wished for a bunny for Christmas. Mia wrote a letter to Santa asking for one. On Christmas day they found Hiccup in their garden. He is so cute! Jan said he would also LOVE to have a tarantula as a pet, I am not sure what his mother would think of that!
Aaron April (5 years old) showed us his pet fish and parrot. His fish are all called Nemo. His parrot’s name is Sky. Sky loves dancing and singing. The April family have had Sky sins Aaron’s birth and Sky and Aaron are growing up together. Aaron also loves horses and goes riding as often as he can.
Jadey Howes (5 years old) has two dogs, Axle and Harley! She says they are brother and sister Staffies. She helps her mom and dad every day to take care of them by feeding them dog food and filling up their water bowls. She likes to brush their short hair with the doggie brush and gives them both BIG, tight hugs. Harley, the black dog, likes scratches on her tummy, while Axle gets very jealous and always pushes his sister out of the way so that he can get all of Jadey’s attention. Jadey loves both her dogs so much and likes to give them doggie treats when they have been very good. They have so much fun playing together outside!
We spoke about all the different pets you can look after. The students were amused and fascinated by all the animals. Pet animals can range from the usual ones we know of, to some unique ones. Some of the students chose to have fish, birds, a guinea pig, mice, rabbits, a tortoise or even a snake as a pet.
Pets provide so many benefits for children!
– Feeding and caring for a pet encourages childhood responsibility.
– They provide a connection to nature and teach respect for other living things.
– Sharing the love and care of a family pet forges an additional common bond among siblings.
– Cuddling a pet is knowns to reduce stress, loneliness and anxiety.
Cindy Nunan
Pre-Reception Teacher
PHOTO: Jan and Mia with their pet rabbit.
PHOTO: Aaron showing off his amazing pets.
On The Farm 2020
In Reception Year we have been learning all about the farm. This theme is always a favourite as the students have lots of stories about their own personal experiences in visiting different farms, from milking cows to collecting eggs. We asked the students to tell us some of their favourite things about the farm.
This is what they shared:
“I like the horses because whenever I see them I want to ride them. I love it!’ (Daniel Beer)
“My favourite is the cows because they make milk. I like milk” (Muhammad Zaeem Allie)
“My favourite is the pigs because they are funny when they roll around in the mud.” (Olu Mbeki)
“I saw all the different animals but I like the cows because I like milk” (Aubrey Moodley)
“I like the baby goats because they are also kids” (Cayden Floor)
“I like the sheep because they can make t-shirts with their fur’ (Kirby Melvin)
Monique Meyer
Reception Year Teacher
Nursery Creepy Crawly Fun
The Nursery class had so much fun learning about Creepy Crawlies and loved discovering and exploring the Creepy Crawly world.
This week:
- We learned about spiders, whilst enjoying singing “Incy Wincy Spider”.
- We also discovered that caterpillars turn into butterflies! We enjoyed reading the “Very Hungry Caterpillar” at story time.
- A great class activity was finding different insects hidden in the sand during their Sensory play this week and trying to name them all.
- For Art we made Butterfly handprints! They found it so funny and exciting to have their hands painted.
- We also enjoyed going for a walk out in our special garden to find insects.
Nursery Teacher
This Week In The Nursery
The Nursery students are having such a wonderful time discovering new things. They are getting used to sanitising their hands and learning to play alongside each other in a safe and fun way.
They have been learning about the colour red and learning about the Letter “A” from Jolly Phonics. My students sang the “A” song from our weekly Jolly Phonics lesson, followed by colouring in their ant. They really enjoyed the story that went along with it.
We have also focused on developing their fine motor muscles by manipulating play dough and making worms. Play dough is a fantastic sensory play tool.
We look forward to the next couple of weeks as we learn about more letters and colours.
Jacky Billings
Nursery Teacher
Sensory Play in the Nursery
Why do we engage in Sensory Play?
From birth through to early childhood, children use their senses to explore and try to make sense of the world around them. They do this by touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, moving and hearing.
Children and even adults learn best and retain the most information when they engage their senses. Many of our favorite memories are associated with one or more of our senses: for instance, the smell of a summer night campfire or a song you memorized the lyrics to with a childhood friend. Now, when your nostrils and eardrums are stimulated with those familiar smells and sounds respectively, your brain triggers a flashback memory to those special times.
- Research shows that Sensory Play builds nerve connections in the brain’s pathways, which lead to the child’s ability to complete more complex learning tasks.
- Sensory Play supports language development, cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving skills, and social interaction.
- This type of play aids in developing and enhancing memory.
- Sensory Play is great for calming an anxious or frustrated child.
- This helps children learn sensory attributes. (hot, cold, sticky, dry)
I wish to encourage parents to get messy with their children at home to make learning more fun.
Jacky Billings
Nursery Teacher
Nursery Orientation Morning
This week the Nursery went to meet their new teachers and friends for next year. Teacher Martie van Dyk (Teaching assistant Nelly Janda) and Teacher Cindy Nunan (Teaching assistant Mellissa Franse) will be their Pre-Reception teachers for 2020.
They made sure that our budding preschoolers were made to feel at home, as change can feel overwhelming for little ones. They had the opportunity to bond with next year’s class mates while playing outside on the jungle gym, as well as doing fun activities in the classrooms. Their new teachers had planned exciting activities for them. They enjoyed molding play dough, painting pictures, building puzzles and fantasy play to name only a few.
We could see the utter excitement for Pre-Reception 2020 all over their beaming faces.
I am extremely proud of them and wish them all the very best for next year.
Jacky Billings
Nursery Teacher
The Building Blocks of Early Learning
The Nursery class is enjoying building blocks. They have been working together to make big towers, learning to share with each other while cooperating for a greater goal.
We have been learning about different shapes and discussing what shapes the blocks are. At this stage we are investigating squares, rectangles and triangles.
A few benefits of building blocks include:
- Improves hand-eye coordination by learning to place the block on the block tower in such a way that does not topple the tower.
- Teaches early math and engineering skills through hands on learning.
- Spatial awareness.
- Improves fine motor skills.
I wish to encourage parents to spend time with your children, building with a variety of blocks and Lego. Such a simple activity can have a tremendously positive impact on learning.
Jacky Billings
Nursery Teacher
Nursery Pajama Day
The Nursery class came to school in our pajamas on Tuesday. We spent the morning playing and relaxing outside in our special Nursery garden while colouring in and socialising. We played imaginative games with our teddy bears and Lego blocks, building structures and dreaming up different scenarios for our teddy bears to act out.
During morning snack time we enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and treats while reading story books. After snack and story time ended we had free play outside by the “big’ Jungle gym until lunch time. We had a delicious luncheon with chicken strips, potatoes and salad.
Nap time arrived and we had a long, peaceful 2 hour nap. When we woke up we had a refreshing fresh fruit salad for afternoon snack.
The day ended off with us dancing outside in the garden and enjoying free play.
We wish every day could be pajama day!
Jacky Billings
Nursery Teacher
Manners for Minors In Nursery
In Nursery we have ‘Manners for Minors‘ every Monday morning. Each week the students learn about a variety of manners and new characters.
This week we learned about Caring Kurt and how we care for our mommies and our friends when they are sick. We were taught how to listen to our mom when she talks to us and how to help others when they can’t help themselves.
Miss manners explained manners in the morning. It was fun to dance and sing to the new Mommy song and we read a new book learning about how we have to get dressed, eat breakfast and brush teeth before we go to school.
Boastful Betty, Rodney Rude and Princess Penny are just a few of the other characters that we learn about at Manners for Minors.
These activities are a fun way for our students to acquire the necessary skills to become a well rounded member of the community. Our lives have become so fast paced that we sometimes forget to place emphasis on the basics. Etiquette being a very important basic skill for the next generation, must be taught at home as well as in school.
Jacky Billings
Nursery Teacher
The Nursery visits the school library
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” — Walt Disney
The Nursery had a fun filled day at the school Library. Mrs M showed the little ones around the Library and explained what she does in the Library as the Librarian. She showed the big children’s books and where to find the little children’s books. The children learned how to hold the books and to turn the pages gently. They were very excited to choose their own books and read them. Mrs M sat down with them and read a ‘Peppa Pig’ book out loud. They then went outside and sat on the benches in the outdoor reading corner. They had a wonderful time and we look forward to learning about books and visiting the Library again soon.
Ms Jacky Billings
Nursery Teacher
7 Ways to encourage your child to love books:
1. Start early
Read aloud to your child, starting as soon as your baby is big enough to sit up. A baby might not understand the words you’re saying, but they will benefit from the sound of your voice, colourful pictures and the intimacy of being snuggled in your arms. Make bed-time stories a nightly ritual for toddlers and pre-schoolers, and for older children too, even if they’ve already learned to read to themselves.
2. Provide books, and sing their praises!
Set up a small shelf in your child’s room and fill it with interesting, colourful books. There’s no need to spend a fortune: you can borrow books from friends or your local library, or pick them up in second-hand shops and flea markets. However, encouraging your children to love reading goes beyond merely giving them easy access to books: it’s also important to set an example by praising books, and by showing them how much Mom enjoys reading her own novels, magazines and newspapers.
3. Look after books
A book, no matter how old and tattered, is a gateway into other worlds, and it’s important to encourage children to respect and take care of books. Let your children help you cover treasured books with plastic, and write their names in the front of the books to give them a sense of ownership.
4. Join a library
Visit your local library and apply for children’s borrowers’ cards. Encourage the kids to explore the library, to select their own books and to check them out themselves, which will help inspire independence. Then schedule a visit to the library every few weeks – this is a great way to spend quality time with your little ones.
5. Talk about books
Show an interest in what your children are reading, and encourage them to discuss the books they’re enjoying. Family dinners are an excellent opportunity to open a conversation about reading and stories, and to share interesting facts from novels and reference books. Ask questions about the story while reading to your child. Involving them in the story will make them more excited to read along.
6. Help them find the right books
Once a child has found a book she adores, she’ll want to explore more stories by the same author, or books that have similar themes. Ask your librarian for recommendations, or use the Internet to research lists of books that are adored by children across the world.
7. Let them read what they want
Although it’s important to choose age-appropriate reading material for kids, and to keep unsuitable adult books out of reach, it’s also wise to offer no judgments when it comes to children’s choices. Reading a comic, for example, is better than not reading at all. It doesn’t matter how many times a child re-reads a beloved novel, or if your son sticks only to stories about soccer, or if you think a book sounds dull. As reading skills develop and the children enter the teenage and adult years, they’ll move on to a whole new world of new and interesting topics: science fiction, fantasy, poetry, biography and so many more.
Tips Credit: http://nutriday.co.za/7-ways-to-encourage-your-kids-to-read/
