Teddy Bears Picnic Christmas Party

There is no better time to have a teddy bearsʻ picnic than Christmas time. Teddies just love Christmas! They ran. hopped, jumped and skipped ... just like teddies should. The morning children made fruit kebabs and waffles. What a fun day! Merry Christmas to all our families and friends.

Mangere Mountain Mountaineers

Today we had the awesome experience of climbing Mangere Mountain with our friends from Mangere Bridge Kindergarten (another COI). It was quite a climb! What great views. We could see the Manukau Harbour, Ambury Park Farm and Auckland City. When we were at the top of the mountain we could see the cows checking out our bags way below. Luckily they didnʻt eat our lunch! They did leave quite a bit of pooh on the ground. We had to really watch where we were walking! Next year Mangere Bridge Kindergarten are going to come over and climb our mountain, Pigeon Mountain, with us. Thanks for the great day.

The wonders of Christchurch

Bronwyn and Kerry have just been to the New Zealand Research in Education conference in Christchurch to present our research. They took an extra day so they could visit kindergartens in Christchurch ... and in particular, exploring the notion of sustainability in kindergarten. We are already very committed to recyclying, but feel that we could do more. We have come away with some great ideas for next term. We will start the term by going wrapper free in lunch boxes. A very BIG thank you to
Lincoln, Edmond Smith Street, Lyttleton, Mt Pleasant, and Hargest Crescent for their hospitality.
Bronwyn and Kerry were also priveledged to spend a morning at Bush Street Kindergarten at Rangiora. Bush Street is a fellow COI, and they shared their character story telling. Thank you.
Thanks also to New Beginnings, a round one Centre of Innovation for their hospitality.
An even bigger thanks to Jos and Rose (ESMʻs) taking the time to transport us around Christchurch (and Helen too).
What a great week.

Movie Night

Movie night is one of the best social events on our kindergarten calendar. Popcorn and pyjamas are the order of the night. How cool is that!

Our kindergarten swap with Highland Park Kindergarten

One of the most exciting things we do each term is swap kindergartens. It is just SO much fun! What a fun way to learn about the same and different. Even though Highland Park kindergarten is close, we just had to travel by bus ... that is part of the thrill. The bus picked up the teachers and children from Highland Park kindergarten and delivered them to our door ... then we hopped on the bus and went on the short trip to their kindergarten. The favourite moments? One would have to be the mud pit. Another would have to be the mice (even though we have pet rats at Botany Downs Kindergarten). We made pumpkin soup ... because thatʻs what their children do every day. Jessie cut her finger (just a little bit) and for a moment we thought we were going to have finger and pumpkin soup. So much to do and so little time. Thank you Highland Park Kindergarten. We hope you enjoyed your morning at Botany Downs Kindergarten.

Happy Birthday Christopher

Happy Birthday Christopher!! What a bright and bubbly birthday boy you turned out to be. You did such great writing on your birthday card. We are sad to say goodbye to you but we know you'll have a great time at Shelly Park School with your brothers. Please come and visit us in your new school uniform!

I like your tee shirt Bronwyn. You look just like a friesian cow.

Georgia, you were so excited when you saw my black and white tee shirt. "I like your tee shirt," you said. "You look just like a friesian cowsʻ. Do you know that I grew up on a farm and like you I love friesian cows. I know that you stay on a farm when you go to Australia. Do they have fresian cows?

Fabulous fathersʻ night

Perfect weather and great company. Thatʻs our fathersʻ night. The children were just so excited to have their Dadʻs just to themselves. It certainly makes you feel pretty special, doesnʻt it? And what a super bunch of Dadʻs we have. They slid, swung, hammered and dug. But most importantly, the Dadʻs took time to engage with their child through the childʻs portfolio (not just a quick look, but a thorough examination of each page). Thanks to all the Dads who came along. One child also had her Poppa and great grandad at kindergarten ... three generations. How cool is that!

Danielleʻs Bag

Danielle, you were very impressed when you spied the sewing that some of the children had completed. There was nothing for it, you decided you just had to make a bag. The first task was to design the bag by drawing a pattern on the paper and cutting it out. Oh, there are just so many decisions to make! What size? What shape? Then it was the time to choose the material, place the pattern and cut it out. The sewing on the sewing machine was one part that needed a bit of Bronwynʻs help. In with the zip and sew around the edges and then there was the bag of your dreams. How cool!

Happy 5th Birthday Madison!!

We have really enjoyed your time with us at Botany Downs Kindergarten. You have incredibly creative skills and imagination and we have enjoyed seeing the exciting projects you have worked on in our art area. We know you will really enjoy your time at school and hope that youʻll come back and visit us again soon.
lots of love from the BDK team.
Ka kite ano
Bronwyn, Kerry and Raelene

Happy Birthday Ryan

Ryan, what a excellent writing on your birthday card. You were impressed with the speed of your writing! we are so pleased that you are going to stay with us until the end of the year.

A very special gift

Maverick (and family), what a very special gift you left at our kindergarten. This book was written by the librarian at Baverstock Oaks School. We were really delighted when we opened the book and found a personal message in it to us from Christine Hurst, the author. Such a signing makes a special book even more special. We might just have to contact Christine to see if she would like to come to the kindergarten to read her book to our children. I wonder what she will say? Thank you Maverick.

Special Moments

Milla and Micah were at the beach when then found this beautiful shell. "Look" they said, "it is joined just like Milla and me". as twins Milla and Micah are always trying to find things that are connected. We think that this shell connection is special. Thank you for sharing your special moments with us.

The Conveyor Belt

We have the most amazing addition to our sand area. This conveyor belt from ʻ Kidanticsʻ works so well that it is always in action. Sharing, cooperation and turntaking are all needed to make a successful work team.

Mickey Mouse turns 79

On Friday we celebrated Mickey Mouses birthday. Heʻs 79, you know! We just have to celebrate Mickey Mouseʻs birhtday because he is Bronwynʻs boyfriend. She REALLY loves Mickey Mouse. It was dressups and games for all. Mickey wrote and said that he couldnʻt come because he was busy working ay Disneyland ... but can you believe it? His Mum came! She is quite old but she helped us celebrate Mickey Mouseʻs birthday. Can you imagine the party we will have next year when he turns 80!

Visit of the lambs

What an unexpected surprise ... we had a visit from some seven week old lambs. Heather (who used to be a Mum at our kindergarten) thought we might like to see her lambs ... and she was right. There was jockeying for space to get a closer look and touch. Not all of us knew what they were, but that wasnʻt the case for long. Heather, we really appreciate the ongoing support that you give to our kindergarten. So much learning takes place as a result of these connections. Thank you.

Jazmine, we are sad to be saying goodbye to you. We hope that you have a great time at Cockle Bay School.

Christopher the Coach

Christopher, what a brimming smile you had as you shared the medal you had been awarded at hockey "cause I was in the Miniʻs cause I was playing good hockey". The next day you arrived with your whole hockey kit and shared your dribbling skills with all the children at kindergarten. What a popular coach you were. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and skills with us Christopher.

Farewell Kyle

Kyle, we are really sad to be saying goodbye to you. You are like a ray of sunshine in our kindergarten. Botany Downs School are so lucky to be getting you. Do you know that we are are really going to miss your Mum and your brother Jack too!

Rileyʻs Australian Experience

Riley, how we have missed you over the last week. You are such an enthusiastc, positve person in our kindergarten. This week you arrived back refreshed and so excited from your Australian experience. With our penchant for book writing there was nothing for it but to capture your memories for ever. After we had typed your words into the computer we explored the options with regards to illustrating your book. After due deliberation you chose to mix the genres of drawn illustrations and Google Images. Exploring Google images brought a whole new depth to your story as you chose a picture by debating the merits (or lack of them) in each option. It is certainly an important task for the author to choose illustrations that best represent the intent of the story. How well you completed that task! We even perfected the task of copying and pasting them into the book document. Then you chose to draw those very important people in your story ... but that was not the end of the task! Next you had to take a photo of each drawing with the camera (remembering to put the camera lanyard around your neck for the safety of the camera) and download the photos onto the laptop. How easy it was to then drag and drop your photos into your story. It was time to change your authorʻs hat for your publisher hat. In our kindergarten the literacy technologies are an integral part of our literacy for a purpose programme. Laminating and binding precious pages produces a product that can be shared with others, as you did today at group time, or can be revisited over and over again. Your Mum shared with me that you had told her about the book that you were writing and checked with her to see if you had missed anything out. I think she would have to agree that you did very well. You even remembered to bring your remote controlled car in to laminate. Riley you showed enthusiasm, persistence and skill as both an author and a publisher. Well done.

Left to our own devices!!

Kerry has been fantstic at getting our blogging site up and running and now itʻs time for us to embark on the journey under our own steam. We mangaed to get Franklinʻs birthday up on the blog with a little bit of assistance from Kerry and this is our attempt all by ourselves. Arenʻt we clever and gorgeous!!
Bronwyn and Raelene

A family birthday

In the inclusive environment at Botany Downs Kindergarten pets have rights, a place in the curriculum and of course the opportunity to celebrate their birthdays. Franklin, our incredibly gorgeous turtle has just turned two. Can you believe it? Where have those two years gone to! Never ones to shy away from a party the plans were quickly in place ... and what a party we had!

Halloween Scones

Another Haka!

Well who would have thought that we'd have Hakas left right and centre! After watching the movie about the first Haka performance, Jordan, Jack and Jaden decided to do a repeat performance. The skill they show while combining the words and the actions is just amazing. After chatting to some of our parents it seems that some of our children regularly perform the Haka at home. What spectacular performers we have!
Kerry

Halloween Scones

Last Wednesday was halloween and it is a tried and true tradition at Botany Downs Kindergarten to make halloween scones. This recipe is just gorgeous and the children love them. Why not try it at home. Let us know how it goes! Why not place a comment on this blog. It's as easy as that!

Botany Downs Kindergarten Haka

After a discussion at group time about the Rugby World Cup some of our children decided to share their knowledge of our New Zealand National anthem and our Haka.

Blogging Begins

We have arrived! (at this step in the journey at least!) Join with us as we learn about blogging and start using our blog to connect children, families, teachers and the wider community. We hope to start adding stories, photos, videos and goodness knows what else to our blog soon. Watch this space!

Kerry