Tylaʻs Christmas Story

One upon a time Santa went surfing at the beach on a board. He went to the mud pools. He watched it popped up. Then he goes to the park. He slides. He goes on an airplane. He was going to see his Mum in Auckland. At his mumʻs house he plays. He plays a drum. Then he runs around and goes outside. His Mum goes outside too. They play jumping jacks. Santa won. Then they have a drink ... orange juice. then Santa goes back home.

A morning of Ten Pin Bowling at Panmure

What a brilliant morning! All thanks to the generosity of Rubinʻs parents Chris and Seiko. They donated this excursion when their daughter Erika was at kindergarten with us ... and it was SO successful that we just had to repeat it while Rubin was at kindergarten. The success was largely due to having a manager and coach to each team of four children. As we did with the Olympics, the children wrote their name down beside the team colour they wanted to be in. After a bus trip and 10 turns of bowling it was time for nuggets, chips and lemonade. Chris then gave each child two tokens for a game.
Thanks so much to the Whiteley family and all the people who helped.

Dceorating the Xmas Tree

This is always an event that signals that it is almost Christmas. Thank you to the Sumner family for the donation of the tree and an even bigger thanks to the children who decorated it so carefully. I bet it has never had this many decorations on it before!

Mariekaʻs Christmas Story

One day Santa gived presents to people on his sleigh. The sleighʻs got long bits underneath it. The reindeers pull the sleigh along the snow. He gives presents to people while they sleep. They wake up and they have breakfast and then they go to school and kindy and then they have dinner. Then they go in the bath. Then they play with their presents ... a puppy and lego and a playhouse and a little toy bed with a person and a car.

Rubinʻs Christmas Story

One upon a time Santa rided on a reindeer to the North Pole. He just flied somewhere else and he wriggled his finger to show me how to wriggle my finger. then Santa just dropped a present in my home and thatʻs all in the end.

Justinʻs Christmas Story

One day Santa rided his sleigh too fast ... but it an stop. The little girl came out and she saw Santa by the sleigh. Then she comed down from the snow. Santa did jump in the mud because he didnʻt know where the swimming pool was. It was a long, long way away. After that the story was finished.

Katyaʻs Reindeer Story

One day the reindeers went out to the shop - Santaʻs workshop (cause they had been on holiday to their auntyʻs house). There was no-one at the workshop. They maked toys in the workshop - robots, fairies, elves and all sorts of things. Then they go to bed ready for the big morning. They sleep downsatirs in the mud. Iʻm quite funny about mud. in the morning they all go on the sleigh. Mrs Christmas takes the reindeer to the sleigh. Rudolf has a shiny nose. He drives Santa. He knows all about driving. Then the sleigh rashes into the moon. Rudolfʻs nose stppped shining. They werenʻt hurt but they had to spend Christmas on the moon till 20th November and then Rudolfʻs nose started shining again and thatʻs the end of the story.

Seanʻs Santa Story

One upon a time Santa got stuck in the chimney. He just went with his reindeers and he got stuck in the chimney. It was the reindeers fault! Santa climbed all the way up and then he began to shout, "you boys and girls wonʻt get any toys until you pull me out." The boys and girls, they helped him. They just limbed up the ladder. Santa was afraid of the ladder. He just dont know how to pull himself up. Then he wasnʻt afraid anymore and he climbed down. Then he went on his sleigh to his place. Itʻs where the polar bears live. All of his servants live there too. He has lots of servants. They are busy. They make the presents and then they give them to Santa. Heʻs the Sir, eh? Santa works. he writes something to the people whether they been naughty or good. He goes in the sleigh. He needs dollars to buy stuff. He gets his dollars from the airport. He needs to work hard at the airport. He needs to go to every island. He sleeps in his bedroom. Itʻs not full of toys. He wears bed clothes, not his Santa suit. He wears glasses when he wants to read a story and he has a beard.

Santaʻs kiwi holiday by Jaxon

One upon a time Santa went on a Kiwi holiday. He went to New Zealand. He gone to the beach and to the Santa parade. He got to go in it. He gone to the park. He played on the monkey bars. then he gone to the Museum. He pat some tigers. He wasnʻt scared. The tiger came out of his cage and all the animals ame out. Then Santa was tired of going to the Museum, so he went back home on his sleigh. He gone to sleep in his Santa bed. he snored all night. He snores himself up. Then he eats some cornflakes and thatʻs the end.

Calebʻs Santa Story

One day Santa made presents and I helped him. I gave him the presents and Santa wrapped them up. Then I helped Santa send them off to New Zealand. Santa put them under everyoneʻs Christmas tree. Then Santa goes home on his sleigh to make more presents. Then everyone in New Zealand wakes up and goes to their Christmas tree and takes their Christmas presents out and opens them.

Jemmaʻs Santa Story

One day Santa was flying in the sky and he landed down on the roof of Jemmaʻs house and delivered the presents and then he flew to the next house, Rohnanʻs house and landed on Rohnanʻs roof and then he delivered all the presents he wanted. Then he flew to Emmaʻs. Sheʻs my friend. When we were little we smacked and hit each other but now we donʻt. Now I just play with her. Then Santa went to Ethanʻs house and landed on his roof and he went through the chimney. He was a skinny Santa because he didnʻt eat much food. Then he delivered the presents. Then Santa went back home. It snows at his house. The reindeer that has the red nose, that one is Rudolf. Santa was hungry so he ate all his food. He had cookies because thats what he likes best after dinner, you know, broccoli, carrots, peas and beans and cheese. Then he has a shower and then he goes to sleep. Then he wakes up when the sun is up and then he has his breakfast ... cereal and strawberries and then he waits until it is night time and thats the end.

Archieʻs Christmas Story

Once upon a time Santa went on a jet boat at Queenstown. He stuck his legs outside of the boat cause he just wanted to for no reason. Then he went to the mud pools at Rotorua. He just looked at the mud pools then he went on the flying fox. He wasnʻt scared but the reindeers was scared. So Santa went back to his sleigh and back to his workshop in the snow. He made presents. He goes to the shop and buys them, then he wraps them up. The reindeer just looked at Santa. Then Santa eats dinner ... fish and chips and spring rolls.

Cliveʻs Santa story

Once upon a time Santa made some toys ... trucks. He made some dollies as well. He gives them to people and they open the parcels and then the children putted them away. After Christmas Santa made some more toys and he wrapped them up. Then he makes some more presents.

Christmas Bells by Kaitlyn

Once upon a time the reindeers, they pulled Santaʻs sleigh. They had Christmas bells around their necks. When they ran along they goed like this (jingle, jingle, jingle went Kaitlyʻs bells). There was a star on thei tails. Santa brings presents to people. He puts them in the Christmas stockings. Then Santa has to put more presents in someone elseʻs stocking. Heʻs magic. That means heʻs nice. When he has done the presents he goes back to the North Pole. Then he goes to sleep in his bed. The end.

Mrs Claus by Sarah

Once upon a time Mrs Claus was helping Santa. She was carrying all the presents to my house. She put all the presents under my Christmas tree, then she flew back to the North Pole. Santa was sleeping in his sleigh with no pillow and no blanket. He was snoring so Mrs Claus went to bed in her black and white straw bed. She slept all night. She snored like Santa Claus because she liked to snore. In the morning they got up and ate their breakfast. They had cocopops like I do. Then Santa Claus went back to his sleigh. Mrs Claus put some more presents in the sleigh ... in the back. One of the toys was in the front, a teddy bear. He was in the front because he was Santaʻs toy and then it was happily ever after.

My brother is Santaʻs helper ... Caelanʻs story

One day Santa came to our house and knocked on the door. I said, "Santa, what are you doing here?" Santa said, "I am seeing if your brother wants to be my helper." "Iʻll go and get him." Reuban camed with me to the door. Santa said, "hello Reuban, do you want to be my helper, an elf or something like that?" Reuban said, "Yes." So Reuban and Santa went on his reindeer up in the air to the North Pole. It was a very long, long way away. Reuban wrapped all the presents. He played with Santa and Santaʻs other helpers. All Santaʻs helpers went to the park across the road. They played duck, duck, goose. Reuban slept at Santaʻs house. In the morning he had weetbix for breakfast, then Santa took Reuban home on his reindeers. Mum and Dad said, "Did you be a good boy?" and Reuban said, "Yes," Then Reuban played with me.

Morganʻs reindeer story

Once upon a time the reindeer brought Santa to put some presents under the Christmas tree. They used a map and they used a light to see the map. Mrs Claus came along too because she wanted to cuddle Santa Claus. She got some food; maybe a picnic with sausages, chips, chicken nuggets, chicken, apple and some bubble juice. They came to my house. I havenʻt got a chimney but Santa is magic. He opened our door with magic. He gave me a Barbie and carriage. I made a card for Santa. He opened our door again with his magic and he rided on his reindeer to Nannyʻs house. The end.

Painted Toast

One of the cool results of having a bar-b-que at kindergarten for Fathersʻ Night is having some bread left over. the childrenʻs favourite thing to do with the bread is to make painted toast.
Take one slice of bread
Paint with milk with just a drop of food colouring in it
We use cotton buds to paint with. Paint brushes make the bread soggy!
Toast.
Eat.

The Wiz

On Thursday the morning children had the awesome opportunity to see the show The Wiz put on by the National Youth Theatre Group at Auckland Girls Grammar School. The Wiz is a funky version of the Wizard of Oz. This is how the children recalled the story line. There was a dog running around before it started. He was trying to find Dorothy and Dorothy was trying to find him. His name was Toto. Dorothy was hanging out the washing. There was a big storm. It rained. It had a big crackle of lightening. The house flew. The wind did it. It landed back down when the storm stopped and it fell on the witch. They took the roof away and she was dead. The people were happy. Dorothy met the others. She met the growly lion. He was looking for courage. Then the tin man came along. He needed some oil. And he wanted a heart. The scarecrow, he needed a brain cause he didnʻt have one. So they went to see the Wizard at the Emerald City. They had to kill the other witch to get those things. The witch died because the water melted her. The Wizard gave the scarecrow a heart and the tin man a brain and the lion some courage. Dorothy asked how she was going to get home to Kansas. She had to click her magic silver shoes two times ... but she could come back and visit.

Fabulous fathersʻ night

Fathersʻ Night 2008 ... what a night to remember!

Fathersʻ night has a very special place in our kindergarten calendar for a number of reasons.
Firstly, we know that it is often difficult for Dads to make it to kindergarten ... so sometimes it is best to make a date.

Secondly, it is about building connections between teachers and dads and most importantly between the children and their Dads.

And lastly, research says that the most valuable gift you can give your child is time.

Circle, circle, flick, flick

Thatʻs how the dental hygienist Katrina told us to clean our teeth. She said that children should clean their teeth in the morning and at night Mums and Dads should help with the process to make sure they get all those tricky bits. She also reminded us that we should have water in our drink bottles. Katrina said that we shouldnʻt be scared about going to the dental clinic and showed us all the tools that are used at the dental clinic. Did you know that at 4 we should have 20 teeth?

Kelly Tarltons adventure

With such an intense interest in our red eared turtle Franklin we made the decision to book a trip to Kelly Tarltons Underwater Adventure while their turtles were still in residence. They were due to be released into the sea at the end of the week. What excitement! It is hard to know what is the most exciting ... the bus trip or Kelly Tarltons. Lots of children said that they had already been to Kelly Tarltons ... but that certainly didnʻt dampen the enthusiasm. It seems that everyone had a different favourite moment ... but the penguins topped the rating ... and I would have to agree. they are so beautiful. We went to see the turtles being fed but it transpired that they were just not that hungry.

Elections 2008

This week we have been making a connection with community events by following the lead up to the Elections. Throughout the week we have been checking out the party leaders and on Friday the children had their opportunity to vote for the person they wanted to lead New Zealand. Helen Clark was the overwhelming winner. The children had their names checked by the Electoral Officer (thanks Karen). They were then given a voting paper containing each leaders photograph and the put a tick beside the one that they liked best. They then had to fold their voting paper and put it in the ballot box. I wonder how many children went to the polling booth with their parents. There were not many children at the polling booth I went to.
Bronwyn

Joining in with Jump Jam at Botany Downs School

As part of our making connections with Botany Downs School programme we try to attend Jump Jam. Jump Jam is an aerobics programme for children developed by Brett Fairweather, a former aerobics champion. Going to the school is a relatively simple exercise for us ... we just go out our back door and head down the path to the school hall. We hold hands with a friend and walk in line ... a bit of a challenge when you are so excited! Once the music starts it is just a matter of copying what the school children do. Some of our ex students were kind enough to give us an up close and personal demonstration. We were impressed that they knew all the steps off by heart. It was so good that we are going back again in a couple of weeks. A big thanks to all the parents who helped us with supervision. As always, it is really appreciated. THANKS

Halloween Happenings

Both the morning and afternoon children celebrated Halloween at Kindergarten by dressing up and sharing in some food delights. We were amazed that nearly all the children dressed up ... and what cool dressups there were too.

Franklin turns 3

Animals are very much a part of our inclusive programme at Botany Downs Kindergarten. Ascione (2004, p. 10) states that "the humane treatment of animals leads people to treat each other with greater civility, respect and kindness". These are just the values we want children to come to embrace at kindergarten. So... it was time at the end of term to celebrate Franklinʻs 3rd birthday. The cakes were made (thanks to Sophie, Olivia and Rubin), the ambience was created and the party began. What a turtle of a time we had.

Liam, you are so cool!

Sometimes staying at kindergarten by yourself can be oh so scary when you are just three. Liam, we were so proud (VERY, VERY proud) of you today when you engaged in the puzzle with Raelene, then you went on to be one of the best tidier uppers in town.
We hope that you went home feeling as happy as we did.

A truly inclusive kindergarten

At Botany Downs Kindergarten we endeavour to be truly inclusive in all that we do. We had an inclusive moment of delight last week when Sean held up this picture of Yoda and asked, "has this kid gone to school?"

A visit to a bilingual kindergarten in Dusseldorf

This is a German / English bilingual unit created in a partnership between the Red Cross and large local businesses. The grounds were awesome.

A visit to the Hundertwasser kindergarten, Frankfurt

This kindergarten was designed by the same person who designed the Kawakawa toilets in Northland. Can you spot the similarities?

Visiting a farm kindergarten in Denmark

The hospitality of those we visited made our trip so rewarding and this day was no exception. After a train trip from Stavanger to Kristiansan we caught the ferry to Denmark. Henrick, a teacher at the kindergarten was to meet us and take us to Hobro. A steward on the boat was mortified when we said we were going with a man we didnʻt know and didnʻt even have a second name for! He vowed to check this Henrick out before we could go off with him! Henrick teaches at ʻMarcusʻ Kindergartenʻ. Marcus used to go to this kindergarten before he went to Mangere Bridge kindergarten. What awesome hospitality we experienced. The whole team of teachers welcomed us on the Sunday and took us to a Viking Village, followed by a magnificent meal. After spending the night at Henrickʻs house we went to Marcusʻ Kindergarten. Twenty five children and four teachers, in a family atmosphere. The children were roasting apples over an open fire. How delicious! Later in the day it rained and as usual the children donned raincoats and gumboots to play in the rain. What a lot of learning we saw taking place. Containers were filled. Drips were explored and the puddles experimented with. We had to wonder what our parents would say if their children played in the rain. We just might ask.

The friesian cows

As I walked in a shop in Amsterdam I was amazed to see the friesian cows standing on the ceiling. How could that be! Immediately I thought of Georgia, Archie and Benji and our friesian stories (recorded in previous blogs). I just had to take this photo to add to our collection. I didnʻt see many other friesian cows in Europe as most of the cows spend their whole life in a barn ... and because of the risk of mad cow disease, only the farmer is allowed in the barn.

Visiting a Norwegian Kindergarten

One of the greatest experiences on this trip has been visiting kindergartens in Europe. On this occasion I visited a Norwegian kindergarten. On the day I visited a class of children was out in the woods ... as they usually are ... hiking, climbing trees and experiencing nature. Another class were cooking their lunch over an open fire in a wigwam. What a magnificent smell and what trust they had in the children to cook their own sausages. The littlies always sleep in their prams outside, no matter what the weather.

Bronwyn lands in Norway

This is where I have been staying during my rainy week in Norway at the EECERA conference. It is right on the harbour. Each morning a bus came and took us to Stavanger University for the conference.

Acknowledging Daffodil Day

Today we celebrated Daffodil Day. When we arrived at Kindergarten there was a display at the playdough table symbolising a bunch of Daffodils, a gorgeous poem on the big screen about why Daffodil day is important and an some art activities, including painting Daffodils and activity sheets from the Cancer Society. A number of us really enjoyed painting daffodils and we created some very beautiful pictures. We had a wonderful time acknowledging the importance of supporting such a worthy cause.

Written on behalf of the children
Raelene

Olympic Excitement

Throughout the olympics, the children have been very sports orientated. We had our very own olympics over at the school and have created many different opportunities for the children to experience some of the olympic sports. The children have also been creating some of these experiences all on their own.

Lara and Yu Xi decided to have a bit of a bike race. They went round and round as fast as their legs could pedal. It's really lovely to see the competitive sides of the children come out. They get so focussed on the task at hand and give it their best. Lara and Yu Xi, it was so great to see you having such a great time with the bikes and each other.
Love Kerry

Disco Fever

On Friday 15 August we had our Kindergarten disco. It was a terrible rainy night but many of our children and their families braved the weather and boogied the night away. We did the Limbo, the Macerena, chicken dance and danced to favourite songs like Bob the Builder. It was a really fun night. Plenty of the parents danced too which was so exciting to see! Thank you to our committee for putting everything together, everyone who helped on the day, and to everyone who came along and made our disco a great success.

old versus the new

Kindergarten teaching is full of delights and never more so than on the day that Jemma engaged our reliever, Margaret in conversation. For a few Wednesdays last term all three of the regular teachers were on teacher release to discuss and write up the research. Each time our regular relievers would be on hand to hold the fort. Jemma said, ʻall the old teachers are here today and the young teachers are in the room". On being told the story I was quite elated to be categorised with the young teachers. But then Margaret burst my bubble! She said "Then Jemma thought about it and added, "no, two are young and one is old!" A short lived moment of glory!