Making music

Today I had noticed that you, Nathan and Olivia were playing in the puppet area pretending that the puppets were dancing, so I thought it would be a great idea to ask you if you wanted some music and see where from there. You both selected the music that you wanted and the materials you needed for your dancing and from there you were both able to make your own dance moves and music together. I can see that your relationship is strong with a passion for life.

Shirley (Student Teacher BDK)  

"It's humungous!!"

Caleb here is the photo of the exceptionally tall construction you made out of the mobilo. You worked busily away connecting each of the pieces until you had built it as high as you could without some support above it. Nicky noticed you beginning to struggle with it's height and had the brilliant idea of clipping it to a hook hanging from the ceiling rafters. Once this was done you were able to continue building with the support coming from above. I watched you add some more pieces to the bottom including some wheels. This then enabled you to drive the humungous creation forward and back whilst still keeping it's height. We discussed how tall it really was and discovered it was even taller than Bronwyn when she stood next to it. I suggested we measure it with the measuring tape and we were both surprised to find that it was over 2.3 meteres which is pretty tall! Your construction attracted a lot of attention from a number of children in the kindergarten and I was so delighted to hear you offering your support and expertise to others that were keen to copy your work. What a fabulous imagination you have and an incredibly kind friend you are.

Big hugs 

Raelene

A 'Kate' finger puppet

Kate today you worked really hard at the art table designing and creating a finger puppet. I watched you work as you developed the puppet from it's initial drawing and colouring in through to cutting it out and adding a space for your finger to go at the back. I could see that the puppet was of a girl and asked who it was, you said that it was you. I was very  impressed with the time and effort you put into creating it. Maybe you could use your finger puppet in our kindergarten puppet theatre I'd love to see a show about 'Kate' the puppet, please let me know if you decide to do one!

Well Done :-)

Raelene 

"I think weʻll go about 100"

Over the past eighteen months we have seen Archie and Mariekeʻs friendship go from strength to strength.  It is just such a comfortable, equal relationship based on mutual respect and interests.  In the last week I noticed that you have been doing the same circuit in the trolley every day.  The trolley was carefully positioned at the top of the hill while you both hopped in.  Then it was jiggle, jiggle, jiggle and the momentum propelled you down the hill.  Marieke, what trust you have in Archieʻs ability to steer the trolley safely down the hill.  As the trolley gathered speed Marieke predicted, "I think weʻll go about 100."

Happy Birthday

What a delight we had this week when Jaydenʻs great grandmother joined us all the way from the Netherlands.  It seems that she had come all the way to New Zealand to celebrate her 80th birthday.  We just had to sing her ʻHappy Birthdayʻ.  How special is that!

Up, up, up

We have just found the rope to our climbing wall after months of searching for it.  Within an instant there was a queue.  Pulling yourself up with the rope requires strength and skill.  It seems that we have some very skillful children at this kindergarten just like Archie.

Help! Help!

Those were the cries I heard before I popped over to the ʻjungleʻ to check out the situation.  There I found Elsa and Mackenzee in the tree.  "Weʻre only playing," came the call.  We know that dramatic play consolidates representational and conceptual thought, builds language and communication skills s well building social skills ... and this was exactly what Elsa and Mackenzee were doing.

New friendships

It has been such a delight to watch the friendship between Milan and Liam develop! Liam you have come such a long way and are now very confident and settled in our kindergarten environment. I was especially surprised to see a whole new side of you today when you choose to bust out with the drums. You obviously really enjoy music and were having a great time with Milan exploring our various instruments. It seems that the High School Musical music you were playing to is familiar to both of you as Milan asked which High School Musical CD it was and you shared that you had watched the movie Liam. Now that I have discovered the shared interest you boys have, I wonder if you would enjoy trying out a programme called garage band that we have on our apple computers, it's lots of fun and all about creating your own music. Perhaps we'll have ago with this in the next few days.

Caelan, the drummer

Caelan, for ages, I have been trying to load this awesome video of you drumming onto the blog.  Very early on in your time with us we noticed that you liked to drum ... on anything.  We searched our storeroom and were able to put together this stunning drum kit.  What a competent drummer you are.

Bubble Trouble

A number of the morning children enjoyed exploring with various bubble wands today. This had been a popular activity last week in the afternoon session and proved to be a hit with the morning children also. It was Stefanie's first day at morning kindy and she decided this activity was so much fun that she spent most of the session blowing bubbles and practicing how to catch them. I have fond memories of blowing and catching bubbles from my kindy days, they just seem to be so mystical! Raelene

Developing theories

Ryan, I noticed that you discovered one of the magnets this week. You found the magnet on the carpentry table, then proceeded to experiment with the magnetism as you tested it with the hammers, the wood and the nails. I wonder what else you might find that is attracted to the magnet?

There is nothing like having a friend

There is nothing like having a friend is there? This is especially true when it comes to the swings. Lily, thank you for being a kind friend and pushing Holly.

Now hereʻs a question ....

What do you do when you grow out of your favourite shirt? You ask your Mum to cut the sleeves out so the you can still wear it. Good problem solving Oliver.

Pink Ears

On Friday Kate arrived at kindergarten with her favourite toy ʻPink Earsʻ. Pink Ears was having such fun at kindergarten that we decided to write a story about him. This is Kateʻs story and photos that she took herself ...
This is my rabbit and his name is Pink Ears. He lives with me in Auckland. She sleeps in my bed. Sheʻs a girl. I cuddle her at night. She eats rabbit food. My Mum knows what she eats but I donʻt. When I am at kindy Pink Ears plays with my toys upstairs. She likes Cuddly best. She came to kindy today. She was in my bag and I took her out to show to a person. She sitted on my lap when I was eating. one day, when I am five, she is going to Australia with me cause I want to bring her to Australia. Iʻm going to take another toy too, a cuddly and a brown bear.
A little bit about the author, photographer and publisher, Kate.
Kate is four. Her favourite colour is pink. She likes to eat strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. She likes to watch Sponge Bob, Dora the Explorer and Little Bear on television. When she grows up she is going to go to a park with her kids.

Experimentation with sound

Emily, today I recorded this short video of you exploring sound through the use of daily house hold items. I spotted you tapping away on some plates and a metal fruit bowl and was very impressed with the musical arrangement you had created. We have discussed the possibility of setting up a group of house hold items on a string and may have a go at this tomorrow. Well done Emily fantastic creativity!

Planting sunflowers

Today we planted some sunflowers that were given to us last year into larger pots. Some of the children were very interested in helping whilst others were quite content settling back into kindergarten and working busily in other areas. We will have to keep a very close eye on them and make sure they're well watered so that they survive the wonderful warm weather we've been having lately! The small group that helped are really looking forward to the big smiling faces of the sunflowers growing and will be watching closely. :-)

Providing provocation

In an emergent curriculum we never know just where a day will take us. On this occasion Joel was eager to Google search rockets, develop a plan and proceed to build one. Having had lots of experience making things with large pieces of cardboard Joel just knew where he wanted to start ... with lots of cardboard and cellotape. Just a smidgen of help was needed to keep it in a circle while the cellotape was applied. Within a short time a group of interested onlookers had formed, asking questions about how they could make one too. The discussion led to the construction of a second rocket. There was just one problem ... where were they going to get the fire from? Trudi led the boys on a tour of the resources to find a suitable medium. Finally, red paper was decided upon and attached to the bottom of the rocket. I wonder what additions and modifications will be made on Monday? Joel, thank you for sharing your ideas.

Sharing holiday adventures

It is our first week back at kindergarten after term break. One of our greatest delights is reading about childrenʻs holday adventures in the childrenʻs portfolios. Madison was just so eager to share the photos of her kittens and the photos of her escapades with her cousins from Sydney. Madison, what an attentive audience you had.

Why doesnʻt he eat Weetbix?

That was Ryanʻs question as he watched our Turtle, Franklin eat his blood worms. Why indeed not, we asked? We realised we did not know if Franklin would like Weetbix. How could we find out? Our book tells us that his favourite foods are shrimps and bloodworms. YUK! We were glad that we didnʻt have that for lunch! The book also told us that turtles like lettuce ... but our Franklin doesnʻt appear to like it. perhaps it is just a case of ʻGreen eggs and ham.ʻ So .. we still donʻt know if Franklin likes weetbix. Perhaps we will have to do some more research into this.

The coolest of tee shirts

Izaak, we have loved having your Dad stay at kindergarten this week ... and what a cool tee shirt you have been wearing.

Making connections

One very big bonus of starting back at kindergarten before the older children go back to school is that we get to see and have some quality time with our school age siblings. On this occasion Erika came in to show the children the moves to High School Musical 3. It seems some of the children (mostly those with older siblings) had seen the movie and were a wee bit familiar with the moves. Thank you Erika and Rubin (and thank you to their Mum Seiko for tidying our gardens too).