This week was a very exciting, but sad week as we said goodbye to Nate, Ella, Emelia, Zane and Sophie. They are all starting Primary school, so we wish them all the best!
We are loving the warm weather and are having lots of water play, so we would really appreciate it if the children have some spare clothes.
Next Thursday is our water fun day and lunch box day, so can you all remember to bring your childs togs, towels and sunhats all in a named plastic bag, along with their lunchbox with lots of healthy options. Spreads containing nuts such as Peanut Butter and Nutella are not allowed, and so are the muesli bars that contain nuts, too.
We are closed on Monday 6th February, but will open again on Tuesday, 7th February at 7:30.
Have a fantastic long weekend everyone.
The Preschool Team.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Monday, 19 December 2011
Bayfield Preschool Christmas Party
There was great excitement and anticipation throughout last week regarding the pending party at Western Springs!
Would Santa be there, and more importantly, would he be able to bring all the children a present??
Both groups were pretty confident that they had all been good enough, and that Santa knows exactly where New Zealand is; all good!
It was a lovely evening. Refreshments, fun, many families and a jolly Santa.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make this occassion such a great success!
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Bayfield Christmas Raffle
Congratulations to Dealla Smith, Miriama's mum in the Nursery, who has won our Christmas Raffle.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Hi everyone,
What an eventful week the Preschool children have had!
We have welcomed Molly into our room, and welcomed Rachel back from her holiday!
We put up our Christmas tree which now stands pride of place, within what will soon become our Christmas grotto. It's neat to see the children admiring their handy work and the amount of tinsel they placed onto it.
With the sun shining down, we have painted up a storm outside and in, applied heaps of sun block and splashed about in the water trough.
However, the most exciting part of this week has been in the build up to the Christmas party, especially, the excitement around having Santa join us! With the big Jolly fella coming, it will be interesting to see what presents he will bring us.
We look forward to seeing everyone tonight!
P.S We have had alot of cases of head lice swinging around our room, so can you please re-check and treat your children's hair.
Kind Regards,
Catherine
What an eventful week the Preschool children have had!
We have welcomed Molly into our room, and welcomed Rachel back from her holiday!
We put up our Christmas tree which now stands pride of place, within what will soon become our Christmas grotto. It's neat to see the children admiring their handy work and the amount of tinsel they placed onto it.
With the sun shining down, we have painted up a storm outside and in, applied heaps of sun block and splashed about in the water trough.
However, the most exciting part of this week has been in the build up to the Christmas party, especially, the excitement around having Santa join us! With the big Jolly fella coming, it will be interesting to see what presents he will bring us.
We look forward to seeing everyone tonight!
P.S We have had alot of cases of head lice swinging around our room, so can you please re-check and treat your children's hair.
(We will be checking this on Monday)
Kind Regards,
Catherine
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Four Bayfield staff receive long service awards
Here we have Karen Burton, Mona Bucknell, Molly Sietu and Meher Khan who all received long service loyalty awards for TEN YEARS OF SERVICE! CONGRATULATIONS!Friday, 2 December 2011
This is interesting reading for all parents of preschool children
The Death of Preschool
December 1, 2011
Don't go selling the hide as long as the bear remains in his hole.
-Yugoslavian Proverb
This dramatic title appeared on an article in the latest issue of Scientific American Mind (November/December 2011). It was so provocative that I feared that the article itself would also be way over the top. However, I found that this was a well-reasoned, well-documented case for keeping play as the central focus of the preschool years. Here are some excerpts...
• "Early childhood educators are turning to a method known as direct instruction, which the National Institute for Direct Instruction, an advocacy group, defines as 'teaching that emphasizes well-developed and carefully planned lessons... and clearly defined and prescribed teaching tasks.'"
• "'Scientists are baffled,' says Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at University of California-Berkeley. 'The more serious science we do, the more it comes out that very young children are not designed to do focused, goal-directed behavior we think of [as appropriate] for older children, but are to a phenomenal degree very sophisticated about learning from things and people around them.'"
• "Running around in circles, playing with blocks and climbing on a jungle gym may seem like exercise or goofing off to an adult, but several studies have shown that children infer a basic sense of physics through these activities. The possession of fine-motor skills — learned through activities such as drawing and cutting, which coordinate finger movement with visual perception — is one of the strongest predictors of academic success, according to a study by David Grissmer... at the University of Virginia's Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning."
December 1, 2011
Don't go selling the hide as long as the bear remains in his hole.
-Yugoslavian Proverb
This dramatic title appeared on an article in the latest issue of Scientific American Mind (November/December 2011). It was so provocative that I feared that the article itself would also be way over the top. However, I found that this was a well-reasoned, well-documented case for keeping play as the central focus of the preschool years. Here are some excerpts...
• "Early childhood educators are turning to a method known as direct instruction, which the National Institute for Direct Instruction, an advocacy group, defines as 'teaching that emphasizes well-developed and carefully planned lessons... and clearly defined and prescribed teaching tasks.'"
• "'Scientists are baffled,' says Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at University of California-Berkeley. 'The more serious science we do, the more it comes out that very young children are not designed to do focused, goal-directed behavior we think of [as appropriate] for older children, but are to a phenomenal degree very sophisticated about learning from things and people around them.'"
• "Running around in circles, playing with blocks and climbing on a jungle gym may seem like exercise or goofing off to an adult, but several studies have shown that children infer a basic sense of physics through these activities. The possession of fine-motor skills — learned through activities such as drawing and cutting, which coordinate finger movement with visual perception — is one of the strongest predictors of academic success, according to a study by David Grissmer... at the University of Virginia's Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning."
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Changes to the Toddler and Preschool Rooms
Just a reminder that Oriana (Preschool Head Teacher) and Molly (Toddler Head Teacher) will be swapping roles on Monday, the 4th of December. The reason for this is because Krisarn (Molly's daughter) will be moving into the Toddler's room very soon and we have a centre policy that teachers are not allowed to work in the same room as their children. Molly will be working in Preschool, alonside Yvette, as the Head Teacher in the 3 year olds room and Oriana will be in the Toddlers as their Head Teacher.
As always, do ask if you have any queries or concerns.
Don't forget to come to our Christmas party/picnic on Friday, the 9th of December at Western Springs Playground beside the zoo.
Kind regards
Shona
As always, do ask if you have any queries or concerns.
Don't forget to come to our Christmas party/picnic on Friday, the 9th of December at Western Springs Playground beside the zoo.
Kind regards
Shona
Friday, 25 November 2011
We're going to the zoo
This week the preschool room had an awesome time on our zoo trip. We had the chance to see lots of the amazing animals of this wonderful world that we live in. From monkeys to penguins, from giraffes to sea lions and even a tortoise too, most of the animals were awake and about.
The children put their hats and sun cream on, and then started our adventure, walking around the big zoo, great exercise. They enjoyed the sights and all the sounds (especially from the monkeys). And at the end of our tour, we all got to sit down, enjoy our lunch and have a special ice creamy treat.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
HELP WANTED - anybody interested?
HELP WANTED
One of our parents is running a weekly mind, body, spirit radio show in the USA via the internet from Tuesday January 24th .
She is in great need of somebody who can input caller details into a software program that will calculate their information whilst she is speaking live on air.
This will be less than an hour’s work and is very easy, however a high level of accuracy is essential.
If you can help on Tuesdays @ 12pm for about 30 mins on Clarence Street, Ponsonby – she will pay you $20.
If this is you or somebody you know please contact Michelle Buchanan on Ph: 360 8960
One of our parents is running a weekly mind, body, spirit radio show in the USA via the internet from Tuesday January 24th .
She is in great need of somebody who can input caller details into a software program that will calculate their information whilst she is speaking live on air.
This will be less than an hour’s work and is very easy, however a high level of accuracy is essential.
If you can help on Tuesdays @ 12pm for about 30 mins on Clarence Street, Ponsonby – she will pay you $20.
If this is you or somebody you know please contact Michelle Buchanan on Ph: 360 8960
Monday, 7 November 2011
Rugby World Cup 2011
We extended the children’s interest in Rugby World Cup Project by making the flags of countries participating in the event. When we brainstormed, all the children expressed their desire to make a “Rugby Stadium” using the Clay (Contribution). Clay helps to explore “Shape” in three dimensions (Exploration).
The children made the clay flags using the clay. While making these flags, the children enhanced their fine motor skills and their concept of shape. They were excited to paint on these clay flags. Previous practice over three sessions of drawing the flags helped the children to add lots of detail while painting on the clay flags (Communication).
The children then made the rugby balls using the clay and painted them. They couldn’t wait to put the flags and the balls together to make the miniature Rugby stadium. This project was awesome for our children to enhance their
- Fine motor skills.
- Creativity and imagination.
- Team Building.
We are also working on learning New Zealand Anthem in Maori and English (Belonging). Without a doubt, our littlies were New Zealanders (Well-Being) after the All Blacks winning the Rugby world Cup for 2011.
Awesome Job!
We extended the children’s interest in Rugby World Cup Project by making the flags of countries participating in the event. When we brainstormed, all the children expressed their desire to make a “Rugby Stadium” using the Clay (Contribution). Clay helps to explore “Shape” in three dimensions (Exploration).
The children made the clay flags using the clay. While making these flags, the children enhanced their fine motor skills and their concept of shape. They were excited to paint on these clay flags. Previous practice over three sessions of drawing the flags helped the children to add lots of detail while painting on the clay flags (Communication).
The children then made the rugby balls using the clay and painted them. They couldn’t wait to put the flags and the balls together to make the miniature Rugby stadium. This project was awesome for our children to enhance their
- Fine motor skills.
- Creativity and imagination.
- Team Building.
We are also working on learning New Zealand Anthem in Maori and English (Belonging). Without a doubt, our littlies were New Zealanders (Well-Being) after the All Blacks winning the Rugby world Cup for 2011.
Awesome Job!
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