2019 Newsletter Term 2 | Issue 03

Over the last 2 weeks I have introduced Percussion Instruments. I soon found there was a great interest in them. We have been singing songs while playing our instruments in small groups. Also discussing Loud and Quiet, Fast and slow.

The children have enjoyed this which is why I thought let’s create our own Xylophone. By pouring different levels of water into jars the children can tap the sides to hear the different tones. 

It was interesting to see the reaction of the children when they could control the sounds with their spoons, and how loud and quiet / fast and slow was different for each child. Some would hesitate and tap so softy and some were very confident and yes very loud.

Last week we have been discussing Reconciliation Week and what is means to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and ourselves. We have been learning about the word Reconciliation and have had a major focus on Aboriginal culture. During art lessons we created Aboriginal flags in the form of a collage which also incorporated an understanding about what each colour represents, yellow is for the sun, red is for the earth and black is for the Aboriginal people. We have been developing our knowledge and understanding of yarning circles which have taken over our group time. The children have really enjoyed ‘chatting’ about happenings in the room and linking them to outside experiences. During one circle we created our own story using the symbols from Aboriginal pictures. It was a fun experience and the children are very keen to continue this activity.

We also had Healthy Harold visit us over the past two weeks and was enjoyed by all. In the classroom the children have enjoyed discovering new materials and exploring different areas of the classroom.

– Amanda & Teresa

Winter is finally upon us and the children now have a clear understanding of the seasons. Our environment is a perfect environment to see the changes in the seasons and this give us the opportunity to use these changes in the garden as a learning tool. The big London Plane trees in the garden gave us a gorgeous autumn display before it lost all its leaves. The children collected the leaves and brought them inside to study further. We looked carefully at what a leaf really looks like discussing what are the veins of a leaf and what are their purpose. The children looked at their veins. We all agreed all our veins do the same thing. The children then used clay to print the leaves to see the shape of the veins clearly.

– Jenny, Jo & Angela

There was much excitement when Healthy Harold came to visit.  Life Education supports children’s learning and development for a safe and healthy lifestyle.  Children participated in interactive, fun workshops.  Healthy Harold’s Play Day focused on physical activity, healthy eating, hygiene and rest.  The children had lots of fun helping clean Harold’s teeth as he had forgotten to brush them before he’d come to school, they helped pack his lunchbox with healthy choices and moved around to make their hearts beat.  The second workshop Harold’s Thankful Heart empowered children to explore their feelings, learn to name and describe those feelings and why they come about.  The concepts of gratitude, kindness and acceptance were shown in group activities requiring communication, sharing, empathy and respect of others. 

This was a fun morning for the children raising their awareness of their own actions on others and on themselves helping teach them the value of taking responsibility of the welfare of their own bodies and their own feelings while also learning to show empathy and kindness to others. 

– Dawn

Following on from our work on cities, there has been a great interest in animal habitats and where animals live around the world. We have been discussing how animals are adapted to their habitat and why they live in different places. We decided to make homes for small animals so began with making minibeasts out of modelling clay. The clay is also great for strengthening hand muscles. Once all our minibeasts are made, we will make small homes for them. The children then want to make homes for the bees and beetles in the garden. The habitat cards have also been popular- sorting the animals by the habitat they live in. With all the rain this week, the children have been discussing how animals stay dry and how we can help them during winter. 

In maths, we have been looking at teen numbers and place value. We know that teen numbers all contain one ten and different amounts of units. We played games to guess the correct teen number. This led onto to playing the bring me games with the golden beads to reinforce place value. 

– Elizabeth

In Aikya, we have had a couple of busy weeks. Children are enjoying working with the materials and learning new concepts. They are particularly enjoying silent reading at the moment, where they can either choose to read a book from the library or bring their own book from home.

The past two weeks we have introduced a Mindfulness program that we practice everyday. Mindfulness. Mindfulness is paying full attention to what is going on in you and outside you, moment by moment, and without judging. It means you observe your thoughts, feelings, and the sensations of taste, touch, smell, sight and sound. You are also fully aware of your surroundings. Children love it! They have been practising gratitude and mindfulness drawing as part of this program.

On Monday, we had the Sports Carnival and even though the weather was not great towards the end of the day, children had an amazing time! They were able to share experiences with children from other Montessori schools and had the opportunity to learn many different sports skills.

Finally, as part of Reconciliation Week, children were part of a presentation and undertook a research project on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People culture, to celebrate diversity and the relationship between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

– Samantha & Laura

On Monday we had our very first sports carnival, there were lots of different stations and there were five different Montessori schools: Northside, Central coast, Barrenjoey, Forestville and us. We took part in a variety of athletics activities like long jump, cross country running, tug of war, 400 metre races and shotput.
We all really enjoyed the day and getting to make new friends, unfortunately the weather changed very quickly in the afternoon and we had to finish a little early because it was raining.

On Wednesday we had a leadership conference about the 4 types of leadership qualities. They are confidence with humility, reliability, empathy and others focused. We also had lots of fun with the loud noise boys, they did the entertainment in between our sessions. Since going to the leadership conference we have been thinking of ways to be ‘others focused’ at school. One way we are going to help others is by having a friendship bench in our playground for children to sit on when they don’t have anyone to play with, so others can invite them into their games. 

Last Friday, we did our Bali presentation. We have been learning all about the culture and geography of Bali. The Aikya class came over to Yani and watched our presentations by walking over to each table and listening to us talking about Bali, we presented our research, showed maps, masks, posters and served traditional Balinese food that we had cooked.

Written by Philomena Lee and Milly Lewis

– Claire, Cheryl and Philippa 

Dear Families,

Our Vacation Care Program is ready to go and up on the Primary OSH Care website. We have an exciting program planned based off parent and children’s feedback and suggestions. Get your bookings in early to make the most of the early bird discount.

Amanda and Kim had such a great time, supporting the joint Montessori School Sports Carnival, on Monday 27th May, despite the chilly weather.  It was well planned and organised day, and we enjoyed seeing the children involved in running races, tug-o-war, soccer and cross country, as well as forming new friendships with other local Montessori schools.

If you would like to continue this fitness fun, we are continuing to run Athletics on Thursday mornings 7:30am-8:30am, with a coach to help grow in our athletic skills. Spread the word!

This week the children have also been building outside with nature. Using bark and sticks to make houses, tents and pretend fires. Inside, we have been busy with Hama beads, Lego, bingo and even a game of scrabble to get our minds warmed up in this cold weather.

Next Week Events:

10^th June – Queen’s Birthday (public holiday)
14^th June – World Blood Donor Day
20^th June – World Refugee Day
17^th – 23^rd June – Refugee Week

If you would like more information about Primary OSH Care or our centre and how to enrol, please visit our website www.primaryoshcare.com.au

From Amanda, Kim, Jack and all the OSHC staff at Farmhouse Montessori OSHC Centre