2020 Newsletter Term 01 | Issue 02

Elouera found a caterpillar in our thyme plant in week two, since then we have been investigating how caterpillars grow and transform into butterflies! Through the lifecycle replicas, we have explored words such as chrysalis, eggs, wings and metamorphosis and we have watched a time-lapse of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. We have read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” many, many times and on Thursday we received a very exciting delivery of three live chrysalises, which we will be looking after and watching very closely as they hopefully change into butterflies!

Through our investigation and observation of the chrysalis and the lifecycle of the butterfly, the children are beginning to develop an understanding of the interdependence between land, people, plants and animals. We are practising being gentle with the chrysalis, caterpillars and butterflies and we are exploring the way butterflies help our plants to grow.

– Corinne, Debbie & Sarah

This term we have been focussing on Grace and Courtesy lessons. Greeting a person, walking around a rug (rather than stepping on someone’s work), speaking quietly indoors, and waiting quietly rather than interrupting, are all examples of important grace and courtesy skills. Children starting around age 3 have a very sensitive period towards social interactions. Grace and Courtesy lessons not only meet that need but also offer children the tools they seek to be both independent and successful in the classroom.

Hand washing practices have also been emphasised with children becoming more aware of the importance of washing hands with soap. We have been discussing how easy it is for germs to travel around the classroom through role play activities and simple experiments. We have been busy cooking in the classroom with banana bread becoming a favourite afternoon tea snack to bake in the mornings.

As we settle into the classroom routines children are becoming more focussed in their work choices and are choosing challenging materials to utilise new skills. We look forward to watching their progress throughout the year.

– Amanda & Teresa

Even the everyday is a wonderful learning experience for small children. This week the arrival of some different morning tea brought a lot of questions as to whether they are fruits or vegetables. We all had ideas as to what each was then whether we thought they were fruits or vegetables. When we looked at the tomato no one was sure. Sydney said she though it was both. We decided to look it up and sure enough she was right. The children displayed collaborative learning as well as an inquiring mind.

– Jenny, Jo & Angela

Trees have been a great topic of conversation as children have been able to watch the arborists cut down a tree at the back of the school.  There was much excitement and a round of applause when it came crashing down and then they gave us some logs to create our own yarning circle.  Children have drawn trees, labelled them, they looked at parts of an apple and we planted our own apple tree. Exploring our garden children have found leaves of different shapes, sizes and colours and some created a tree of their own.

– Dawn

We have been reading the book ‘Little Beauty’, by Anthony Browne. In the book, a gorilla becomes friends with a small kitten. This is based on a true story about Koko the gorilla, who was on the news. The children were fascinated with the story and asked many questions about the gorilla. We spoke about the feelings of the gorilla and what it means to have a friend. The children wrote their own story about two different animals.

Water safety and lifeguards have still been popular topics to learn about. Some of the children have been drawing and writing about swimming in between the flags. We spoke about why this is important and told our own experiences of being safe at the beach. This discussion led onto what we wear in the sea when the water is cold and how a wetsuit works. We also tested different fabrics to see if they absorbed or resisted water.

In Science, the magnets have been popular, with children finding magnetic and non-magnetic items. We had a discussion about the north and south part of the magnet. The children discovered that one side of the magnet would repel and the other would attract.

– Elizabeth

The last two weeks have been a busy time in the Aikya class where the children have been working on their interests from the ‘Story of the Universe’. The experiments used to support the story led to discussions and lessons on how to conduct scientific experiments. 

We thank Javier’s father Jonathan who explained to children last week the Scientific Method of conducting and recording experiments. The children were thrilled to observe the experiments as well as learn about safety precautions to take. 

To add to the children’s interests, the second Great Lesson in the Montessori classroom ‘Coming of Life’ was presented this week. The children seemed fascinated by the visual representation of the evolution of life on the timeline. ‘We are actually the very last to come!’ said the children. This led to a brief discussion about how important all the animals that have come before us are. The story has surely inspired the children towards continuing their love for research! 

– Laura, Philippa, Toby & Harshitha

The Yani students have been very busy the past few weeks. Our students have been participating in sewing the pouches for the kangaroo joeys who have lost their mothers in the fires, the pouches are looking great and are all excited to be helping the joeys.  We have also been working hard in our gardens, looking after them, pulling out the weeds and discussing what types of vegetables and plants we will grow in place of the weeds. 

During one our lessons we experimented with the parts of a leaf, looking at the different parts that make up the leaf, exploring the tiny embryo inside and watching the seed turn into leaves of the plant.

We have been quite interested in sewers and where the waste goes so Keitaro and the teachers organised for Michael from Sydney Water to visit our school for a small group lesson learning about the sewage plants in our local area. This lesson will be continued during the next week with a tour of the sewage plant. 

From the Teachers of the Yani Classroom. 

– Claire, Jessica & Philippa 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Origami Club continues to power on! The children have been enjoying making various animals, so far on our Origami wall of fame you’ll find a big litter of cute puppy dogs, several cats (some with bodies whilst others are just happy faces) and wise old owls. As well as learning fine motor skills with folding various sized papers, the children have been creatively put their own spin on the animals… like owls with mohawks and a cat wearing a crown! Please feel free to come in and check out our growing collection of animals! 

We put our gross motor skills to work on the oval this week with a range of egg-inspired challenges – we participated in egg ‘n spoon races and egg tosses. What amazed us when we were tossing the eggs to our partners, regardless of how far we stepped back from our partner and how many times we dropped our eggs, they never broke (and yes, they were definitely raw eggs!). So, we decided that for our last challenge was to see who could throw their egg the furthest and be the first one to smash them. Incredibly it took over 10 times and well over 10 metres before we saw the first splatter of yolk! 

On Shrove Tuesday, we made our own pancakes. We followed a traditional recipe that promised the fluffiest pancakes ever. The children took turns reading the recipe, adding the ingredients and mixing the batter. The colours of choice this session for the boys was orange and for the girls, it was green. Prior to adding the colours, we had a guess how many drops of each colour we would need to achieve the desired colour. The end result? Deliciously fluffy and ever so colourful! 

Sewing sock puppets proved to be a hit too. We used old but clean socks and started making animals out of them. We used buttons, felt and other found items to embellish our little creatures. The animals are still work in progress and will be an extended project that we will continue to program as requested by the children. Stay tuned for the pictures! 

The motto for this week is, ‘let’s be kind’ and we have seen many heart-warming acts of kindness from the children – well done everyone! 

Next Week Events:

2^nd  March – World Widlife day
8^th Feburary – Int’l Women’s day 

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 Sarah, Ella and all the OSHC staff at Farmhouse Montessori OSHC Centre