2023 Newsletter Term 02 | Issue 02

In Elouera the children have been enjoying getting creative with lots of arts and crafts. We provide open ended art activities that help children explore and use their creativity. When it comes to art, it is the process, not the product that is important to the children. This includes painting and drawing with various mediums, making bracelets and doing collages. Arts and crafts are a great way for children to develop their colour learning, build their self esteem, and help them with their communicative abilities. Art and craft helps to improve motor skills, spatial awareness, supports their sensory development and builds their concentration and patience.

— Nina, Rachel, Sarah and Yuko.

There are many materials and activities within the classroom to help children to strengthen their fine motor skills. Having strength in the small muscles of the fingers helps children to successfully manipulate clothing, food containers, a pencil using a pincer grip and many other self-help skills that enable children to experience independence in their world.

— Helen, Teresa & Claire

As the children discovered a new puzzle, ‘above and below’ transport this led them down a path of inquiry and investigation.  Following the children’s interest in this topic resulted in group work to produce a freeze, individual drawings, practise writing, sounding out the names of transport, learning new vocabulary, parts of vehicles, building cars and airports and lots of focus and concentration!

You will often hear a Montessorian say ‘follow the child’ it’s a statement that guides us each day as we believe the child has innate qualities that lead them to learn and our job is to prepare the path.  It’s also exciting bringing so much joy.  Let’s see where they lead us next!

– Dawn

The children had a fantastic and educational excursion to the Royal Botanic Garden, where they explored the significance of bees in our ecosystem. Led by an experienced presenter, the children actively participated in a range of interactive activities to enhance their understanding of bees.

During the presentation, the children discovered fascinating facts about bees, including the existence of over 2000 species, with 200 of them found in Australia. They also learned about the crucial role play (bees) in pollinating our plants and crops.

One particularly engaging activity involved a demonstration of cross-pollination. A few children volunteered to dress up as flowers with anthers, while others dressed up as bees. The children eagerly participated in this interactive demonstration, showcasing their enthusiasm and curiosity.

Another enjoyable activity was the construction of a bee “Hotel.” The children were provided with materials such as wood, nails, and hammers to build the hotel, along with bamboo inserts to create housing for the bees.

This excursion to the Botanical Gardens went beyond learning about bees; it highlighted their significant impact on our environment and their contribution to our food chain. The children thoroughly enjoyed the excursion and gained valuable knowledge about the importance of bees.

Over the following week, the excitement rolled over into the classroom, with all the children still buzzing over their excursion and wanting to engage more into the subject of bees. The children had further curiosities, which led to the questions they had asked. They did more research which covered areas in language, numeracy, culture, and art. This led to writing, reading and creative activities that scaffold their development. Some of their findings include the lifespan of certain bees, the anatomy and country of origin.

The children had so much to talk about; some of them created their own artwork based on their questions and discoveries.

— Samantha.

We hope this newsletter finds you well. It has been a wonderful fortnight of learning and activities here at North Head Sanctuary. We are thrilled to share some of the highlights with you.

Firstly, we must mention how lovely our Mothers Day morning was. The children were excited to show their mums around the classroom and share some of the special activities they had planned. It was a beautiful moment of connection and appreciation.

We also had an exciting excursion to the Sydney Botanical Gardens. The children were fascinated by the diverse range of plants and animals they encountered. It was a great opportunity to expand our knowledge of the natural world.

That day we took a deep dive into the native bees in the surrounding areas. The children enjoyed learning about their habitats and behaviours and even got to build a bee hotel. It was a fantastic way to connect with the local ecosystem.

We have also been observing the seasonal changes in our playground and have noticed some new native animals migrating locally. This has sparked a lot of curiosity and excitement among the children, who are eager to learn more about these creatures and their habits. It is wonderful to see the children engaging with the natural world in this way.

In addition to our exploration of native animals, the children have also been enthralled with the study of plants. Through experiments and observation, they have been exploring the function of plants and learning about the different parts of a plant.

The Montessori philosophy values hands-on learning, exploration, and connection with the environment. Here at Aikya, we are delighted to promote and uphold these principles within our Cycle 2 environment.

Thank you for your continued support and engagement with our classroom community. We look forward to sharing more exciting updates with you soon.

Stay tuned to hear about our annual Sports Carnival, National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week coming up on the calendar.

—The Aikya Team.

We are delighted to share the latest updates from our Yani Classroom. In the mathematics corner, our students have been engaged in hands-on learning with the decimal board, mastering the concept of decimal place value and addition. They have also been developing their problem-solving skills by exploring common factors using the pegboard. It’s inspiring to see their enthusiasm and growth in these areas.

In the art department, our talented students have been working with Ella to discover the fascinating world of gradients. Using watercolors, they have been experimenting with blending colors and creating beautiful gradients in their artwork. This creative exploration allows them to develop a deeper understanding of color theory and express their imagination through various artistic techniques.

Lastly, we extend a warm welcome to Alia, our Thursday and Friday Yani teacher. Alia has joined our team between now and Term 4 to impart her knowledge and passion for Science, History, and Geography. She has already made a positive impact on our students, encouraging their curiosity and fostering a love for these subjects. We are thrilled to have her on board, and we look forward to the exciting educational experiences she will bring to our classrooms.

Thank you for your ongoing support

—The Yani Team.

Preschool Music 

For our older preschoolers, the focus these last few weeks as been on recognizing different music notes (crochet, rest and quarter note) and also knowing how many beats each one represents. We’ve loved making very long patterns and joining them together to make really cool beats.

We also have a fun new carrot song, where we take turns playing the cheeky rabbit who takes a carrot until we have none left.

Here’s a link to spotify if you’d like to sing a long at home.
https://open.spotify.com/track/0SYYhcX5rdjMh0G36vyIJK?si=06583f49e2884c10

Our mini muso’s have been learning our musical words for fast and slow, presto and largo.

We are also loving the carrot song and practicing our presto and largo with this great bicycle song from the Laurie Berkner Band:
https://open.spotify.com/track/6ADuFMHZaUrNCBmonfehb2?si=3c11540c061d4fbd

Primary Music

For our preschool and Akiya groups, we have been focusing on beat and rhythm through a variety of songs and rhythm games. Students have been singing, clapping and playing clapsticks while reading simple rhythm notation as well as creating their own rhythms. Great work across all students!

We are currently learning and practicing ‘Beds Are Burning’ by Midnight Oil using xylophones. The students are learning to both sing and play the melody as well as learning some bass lines and harmony parts in the song. This teaches a solid understanding of song structure, pitch and rhythm through a fun practical activity.

Yanni are continuing to work on ‘Wiyathul’ by Gurrumul. Our focus has been on changing between chords quickly and comfortably while playing a variety of rhythmic strumming patterns.

— The Evergreen team.