“Australia is just so full of surprises.”- Bill Bryson
Australia
From our teeny Tods, to wobblers to the jumping beans in Preschool, everyone explored Australia and the highly sought after Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Children learned the greatest Coral reef in the world needs help, its marine life is slowly dying.
Did you know?
In particular, Australia, because of its ancient geography, soil profile and distinctive weather patterns, is more adversely affected by climate variability than some other continents. – Peter Garrett
At Rock and Roll we use authentic and meaningful ways to allow children to experience the cultural unit of study, using real items and artifacts, true visuals and communication with the people of the said culture. We were so lucky that Jennifer, from our parent community, was able to visit each school to show what the children felt, was a bag of treasures!
Music
5 Benefits of singing: It reduces stress, anxiety and depression, It brings people together, It exercises your lungs, It improves your poster, It makes you happier 🙂 Did you or your child sing this weekend?
Exploration during Music class, and individualized extended music.
Infancy
Our youngest infant L started her solids (YAY!) and the rest of the team enjoyed sitting together as a group for lunch. Teachers love to interact with the babies during feeding time helping them bring the spoon to their mouth and using sign language to encourage eating. The older infants are learning how to say more and please as well as all done.
Toddler exploration
Toddlers spent much of their circle time focusing on interactive group activities, each friend learned about give and take of participation. Our class favorite book this month was Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, it helped to teach about the different colors and sizes of the fishes as well as individuality. This book is best known for its morals about the value of being an individual and for the distinctive shiny foil scales of Rainbow Fish.
Spring Tea
Each school held their much awaited annual Spring Tea even this June and children had a ball serving their families and adults with some “tea” and cookies. Teachers and parents were incredibly proud of their tiny humans carefully carrying trays and tea pots, practicing their grace and courtesy and waiting on them, they even signed “What a wonderful world” at one of the schools which brought most adults to happy tears! A great big thank you to Phil and everyone for joining and helping make this even so special every time.
“Yes, that’s it! Said the Hatter with a Sigh, it’s always tea time.” – Lewis Carroll
There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
-Henry James
Connecting outside and inside the classroom
In Preschool we have been learning about Space, but this can be an abstract and extensive topic for young children to grasp, it is important to give them background knowledge and context first, before teaching them what we already know. They first learned about the “History of Space” through discoveries and contributions made by important astronomers, then learned to identify the planets and cosmic science. The best part of it all was exploring space with our very own Virtual reality headset and getting to see what earth looks like from outer space! We even made it to the science museum to deepen our understanding.
Teachers were also encouraged to explore and research best ways to use the VR headsets- special thanks to Elaine’s mom at our Central SQ location for tips of great apps!
“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”
– Carl Sagan
Our aim this month was to understand why we study language- learning new words allows children to learn new concepts, communicate with others, express themselves, and if the adult allows it discover the nuances of language!