Term 3 Week 7: May 30th-June 2nd

The children were so happy to be able to celebrate P’Nit’s birthday with her this week!

Happy Birthday P’ Nit!

Thank you to this week’s Special Helpers!
Smile, Yadin, Lalin, Gawin, Kim Sea, Ty and George

Lockdown Drill

We had our lockdown drill on Monday and the students all did fabulously. We discuss beforehand what it is and why we practice it. We did our own mini-practice last Friday. When we had our actual whole school drill, the children were quiet, calm and patient. They should all feel so proud!

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This Week’s Learning & Fun
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Unit of Inquiry

Even though this week was the second to the last week of school, the students continued to be engaged with their learning. Our current unit of inquiry, under “How the World Works,” continued with students exploring the “research” aspect of being a scientist. Together, we looked into the different ways to find answers and information to some of the students’ questions and wonderings. Be sure to have your child share with you what they learned from the discussions that these questions have brought up.

• Where does rain come from? 🌧
• Are there volcanoes in the sea? 🌋
• Is there grass in the ocean? 🪴
• Is pink in the rainbow? 🌈

Literacy

The children loved the “Spin and Trace” morning check-in activity this week. Compared to the beginning of the school year, the children have made much improvement in their pencil grip as well as their tracing skills.

Swimming

The children have all made notable improvements in dressing themselves after swimming class. They felt so proud of themselves. Thank you for practicing this important skill with them at home. 

In swim class, many students have advanced from using noodles for support to using kickboards. Some can even swim a short distance independently (while still under supervision, of course!).

Slim Fun

The children really enjoyed engaging in a sensory activity this week when Ms Ran made slime for one of our new science centers. The children practiced taking turns and were risk-takers for trying a new experience. They were able to make many wonderful connections when asked what they think the slime ‘feels like’.

EY1 Car Wash

Early this week the EY1 children engaged in water play on the playground. They were exploring different ways to use the equipment such as using the bamboo to transfer water from one place to another, making a water slide for the leaves. Amongst the equipment, Charkin found a scrubbing brush and decided he would like to wash one of the bikes because “It was very dirty”. We were then inspired to create an EY1 Car Wash so we could clean ALL the bikes and cars so they are ready for next year. As you can see from the photos, the children had a blast! Now we are wondering: What else might need cleaning around the school?

Photo Gallery – Week of May 30th-June 2nd

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Parenting Corner
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Mind in the Making – The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs by Ellen Galinsky

Essential Life Skill #7: Self-Directed, Engaged Learning

What is Self-Directed, Engaged Learning?

“Setting goals and strategies for learning fosters children’s innate curiosity to learn and helps them be better prepared to change as the world changes. It’s through learning that we can realize our potential.

The Life Skill of Self-Directed, Engaged Learning calls upon the executive function skills, including not going on automatic but instead reflecting upon the experience or situation and setting goals and working toward them (inhibitory control); and being flexible in thinking about how to learn something in a new way (cognitive flexibility).” (from mindinthemaking.org)

Here are some ideas on how to promote this skill with your children.

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Upcoming Dates & Reminders
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For Next Week:

• June 9 | EY1 End-of-Term Party
  Click HERE to see the food sign up list.
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• June 10 | LAST DAY of the School Year – Early Dismissal
  ⭐ Please note that pick up time is 11:40 AM.
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Thank you for your continued support and partnership! Have a restful weekend!

EY1 Team 😊

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