News / Nunn Road / 2019 / July & August 2019

We celebrated Tanabata with the children in the beginning of July. Did all of you read your children’s wishes that were hung on their Tanzaku bamboo branch when they brought them home after Tanabata celebration?

Some parents shared with me that they understood more about their children as they read those wishes. I am glad that it was a bridge that connected you parents closer to your children’s inner worlds.

After waiting for a few weeks, the rambutans in our garden finally turned red. We harvested the fruits and enjoyed them with the children. I was touched when a girl asked me not to pick all the rambutans and to leave some for Mr. Squirrel. The children often saw Mr. Squirrel in the garden during this fruit season.

The lady fingers that the children planted during our New Life festival has also grown well and now we can harvest them. Children brought the lady fingers that we cut to Aunty Janet and she cooked them for us. The children enjoyed eating the food that they had planted, watered and watched as they grew, flowered and ripened. Meanwhile, our banana and ciku trees are also bearing fruits and we shall enjoy them in due time.

We were lucky to have had good weather during our lantern festival. It worried us when we saw cloudy weather in the morning. Despite that, the class was still in the festive mood on that day. Children were busy preparing for the evening together with their teachers.

They made dango, a Japanese desert that was served as a snack during our festival. I hope you enjoyed it. After lunch, the children helped to tie plastic bags on the chair legs to protect them from damage. When we saw some dark clouds appearing in the sky, children started to sing “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day……” and we prayed for good weather in the evening. Our wish came true because the weather was wonderful.

The children also helped to hang the small paper lanterns in the garden. Children were busy making those paper lanterns few days before the festival. The garden came alive with the colourful lanterns and that set the festive mood.

When it was time to start the performance, many chairs are still empty as children were late. Some of the big children even missed their chance to recite the Hokkien Poem which is special to them. I shared my disappointment to the management team and we are concern about this issue. Kindly read the attached note about punctuality for festival and help us to improve next time.

Nevertheless, I saw a sick child trying her best to perform. I was sorry that she had to leave early and can’t join the lantern walk. It was also great to see many parents were participating in the Bon Dance.

After snack time, children’s handmade lanterns were lit with candles. We walk happily as the darkness was illuminated by light from the lanterns. I hope that you and your family enjoyed the evening as much as I did.

In Nania, the children experience the rhythm of the year through our festival celebrations. Some of the festivals are celebrated with children in the kindergarten. However, family members are invited for other festivals. The next such festival is the Harvest Festival. Although the festival will be on 4^th October (Friday), we have started to rehearse the songs and poems already in the class during our “Ring Time”. This is because there are many public holidays and birthday celebrations in September. Enclosed with this newsletter are poems and songs for the Harvest Festival.

The term break is just around the corner, I wish all the children happy holidays. I hope they will have a wonderful time with you during their holidays.

                                                                                                     Teacher Thian