News / Nunn Road / 2014 / June 2014

We are glad to see all our children returning healthy and happy from theone and a half week break.  We noted gladly that the attendance has been full for these past two weeks.

We are always concerned when our child/children are not well but rest assured that we at Nania will do our part by making it our upmost priority to maintain a clean and safe environment for all the children who have been entrusted to us.  As usual, we spent a few days during the holiday break washing, cleaning and sunning the toys and cloth in the entire house.

I have often emphasized that it is better to dress the children in plain t-shirts rather than t-shirts with cartoon characters.  Recently some friends came wearing t-shirts embossed with the letter ‘S’.  I wasn’t paying much attention but some children immediately guessed that it was the symbol for the movie character ‘Superman’.  Others started to request that they could wear those superman t-shirts as well.  

So, when one of the big boys wore a superman t-shirt to school one morning, his mum was surprised that I allowed it.  I let her know that I can’t win all the arguments with the children. That morning all the boys started to gather excitedly around him to talk about superman.  I waited till it is the right time to talk to him.  I let him see that his friends were all excitedly talking about his shirt rather than concentrating in their morning work.  Without much persuasion, he agreed to change his shirt.  His willingness to change immediately changed the classroom environment and situation that morning.  He showed us that he trusted my advice and also that he cared that his friends should be able to concentrate on their morning activities.  Well, I guess after that day, our relationship has moved to another level. 

Through this incident, I have learnt that when the children are older, I can leave some decisions making to them.  They understand and follow our genuine intentions when we do it out of love and understanding.

From now on, the children will be occupied with weaving, drawing and decorating their painting bags so that they can bring their drawings and pintings home in this bag to you in July. 

Tanabata Day is also drawing near so I am also in the midst of writing down the children’s wishes so that we can hang them on the bamboo leaves to bring them back to you. 

In addition, they are also looking forward to making their own lantern using the paintings that they have done.  Some of them have started to weave their lantern string through the process of ‘twisting’ or ‘guru-guru’ using some colourful yarn that they have chosen.

Perhaps after they have made one on their own then they would be able to show you how to make the lantern if there is a need to make one for their siblings.  Anyway I have enclosed herewith the instructions for making the lantern in this newsletter.

We have also started to practice songs, poems and dance for the coming Lantern Day.  Hence, we would like to extend our invitation to you and your family to join us on that day.

Very soon, Teacher Kerry will be leaving us to start our new branch at Halaman York.  During her 4 years tenure as the assistant teacher in the English class, she has shown herself to be a keen learner and most importantly, able to be a good role model for the children to imitate.  She is their teacher who loves and cares for them as well as the big sister that the little ones love and look up to.  I’m sure we are going to miss her very much.

For her self-development she has dedicated her time to study at and to be trained by the Waldorf Teachers’ Training in Bangkok. So, she has grown as a teacher who is capable of handling and nourishing a child as a whole human being i.e. body and soul. Over the years, she has also grown more confident in nurturing those children under her care. 

The renovation works for our branch should be completed by end of this month.  Those who are interested can view the place then. We plan to run a kindergarten as well as enrichment classes for the primary school children there.  We are open for enquiries and registration.  The targeted opening date is on the 16^th of July 2014.

On the other hand, we are pleased to introduce to you our new assistant teacher i.e. Teacher Elina.  Teacher Elina is a mother of 2 girls both aged 11 and 8 respectively.  She has wanted to work with children in a kindergarten for quite some time and finally she has given up her job in the commercial line so that she can join us. She has been here since the beginning of June.  In her own gentle way, she has won the hearts of some children already. We will work together to always bring love and laughter to the children that you have entrusted to our care.

                                                                                                  Teacher Nora