News / Nunn Road / 2007 / March 2007 (E65)

Dear parents,

When Junko’s mother, Aunty Ranko, visited the English class last week, she taught the children origami folding. The children made calourful spinning tops using 3 layers of papers. The children went close to her as she is as warm as a grandmother. Looking at her, a boy asked me where grandfather was. I answered that grandfather had went back to heaven. Again the boy asked,”Is he too old?” I smiled at him and nodded my head. In the children’s world, life is very simple. We are born. Then we grow up. After we get older, we pass away.

At the moment, we have another visitor from Thailand. She is a Waldorf kindergarten teacher in Bangkok. The children call her Teacher Meaw. She will stay with us for a week to observe the way we work with the children in Nania.

I believe that teachers and parents need to work very closely in order to nurture the children. To update you on your child’s progress, I have been sharing about your children’s daily play when you send or pick up your children. Sometimes, I will make a call or meet up with you to discuss more. At the same time, I will continue to share general information like class dynamics, current news, birthday or festival celebrations, and holidays through the Nania monthly newsletter and parents’ meeting. I am disappointed that some information in the news letter didn’t reach certain parents. I hope you will co-operate with me by taking note of the information that is written in the newsletters.

We will start to practice the Sports Day’s poems and songs with the children soon. Enclosed with this newsletter is the song sheet for the sports day. We hope to see you and family members on 22nd April 2007 (Sunday).
We will start the Craft Class for children aged 6 and above on 6th April. The class starts at 4.15pm and end at 6.00pm every Friday. The craft activities include needlework, weaving, doll and puppet making, paper folding and others. Kindly pass the word around. Parents who are interested can contact Teacher Chithra to register their children.

In 2005, Junko and I attended the first Asian Waldorf Teachers Conference in Taiwan. I learnt so much and it helped me to work better with the children. This year, four teachers are going to Bangkok to attend the 2nd Asian Waldorf Teachers’ Conference at the end of April. Please take note of the holiday during that period.

Teacher Thian

Parents’ Meeting Report
It was raining heavily on the evening of the parents’ meeting. Yet 7 mothers and 2 fathers turned up for that meeting. I appreciated your attendance very much. Some parents couldn’t make it because they had to take care of their children.

We learned some ayatori pattern while waiting to start the meeting. During the meeting, parents and teachers did some sharing and discussed some issues. I would like to share some part of the meeting with parents who couldn’t join us that evening.

We talked about play material that can spark children’s imagination. Materials which are unformed allow the children lots of space for imagination. It’s much easier to imagine a block as an ambulance, a car or a house. Children can’t imagine a well-designed fire engine as an ambulance. As they can reuse the same material differently, they actually do not need so many toys. One mother shared a quote she came across, ”The children don’t need the toy factories, but the factories need our children.” A toy factory manager once told me that they aimed to fulfil the parents’ needs as they are the consumers. The next time when you choose a toy for your children, try to ask yourself, ”How can this toy help my child’s imagination?”

A father shared his concern that although his boy likes to play with simple blocks, he demands new toys frequently when they bring him to the shopping mall. Some mothers shared their experience about handling a demanding child. They would share with the children the value of money, or give them some task during the shopping trip. One mother made a point that adults need to learn to be cool even when children throw temper tantrums when they don’t get their demands met. After a few times, the children learn that they don’t get “paid” for crying. I agree with one mother who suggested to keep the shopping trip as short as possible. . Normally, children become tired, mentally or physically, after a short while in a shopping mall. It is full with stimuli like music, advertisement, lights and so on that makes us tired. In my opinion, try to avoid shopping with children as much as possible. Children become more demanding in the shopping mall as the toys or goods are arranged in the way to attract their attention. Even adults may lose their focus for their real needs during the shopping trip and buy unnecessary things.

We were very moved when a mother told us that her girl stopped her father shooing a cat by asking him, “Daddy, how do you feel if you were the cat and while you visited someone, they shooed you away?” Another mother said her boy asked the parents not to kill the mosquitoes and ants. Instead, he suggested that they bring them gently back to the garden. In Nania, we never kill any insect in front of the children. In this way, we show the children how to respect life.

I told the parents that in Nania we do not encourage children to bring presents for individual child except for farewell purpose. However, children may share their crafts or drawings, “nature discovery” like sea shells, seeds or stones to friends by post it into the letter box which is prepared by the teacher.

The parents and teachers also shared about the children’s progress and our touching moments with them. With laughter and tears of happiness, we end the meeting at about 9.30pm.

Prepared by Teacher Thian


Coming events

Easter Spring (6th April 2007)
We will celebrate Easter Spring on 6th April. The children will colour eggs in the morning and enjoy a puppet show. Later, they will go out to seed plant and egg hunt in the garden. They will bring home their eggs on that day.

Sports / Family Day (22nd April 2007)
This year, we are having our Sports/Family day on Sunday, 22nd April. The whole family (fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters) is welcome to join this active and fun morning event. It will be held at the indoor sports hall of the Penang Japanese School. Further details will be given at a later date. This event is organized together with the parents in our Sports/Family Day committee.

Holidays
30th April (Monday) -Sports Day replacement holiday
1St May (Tuesday) - Labour Day
2nd May (Wednesday) -Wesak Day (Replacement holiday)
3rd & 4th (Thursday and Friday) - Nania’s holiday
* The Nania’s holiday is to allow teachers to attend the Asian Waldorf Teachers’ Conference that will be held in Bangkok.