News / Nunn Road / 2017 / January 2017

As we welcomed the New Year, we also welcomed 6 new children to our class.  Hence, 2 six-year-olds, 1 five-year-old and 3 four-year-olds have joined us since the beginning of the school term.

Before school re-opened, we cleaned and washed the toys in the classroom, dyed the hanging and play cloths as well as cleaned the classrooms.  The fishpond has a fresh new look after being re-tiled. It remains one of the favorite places for the children to gather round during outside playtime.  In the garden, a few papaya trees have been planted.  The okra plants have borne fruits and we harvested them. Our kitchen staff will cook them for the children to eat one of these days.

The new children bring new dynamics to the class.  They have gradually settled down and are adjusting to the class daily rhythms.  They unpack their bags upon arrival and begin the day with the artistic work.  After they have finished their work, they join their new friends in creative games till it is time to clear up.  Together with the rest of the children in the class, they put back the toys to their respective places. After that we have our morning session where we sing and pray for our absentees. Then, it is time to drink water and go for a toilet break.  Immediately afterwards, it is snack time but before that, we recite a simple verse thanking mother nature for the gift of food. 

Since the Chinese New Year festival is just around the corner, we practise poems, songs and dance after our snack.  About 11am we go out to the garden.  The children have a wonderful time playing in the sandpit, jumping on the trampoline, rolling hoopla-hoop up and down the mound, playing catching and running in the garden and enjoying many more activities till it is time to wash up. After washing up, the children change by themselves and also fold and keep away their personal belongings.  I am glad to hear that some parents have started to let their children fold their own clothes at home after I have shared this activity with them.

Before lunch the children drink water and go to the toilet.  We sing a simple thanksgiving song before we serve them lunch at about 12.30 noon.  We are glad that the new children enjoy the food that we serve but we also notice that 2 of them refuse vegetables. With our constant encouragement, we hope to change their minds someday.

 

The returning children rejoiced to see their friends again after the 3-week break.  They had so many things to share and talk about when they saw each other. 

As always, the six-year-olds are addressed as the big ‘ko-ko’ and ‘che-che’ in the class.  They are ever ready to give us a helping hand whenever it is needed.  They look forward to the big children activities of weaving and learning to read and write.  So far, they have enjoyed their new daily rhythm.

The 5-year-olds are the ones who spend more time playing with the new children.  I’m glad to see them readily reaching out to befriend and include the new children in their creative plays.

As the kindergarten offer longer hours, the children usually feel tired when it is time to go home.  I am glad to see that most parents are very cooperative and they pick up their children between 2.30pm to 2.45pm.  We appreciate your cooperation.  We teachers need to prepare the day care children for their afternoon bath and rest, clean and arrange the classroom and see to the other chores that need to be done in the afternoon.

Setsubun/Japanese Bean Throwing Festival (3-Feb-2017)

This festival takes place on the day before Risshun, the first day of spring in the Chinese calendar.  Soybeans are scattered in and around the house to drive out sickness and misfortune which is represented by a demon.  (This custom is called mamemaki.)

For the celebration, the children will make origami boxes for storing soybeans and also a mask of the demon or the god of happiness.  On that day, the children will wear the masks as they scatter the soybeans.  We will celebrate the festival in the garden.

Children will then collect the scattered soybeans and plant them in the vegetable bed.  When the plants begin to bear fruits, we will harvest and boil the ‘Edamame” for the children to eat during lunch time.

As you might have noticed Teacher Ang is absent because she has undergone an operation during school holiday.  The children and the teachers pray for her to get well soon so that she can come back to join us.  In the meantime, we have help from Teacher Ling. 

We wish to inform that we will fix one Friday in a month as pool day for children during outside play time.  We can’t have more pool days mainly due to the weather conditions, haze, sickness or days near festivals’ time. 

So, we seek your attention to mark the days that we have scheduled as pool days in your calendar.  Please pack swimwear and a bigger towel for your child on these days.  Swimwear is the indication to us that you want your child to participate in that pool day. Hence children without swimwear will not play in the pool. They will play in the garden.

We have started our practices for the coming Chinese New Year celebration.  The new children are trying their very best but during the actual day, some may need your encouragement to participate bravely in front of all the adults present that day.

I look forward to seeing you and your family on the 26^th of January (Thursday).  Attached herewith is the programme and song sheet for your attention.

All of us at Nania would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’.

                                                                                                    Teacher Nora