News / Nunn Road / 2017 / June 2017

We have come to the middle of the year.  The children in the class have bonded well and play well harmoniously with each other.  They have developed close friendships with one another.  They bid reluctant farewell to each other at the end of the day and are happy to see their friends again the next day. Noticing their fellowship, some mothers have even arranged for the children to play with each other during the school holidays.

In the classroom, they are constantly playing actively and creatively.  Every corner of the room is occupied with different groups of friends.  One corner has a puppet show going on. Another corner has a family taking care of babies. Another one has a clinic with doctors and nurses taking care of sick patients. And we find the boys crowding in another section of the room, building spaceships, tracks for trains and castles.

I need to alert you about punctuality. I observed that many children have been late these couple of weeks. The late-comers miss out on the important part of the day i.e. the morning artistic and creative activities.  When they come in late, they find it hard to concentrate on the morning activities as they are distracted by the fun activities that their other friends are doing.  I urge you to make the effort to be on time every day.

I have also observed that some parents let their children watch videos on their handphones or play games on the iPad while travelling to and from school.  The small screen not only harms their eyes but also causes them to be tired and lethargic.  In addition, they scream and refuse to return the phone to the adults when they have reached Nania.

I understand that most of you have to travel some distance every day to get to school.  I suggest that the children be occupied with an interesting book, their soft toys or conversing with you. I am sure you can find a better solution to make your travelling time a bonding time for the family.

Tanabata Day is drawing near so I am 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.  I enjoy writing wishes with them as I uncover many interesting tales from their young minds.

The children are also looking forward to making their own lanterns using the paintings that they have done.  They will draw the sun, the moon and stars on their lanterns, cut them out and cover the open spaces with colourful crepe paper.  Some of them have started to weave their lantern string through the process of ‘twisting’ or ‘guru-guru’ using colourful yarn that they have chosen. This string will become the handle for their own lantern.

Perhaps after they have made one on their own, then they can show you how to make the same lantern 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 a 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.

                                                                                                      Teacher Nora