Country Kids

JFK – June Update

Well, recently our children have been extremely busy thinkers, learning heaps while formulating theories and ideas.
The evident ability to focus for a long time on a common subject evolved from happenings in nature and of interest to the whole group shows that our Morning Just 4 Kids children are well and truly moving developmentally into school age. As teachers this is both a wonderful phenomenon to observe and be part of, but it is also very sad to see ‘our’ children go.
At the same time we welcome happily all our new J4K children and are looking forward to enjoying a great time together
In May alone we have fare welled 5 children and many more will follow this month and during the next few months. We wish all of them the best and a lot of fun at school!

Rainbows

The focus of our group studies is rather extensive-it all started with a storm in the area around 4 or 5 weeks ago, which inspired the group to investigate ‘weather’-rain, rainbows, the gold crock at the end of the rainbow, where is the end of the rainbow?, where does the rain come from?, what do we know about thunder and lightning?, why is lightening faster than thunder?…..these and many more related questions were asked and answered (more or less accurately, but involving lots of thinking) by the children.
From there discussions within our Monday Hui went from temperatures (warm, cold, frost) to sun…to sun and moon…to day and night and on to different places on Planet Earth (my dad is in…). We got out the globe-where is Wales, Australia and NZ, then a map of NZ. Where is Rabbit Island, where is my house? All these questions then were investigated and concepts and theories developed. We even googled our homes, printed maps and even photos of our houses if possible. We didn’t stop there-we were creative as well, drew our house’s, and at present are talking about different kinds of housing…what are they made of, what roofs are made of etc?
The afternoon Just 4 Kids children are slowly increasing in numbers and are getting to know each other really well. A very special group dynamic is developing and the children very much enjoy greeting games and literacy (phonic) and numeric activities together. Music and movement and dancing as group activities are also popular and participated in with enthusiasm.

Time-Keeping

A little reminder: Please try to be on time! A delayed group time or a group time interrupted by children arriving late makes it really hard for your children to stay enthused, engaged and motivated.
The ‘weather’ talk also reminds us about the importance of sensible clothing. We do encourage a ‘shoes off inside’ culture and considering the cold temperatures lately, parents might want to think about bringing slippers for their children as well as socks, warm shoes/gumboots and warm jerseys/coats for outside play.
That’s it for now!
Gundula, Marg, Heather & Margaret