The new water feature

Over the past year we have been fundraising to build a new water feature in the garden. We have published a recipe book, had a ballroom dance social and have sold Oxford Pies.
We had two designs to choose from which we showed to our community for feedback.
Finally, we have had it built. It is amazing !!!

There is so much learning that happens. Children learn from exploring with their senses. They will be able to paddle in the water and climb over the smooth, river stones.

Their is early science learning as they pump the water using an old fashioned hand pump. Chidlren can make dams and float boats in it too.

We are an Enviroschool and can learn to conserve the water by catching it in one of the two pools and recycle it back into the holding trough. 

We are looking forward to cooling off in the water over the summer terms.

Foundation Skills

We would like to welcome all or the new children and their families to our kindergarten. You may hear the teachers talking about the 'Foundation skills' and how they impact on a child's future learning. We know that early movement experiences are vital for children to gain basic skills such as running, hopping, catching and balancing and research illustrates the importance of movement experiences in developing a child's brain. Children's sensory and physical development affects their ability to remember what they see, hear and do. Therefore it affects their ability to learn and achieve.
Think of your child's brain as a 'bucket' with holes in it - if these holes are not plugged then formal learning can be lost. The plugs are the foundation skills for formal learning. These skills are the 'plugs' that fill the bucket! Children need to participate in a wide range of movement activities. These include things like balancing, climbing, swinging, spinning, walking in a straight line, bouncing, catching and kicking a ball, crawling, hopping, hand/eye co-ordination activities and eye tracking activities. Action songs, memory games and dancing are all thought to improve the way the brain functions and will help with future, more formal learning once children get to school.
When the brain has been provided with a wide range of movement patterns, sensory activities and language, it will develop a rich network of nerve patterns and literally be 'wired for learning'.
It may all sound a bit confusing but all these skills stimulate different parts of the brain. If you would like to know more about the Foundation skills for learning we have DVDs in our Parent Library for you to take home and look at.

Waikato Museum and Exscite Trip

Each term we organise a trip based on the children's interests. We had a discussion and decided that it would be good  to go to the Waikato Museum and Exscite Centre to do some exploring. When the children arrived at kindergarten on Wednesday the bus was ready and waiting, so we set off on our adventure. At the Museum we were met by Ray (the mad scientist?) who presented a session called 'How toys work'. He talked to the children about the ways that air, water, force, light and pressure can make toys work in different ways. He had all sorts of interesting toys and gadgets to show us and when he asked some questions, the children had lots of great answers and ideas to share. 

The interactive toys and games in the Exscite centre were also very popular. The children had complete freedom to test out ideas, play, problem-solve, make estimations and use their fine and gross motor skills as they attempted the activities. The huge Lego car, skeleton, paper planes, pendulum writer and grain machine kept everybody busy until we met to have some morning tea. What a fun and exciting way to learn about science.

A huge thanks to all of our parent helpers. We value your support and assistance.

Ray showing us one of his amazing toys. Look at the curious on-lookers. (Sorry about the picture quality).

Ray, seated at the bottom with our groups. 

Alex driving the car made from giant Lego blocks.

Kimberly and Conor - Lots of great questions, ideas and dialogue.

Kimberly tackles one of the puzzles.

Kandace and her mum, Natasha.

Making paper planes...this brought back memories  for some of us!

Now how does that pendulum work?..James and Tyler explore possibilities.

Jac, Rhys and Tayla...great problem-solving.

"What happens if?"......Ashlee and Kyah are making discoveries.

May and Aimee inside their car.

Morning tea time.

Sensory Play

We know that young children are oriented toward sensory experiences. From birth, children have learned about the world by touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, and hearing. Sensory play also contributes in crucial ways to brain development. Think of it as 'food for the brain'. Stimulating the senses sends signals to children’s brains that help to strengthen neural pathways important for all types of learning. For example, as children explore sensory materials, they develop their sense of touch, which lays the foundation for learning other skills, such as identifying objects by touch, and using fine-motor muscles.
The materials children work with have many sensory attributes - they may be warm or cool, wet or dry, rough or smooth, hard or soft, textured or slimy. Discovering and differentiating these characteristics is a first step in  classification, or sorting - an important part of children's science learning and discovery.
During the week we had a wonderful tub of maize at kindergarten and this term the children have also explored gloop, shaving cream, cloud dough, slime and clay. 

Exploring - talking, sharing, enjoying, being creative, problem-solving
and developing fine motor skills.

How does the maize look and feel?

Great language and discussion...

"I like the way it feels in my hands. It's soft and silky"

"This smells good. It's sweet and slimy" said Emma.

Hannah is busy making discoveries.

Jack made all sorts of patterns with the slime.

Rihannin, Anya and Max exploring the foamy mixture.

Jac, Rihannin and Anya - expressing their creativity.

Kimberly and Heleina are not only exploring, but are learning about sharing and turn-taking.

Daisy uses her sense of smell.

These children made all sorts of shapes with the cloud dough.

Rhys - testing out his ideas.

"This is just like rain" said Daisy.

Get Ready For School - Parent Session

A reminder to our families/whanau that we are holding an information session covering 'Get ready for school' and our 'All About Me' programme. This will be held at the kindergarten at 3pm on Wednesday 8th August. Mandi Rathbone and Catherine Daniels who teach the New Entrants class at Te Kowhai School will be making a short presentation as well. Please put your name on the list in our sign-in area in the morning if you would like to attend the session.

Go The Chiefs!

What is it about the mighty Waikato? First the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic netball team won the overall competition, then our Olympic rowers won Gold (many train at Karapairo) and on Saturday night our Chiefs
played an outstanding game to win the Super 15 Rugby Final.... yahoo!!
We have had lots of fantastic medal winners at kindergarten this past week too, with children being awarded medals for a range of accomplishments and achievements. It is so good to see them attempting challenges and persisting with difficulty when they are learning new skills.
On Friday we invited children to come to kindergarten in their Chiefs gear or colours to support our team. We played the Mooloo song and Alison did some wonderful face painting. Lachlan's dad Michael arrived with some cow bells (I'm not sure if we should thank him for that!) which were, of course very popular. It was a wonderful day, capping off a very exciting week.

Zoe - Go the Chiefs!

May and Karin

Double trouble....Karin and Tracey

Alex we love your style

Alison paints Emma's face with the Waikato colours

Thomas with a cow bell - my ears are still ringing!

Heleina - a proud Chiefs supporter

Rhys wears the Chiefs colours with pride

Karin and 'the boys'

Stella had the right attitude. "The Chiefs will win" she said. 

Celebrating a great week by singing our National Anthem

Rhys, Lachlan and Tracey...'Go the Chiefs"

Thomas, Rhys, Lachlan, Alex, Megan and Sahsa having a team talk

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Mel awards Rhys with a medal - way to go Rhys!

Maori Language Week

Tena Koutou, greetings,
We have been celebrating Maori Language Week. This year Arohatia te Reo is the theme which means cherish the language.We embrace and enjoy our Maori language and culture at kindergarten and our tamariki (children) know many lovely waiata and poi songs which they perform with great enthusiasm. They also love to sing our Natonal Anthem and you can will see some lovely photos below of them with their arms around each other as they sing. At mat time we often say "Kei te pehea koe?" meaning "How are you". "Kei te pai ahau" is the reply we are hoping for meaning "I'm good" or even better "Ka nui te ora" which means "I'm great". We have been reading some of our favourite stories such as 'Mere McGaskill's Boil up', 'The Kuia and the spider', 'Kei te pehea Koe?', Nana Mihi's Rainbow along with Maori myths and Legends. As a special treat we purchased some Rawena Paraoa, a traditional loaf made with potatoes. Because it takes a long time to prepare and cook we decided to buy the loaf but made some Maori Fried Bread to share as well. The plates were empty in no time at all and the children agreed that the bread was really, really good.

Ruby, Alex and Sasha - great friends singing our National Anthem.

Tayla, Aimee and our new friend Emma singing beautifully.

Jac, James, Tyler and Nick - Ka pai to mahi. Great work!

Our enthusiastic helpers mix up the ingredients for the Maori fried bread

Kneading the dough - what great teamwork!

Master chef Megan at work

Rawena Paraoa

We shared the Paraoa outside. It was such a lovely, sunny day.

Kimberly said the bread tasted "really yummy"

A satisfied Stella finishing off the last piece.