Smoking Kahawai

There has been a strong interest around fishing and beach life following the holidays and over the summer season. We have been very fortunate to have Michael (Rhy's dad) come in to prepare and smoke a Kahawai fish with the children. 
The children touched the fish's scales and even it's eyes to develop an understanding of the sensorial feelings of what a fish looks, smells and feels like up close.
Michael showed the children the teeth inside the fish's mouth while reminding them never to put their fingers inside a fish's mouth while it is alive. He also showed the children the fins and tail of the fish and explained how these help the fish to steer through the water while it is swimming.
Michael cut the fish's head off and cut it down through the middle to flatten it open. 
The children laughed as Michael showed them how to make a 'fish face' by holding the fish head out in front of their face like a mask.
The children sprinkled brown sugar and salt over the fish and left it to crystalize for ten minutes.
The smoker was prepared with Manuka tree wood chip shavings.
We dug a hole in our vegetable garden and buried the fish head and tail into the soil as fertilizer for the garden.
We could see the smoke rising from the smoker and smell the fish cooking as we were having our mat time. 
After mat time we sat in the shade and ate the smoked Kahawai while it was still warm. It was so delicious!

Thank you Michael.
The children's learning around fishing is extended as they get a close sensory experience and develop knowledge more indepth knowledge about the Kahawai fish and how to prepare and smoke it making it ready for eating.
Children are taking responsibility for our growing garden and Papatuanuku through making use of the discarded fish carcass by putting it back into the earth and helping to fertilize the soil.

Entertainment Books 2013

Coming soon - Entertainment Books.
This year these will sell at $60 and we get to keep $12 from every book. They offer lots of two-for-one and discount vouchers. If you don't want one yourself, please try and sell to a family member, neighbour or friend. They are well used throughout the district and very popular. Take into work places and see how many you can order. We are hoping to raise enough money for an I-pod and speakers as many of our popular cd's are scratched and we want to keep up with modern technology. Music is an important part of our curriculum and we use it every day.

Order forms will be coming in March or contact us for an order form.

Enviroschool update

Collecting rain water for the veggie gardens.

Watering the new corn.

Our baby pumpkin. We want this to grow HUGE so we can enter it in the competition at Te Kowhai school harvest festival.

We are very excited this term to be visited by our Enviroschool facilitators in April to see if we are ready for our Bronze award. Taking care of our environment is a huge part of our philosophy and curriculum. The children chose what veggies and fruit to plant before the holidays and we have come back in this term to find the garden blooming. The mixture of heat and summer showers over Christmas has helped the pumpkins, tomatoes, strawberries, snow peas, feijoas, apples, mandarins, lemonades and grapes grow. Unfortunately a sneaky possum has eaten the grapes and lots of apples. Part of rural living !  We harvest the water from the roof of our carpentry shed and use this to water our gardens. Our silk trees are in full blossom too and look stunning. Our children are learning to appreciate the natural beauty and seasonal changes in our garden.  

Welcome Back Everyone

It has been great to catch up with all of you as everyone returns from holiday. We have been so busy already and recently had our annual 'Water Fun Day'. The children arrived with all sorts of water toys including some huge super-soakers...all set to wet their friends and the teachers! We had lots of fun and laughs and got to enjoy eating an ice-block at the end of the morning. Well deserved I say. Have a look at some of the photos.

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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.