Little Beans

The Great Kapok Tree Lapbook Project

2012-01-09T15:12:00.029+08:00

In the Amazon rainforest, a man is chopping down a great Kapok tree. Exhausted from his labours, he puts down his axe and rests. As he sleeps, the animals who live in the tree plead with him not to destroy their world.

The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry is one of the children literacy books which we explored last year. This book was chosen because I want to bring the awareness of the importance of the Rainforest to the children. Malaysia is rich with flora and fauna, yet our children are unexposed to them. There are many animals in the book – an interesting topic for children to explore. Also, many resources about this book and related activities can be found in the Internet. Many of the web pages are designed for children, which makes learning so much more interesting!

This is the lapbook created by Rex. In the cover, you could see the tree, with its buttress roots, the two sloth hanging by the vines as well as a snake slithering on the tree. Note too the lance-shaped leaves and the mossy ground. This is a very true depiction of an actual rainforest, made possible because we have visited many websites and gained a deeper understanding of it. Instead of getting him to write about it in words, he was encouraged to illustrate his understanding through a craft .

This laminated card was the first activity related to the book. We have read the book and discussed about each animal and its message to the woodcutter. Then I asked them to write out the animals which appeared in sequence. I wanted them to learn how to make a list by adding on the √ bullets.

The inside of the lapbook - note the many ineresting activities related to the Kapok tree and the Rainforest. We've spent many days reading, colouring, cutting and assembling this lapbook, which the children are very proud of!

We talked about the layers of the Rainforest - emergent, canopy, the understory and forest floor. This is a very interesting format as they are four flaps and you open each flap to review a brief description of each layer, sung to the tune of 'If You're Happy, and You Know It'! Helps them remember each layer easily.

An example of the lyrics to the Emergent layer.

Learnt that Kapok trees have buttress roots that prevent them from falling down when strong winds blow. We also know the top of the tree is known as canopy and many plants and animals live here, one of them are epiphytes.

Interesting way of getting the children to research and write in sentences - instead of copying by rote in exercise books. At least, this way of writing is practical and applicable in the daily lives.

They wrote down one fact about the Kapok tree on each leaf. Again, helps them to construct proper sentences - with Capital letters and punctuation marks. Notice the lance-shaped leaves and the umbrella crown the Kapok tree has?

The children loved the story, but the vocabulary in the book are too difficult for most of them. Here are sentence strips which they coloured and cut out. The sentences are simpler, encouraging them to read with confidence. They can rearrange the strips to form their own story, but most of them prefer to arrange the strips in sequence.

There were many verbs in each strip; we pretended to be the animals and spoke like them - squawked, squeaked, growled, whispered – and learnt about the differences while having fun! We learnt many new words along the way.

Another interesting booklet. With four flaps, in increasing size. The smallest flap is the ocelot and the biggest flap is the tiger. Visually, it tells the children that the ocelot is the smallest cat and the tiger is the biggest. One of the boys asked me why the lion is not included - GOOD QUESTION! I asked him to try and find out why. The next day, he came back and told me because lions are not found in the rain forest, but in drier climate such as the Sahara desert. I loved his question and his answer - shows that this boy can think critically.

The water cycle is very interesting, but difficult concept with many big words. Previously, I introduced them to it through an experiment as well as a video on YouTube. However, I find that the children’s understanding was not strong. I reintroduced this topic during the project and showed them two interesting website which animated the water cycle. To reinforce their understanding, I encouraged them to make a craft of the water cycle. This is more effective as young children learn best by experimenting and hands-on activities.

One of the video clips can be found at http://drippytheraindrop.com/

To make a lapbook interesting, many different templates are used. One such template was the anaconda which was downloaded from a webpage. It was a circle and folded into 4. The name of the snake was written in the first quarter. Open up and read about the information of the anaconda on the other flaps. Open again to reveal the whole snake. Again, the information was taken from the Internet.

Always warms the heart to see them enjoying their work and taking pride in the end results.

There are so many ways to make learning fun and meaningful to them. One interesting website to explore the Rainforest is http://rainforest_alliance.org/kids . Visit it with your child. The Internet is a great source of information and I look forward to working on more projects with the Red Beans and Navy Beans this year!

Auntie Audrey and Terence Ko Ko visits in 2011

2011-12-26T17:42:00.002+08:00

This year, we had a few visits from Strategic Creative, represented by Audrey or Terence, to promote movies from Sony and Disney. We also took part in the NASOM Draw for Autism, a colouring competition organised by Staedler and Cars 2 as well as a visit from Auldey Remote Control cars. Below are some pictures from these activities in 2011.

Sunmaid Natural California raisins

Cars 2

Auldey Remote Control cars

Wind and Cloud mascots and the prize winners

Coloring workshop by Staedler at Bangsar Village 2

Draw for Autism

The Smurfs

The last visit was for Arthur Christmas, which is showing in the cinemas now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2011

2011-12-26T16:51:00.000+08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! We had a fancy dress party and the children came beautifully dressed!

Soya Beans

Navy Beans

Red Beans

Green Beans

Alumni Beans?

The teachers and our potluck!

Merry Christmas from us!

TELL ME A STORY - others

2011-12-26T14:59:00.002+08:00

The second part of our holiday programme:

www.speakaoos.com/story/the-elves-and-the-shoemakerCached

The Elves and the Shoemaker - a classic story by the Grimm Brothers. Besides learning about different types of shoes, we discussed feet and why it is important to keep them clean. We made elves, did a shoe print art and also learned to lace and tie-up shoelaces.

Louder Lili - an interesting book that teaches about having the confidence to speak up, respect for friends and taking care of pets, in this case it's a hamster. Lili is a very quiet and shy child and nobody really takes notice of her. She befriends Cassidy, a loud-spoken girl, who often takes advantage of Lili's shyness. One day, Cassidy wanted to harm the classroom pet, and Lili gathered enough courage to speak up and told Cassidy not to do so.

Lili in the snow.

The hamster - great for practising cutting skills!

We made the hamster as well as surrounding Lili with 'snow' to celebrate Christmas!

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss - Who doesn't love Dr Seuss' books? I know I do and so do the children!

http://youtu.be/12x_vUd1nYo

A persistent Sam-I-am tries to convince the sceptic to try green eggs and ham. Lots of rhyming words and silly story line to humour the children. At the end of the story, we teach the children not to give up easily in their endeavours. Also, to try many types of food as it's good to eat a variety and we may like them just like the sceptic. We talked about different ways of cooking eggs, the life cycle of a chicken, cooking green eggs and ham and making green egg jelly.

Green eggs and ham

Making the life cycle of a chicken

The life cycle of a chicken

Ingredients for our green egg jelly

Putting the green yolk into the egg shells.

Our happy, delicious green egg jelly.

This is how they look!

Different ways of cooking eggs - a booklet by the children.

And the last book was How the Grinch Stole Christmas, also by Dr Seuss. This book is about the Grinch who hated Christmas and how he attempted to steal away all the material things related to Christmas. However, the Whos celebrated Christmas joyfully regardless of all the things and the Grinch realised that the magic of Christmas comes from within his heart. When he realised the true meaning of Christmas, his heart grew three times bigger!

The children made a Santa Claus as well as a special card which shows their hearts growing three times bigger!

The adorable Santa Clauses

One of the cards.

The special card that shows the heart growing three times larger its regular size!

Some of the worksheets

The holiday comes to an end with a Christmas party on the last day. It was fun and we enjoyed ourselves very much. At the end of the programme, we put all our holiday 'treasures' into a paper bag made from the old Scholastic Books order form - very apt for our theme, don't you think so?

The bag of treasure, with all our holiday programme crafts and projects inside.

TELL ME A STORY - WE ARE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT

2011-12-26T13:00:00.002+08:00

We did a special holiday programme during the last three weeks of school - TELL ME A STORY. The stories covered were :

We Are Going on a Bear Hunt
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Louder Lili
Green Eggs and Ham
How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

These stories were chosen as they gave us the opportunity to explore many genres, at the same time there were many interesting activities that we can do with the children. Lots of hands-on activities, laughter and experiences that we shared.

The first story was We Are Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. It was about a family that went on a bear hunt, overcoming many obstacles, finally finding a bear in a narrow cave and then running for their lives! Illustration by Helen Oxenberg is beautiful and the animation brought the story to life! Wonders of the internet .....The link to the youtube video is below. Look out for the story retelling by Michael Rosen as well - the children, even the 2-year olds, loved to read along with him.

http://youtu.be/hb-nTnriTP8

Below are some of the activities which we did in line with this book:

The main theme board that sequences the journey of the family on the bear hunt.
Children of Little Beans helped create this beautiful board.

Our illustration of the family minus the elder sister and dog - beautiful, isn't it?
Thanks to Teacher Ang and Justin who drew and coloured them.

The description of each part of the journey. Note the adjectives as well as the onomatopoeia
of the sound the grass makes.

The cold river made with blue and white cellophane paper. The children randomly stuck the
paper onto the river, making it alive with the splashing of water.

The yucky mud made with plasticine!

The big dark forest - the children painstakingly cut the leaves and glued them onto the branches.
The effect was beautiful and so spontaneous!

The snowstorm made with cotton wool and Christmas snowflakes.

The cave made from newspaper and a teddy bear!

That's the theme board. We also created two versions for the children to make. The booklet for the 3 and 4 year olds:

And, for the 5 and 6 year-olds, their booklet is more detailed with a simple sentence to reinforce their reading skills. They also made their own storyboard where they can move the child and bear along the strip of places.

We walked through the grass.

We waded through the river.

We tromped through the mud.

We tripped through the forest.

We shivered through the snowstorm.

We peeked into a cave and we saw a bear!

The storyboard.

We had fun watching the animated book and the retelling of the story by Michael Rosen.

Following the action to the story.

See the delight on the faces as they follow the reading by Rosen.

And to end off the activities to We Are Going on a Bear Hunt, we made bear cookies! Though not really delicious, we had a good time baking and wrapping the cookies.

Moulding and decorating the bear cookies.

The big bear cookie.

The baby bear cookie.

Baking in the oven.

Wrapped and ready for home!

BON APPETIT!

Mooncake Festival - 2011

2011-11-28T21:11:00.001+08:00

The mooncake festival was celebrated with much fun fare this year. I roped in Mum to help with making mini snowskin mooncakes with the children. Also had a lantern-making competition amongst the children and parents. The main objective was to foster a close bonding within the family as well as to stir up the creativity of Daddies and Mummies. There were many entries, most of them painstakingly put together using recyclables and reused- items. So many, and it was difficult to choose the winning entries. I would say that everyone is a winner!

Ingredients for the mooncake include dragon fruit, pandan leave and orange juice for
the natural colours, red bean paste, lotus paste and the snowskin.

Decorating the mooncakes

Putting the snowskin mooncake into the mould

Knock it out and we'll get the mooncake.

Nicely packed, ready to be taken home!

So many lanterns decorating the school.

The durian lantern

The spaceship

The robot that is at least 4 feet tall! (sorry, can't rotate the picture)

Many more...

Lesson in democracy - teaching the children how to vote for the best 3 lanterns

Discussing on their choice...

Choosing carefully....

I like that, what about you?

Casting their votes

Contemplating ... some are even fishing for votes!

Teachers can vote too!

And these are the winners!

Sports and Family Day 2011 (1)

2011-11-28T00:24:00.003+08:00

Our theme for this Family Day is Sporting Living Skills 2, which is a continuation of the theme in 2009. We continued with this theme because we want to teach the children about sportsmanship, how to work as a team – guiding and helping their team members along the way; and most important of all, to have a good self-esteem – it does not matter if you win or lose. What is more important is to do your best with great determination and courage, and not to give up easily.

Each event in today’s telematch provides many learning opportunities. Through the activities, they are exposed to literacy and quantity learning, they learn about teamwork, delegation as well as sharing and taking turns. Simple activities such as balancing, transferring, matching or even running are important skills for a child! These living skills will stand them in good stead for years to come. That’s why we have integrated sportsmanship with living skills as our theme.

Our youngest children – the Soya Beans and Green Beans. See their spontaneity and delight as they dance to a dynamic song. They never fail to squeal in delight every time we practise the song in school. While they dance, they refine their gross motor skills and coordination. They are also given the opportunity to learn about directions as they move to the right and left, up and down and sideways. Of course, they also learn about music and movement the fun way!

The children are singing songs that touch on their love for their country, family, school and teachers. Listen to their voices especially when they tell you how much they love you. Reflect on their message to you.

The children are performing with the Chorus Bells which were introduced for the first time in Malaysia during our last telematch! Mr VictorTan choreographed and trained our children for the 2 songs. In this presentation, everybody plays an important part. They have to listen intensely to the music and be alert when it is his/her turn to play. Everybody plays a part to make a whole and no person can stand alone. This takes a lot of discipline and focus, and I am proud to say that they can do it! Together, they work hand –in-hand to deliver beautiful songs – Edelweiss and Xiao Yu Dui!

The children all lining up for the first event - eager to start, yet anxious as this is the first time they are facing a big crowd. Some are overwhelmed!

HOT POTATOES

The first game is Hot Potatoes – a spin-off from Egg Relay. We cannot have the eggs breaking all over the field – hence the potatoes. Seriously, this is a game that promotes concentration, balancing skills and patience! The children cannot touch the potatoes and they must not let the potatoes drop. Every child has his or her own special way of moving from one end to the other. Take note how the others wait patiently for their turn. Not easy, especially for three-year olds!

UMBRELLA BOUNCE

Umbrellas shield is from the rain and the sun. Umbrellas can also be used to hold colourful balls! In the next game, children from Green Beans will pick up a card randomly and by looking at the card, will pick up the correct quantity of balls according to the card. There is a combination of two sets of balls and indirectly, they learn about matching of colours/quantity as well as addition. Mathematical development is taking place as they are playing.

To enhance their gross motor and coordination skills, they are challenged to throw the balls into the up-turned umbrellas. This looks easier said than done as the balls bounces out easily. This again is a test of patience for the four-year olds!

WHICH SHAPE?

Lotto games are fun. Matching of colours and shapes is fun. Playing together with friends is also fun. The next game combines all these and make for an even more interesting challenge for our Soya Beans!

In this game, each child picks up a shape randomly and matches it to the Lotto Chart in front. They must match according to the correct shape and colour, an important aspect of math development. They also learn about the names of the shapes such as trapezium, hexagon and rhombus. As we expose them to these shapes, our young children become more aware of the shapes in the environment and can compare them to real objects. A little girl told me “trapezium is like a roof in the house”. She can only tell me this if she knows the term “trapezium”!

MISH MASH OF SUKU KATA

Suku kata forms the basis of the Malay language. Different combinations of suku kata result in different words and meaning. To give the children hands-on experience of the combination of sukukata and their meanings, we give them a mish mash of suku kata cards and challenge them to combine the cards to make meaningful words. Each child will take an object and form the correct word to represent the object. Besides learning and making words, this game helps to refine their fine motor skills and concentration as they paste the cards onto the leaves before arranging them onto a vase.

JUICE UP!

Juice Up looks like a simple game, but it requires a lot of concentration! The objective of the game is to internalize the understanding of accuracy and estimation. The children have to pour the water through a funnel until the water reaches the mark at the bottle. They cannot pour too much or too little water in! When all the bottles are filled, the last team member has to arrange the bottles starting from the one with the least water to the one with the most.

This is a very intense game which requires hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and patience. They also learn about seriation from least to the most which is a good preparation for logical thinking and Math. Lastly, we introduced basic living skills such as using a funnel when pouring through a narrow necked bottle. Doesn’t this game remind you of all the other work that we do in our daily lives, especially writing and colouring, cutting paper or even driving? Don’t you agree that this seemingly simple activity is a great preparation of living skills? I think so!

OBSTACLE RACE

This deceptively simple-looking game is a test of skills and determination. The Navy Beans children have to step on the clogs and balance themselves to move forward. This requires great coordination and concentration as well as perseverance to move forward confidently. Today, they are walking on a new turf because instead of on tiled floor, they will be walking on grass for the first time. They have to learn how to adapt to the new environment to move ahead. Next, they have to patiently use a pair of chopsticks to transfer the clams from one bowl to the other. Besides introducing them to the use of chopsticks, we are refining their fine motor skills and wrist muscles – a perquisite for good writing.

As mentioned earlier, our main objective is character-building. We want to help our children to have a good, positive attitude and to acquire the sustaining power. Let us lay the foundation of determination and courage, especially for our Navy Beans who will be facing a whole new world next year as they embark on their journey to Primary One.

They are not alone - we will guide them along the way!

And spur them on until the very end!

SINK OR FLOAT?

Sink or float? We also face the question in our daily life. If we ponder deeper, some items will float, and later sink when filled with water. We want our children to question themselves and think out of the box. We’ve experienced many different situations with them – filling bottles with water, sand or just being empty; kneading a dough into a ball versus shaping it into a boat, putting a lid horizontally versus vertically into the water - to experiment and see for themselves how each object reacts in different shapes or situations.

Today is a culmination of the experiments we have done over the few weeks and let them experience again which items will sink or float in the water. I’m sure they will discover something new again!

PIRATE PETE’S HIDDEN TREASURE

We, teachers, had a great time formulating this Treasure Hunt. Honestly, it’s something new to us and it got our heads cracking to organize a hunt that involves 21 excitable children who will be running around looking for Pirate Pete’s Hidden Treasure.

This treasure hunt revolves around Pirate Pete, a set of four books that the Navy Beans use as their reading program. There are 5 stations and each station is named after of one the books in the set. The children are divided and move from one station to another.

Station 1 – Pirate Pete Loses His Hat. In this station, the children are given a list of things to find.

Station 2 – Pirate Pete Keeps Fit. Pirate Pete is too fat. He has to either exercise or eat healthier food in order to keep fit. The children randomly choose a card and follow the instruction on the card to be fitter.

Station 3 - Pirate Pete and the Monster. The children are given a puzzle and its corresponding word in Mandarin to solve. The puzzles are lifted from the pictures in this book.

Station 4 – Pirate Pete and the Treasure Island. The children have to draw out their own treasure map based on the instruction given.

Station 5 – Pirate Pete and the Treasure Island. Based on the drawn map, the children have to locate the site of the hidden treasure. They work together to dig up the treasure chest. Then, they have to return to the initial station while the captain of their team look for Pirate Pete. Pirate Pete will then give them the key to the treasure box. Open up the box and discover the treasure inside!

There is surprise in every station as the children have not seen or read any of these instructions given to them today! Everything has been changed and it is a real test of their understanding and skills. This game demands great teamwork, precision and accuracy in reading and following out instructions. It can be very tense and challenging (even for the guardians of the stations) but the end results is very rewarding!

And finally the Goodies Bag and the games for parents and child - a chance for bonding and building long-lasting wonderful memories of this day. Your child will cherish this day as much as my child still does after the last Family Day two years ago!

Till we meet again in the next FAMILY DAY - love and kisses from Little Beans!

Sports and Family Day 2011

2011-11-27T17:34:00.001+08:00

We had a marvelous Sports and Family Day on October 23, 2011. It was at the football field of Kompleks Penyayang Bakti and the weather was sunny - we were worried about the rain the day before!

I would like to share some photos of the event as well as the learning objectives of each sporting event. The theme of the day was Sporting Living Skills, a continuation of the theme we had 2 years ago. This theme was aptly chosen because we want to equip our children with vital living skills which will stand them in good stead for many years to come. Many photos were taken, unfortunately, I cannot download all of them here. However, they are mostly in my Little Beans facebook.

The preparation for the day started 3 months before. We practiced and fine-tuned the activities to make them fun and challenging for the children. We started with simple activities, and built up the difficulty levels as we were approaching the sports day. For example, with the Soya Beans, we introduced them to the basic shapes of circle, triangle and square at the beginning and towards the event, they learnt other shapes such as hexagon, trapezium and rhombus. With the Green Beans, we introduced simple pouring activities and the final activity which was built up over the weeks was pouring water through a funnel into a marked bottle and finally seriating the bottles according to the water level. The Red Beans were introduced to simple suku kata words and eventually building on to more complex words. The Navy Beans - well, they read all about Pirate Pete and finally replicated what they have read into a Treasure Hunt! Not forgetting the songs and the percussion that we put up on that day - these require practice and perseverance. In other words, the whole learning process doesn't start or end with what you see on the sports day, but way before that. And, this is an important journey of learning, both for the children and teachers!

Let's begin with the making of the invitation cards and the preparation of the Goodies Bag!

Decorating the invitation card with crepe paper ribbons.

The cards inviting everyone to "Come to Our Family Day."

All ready to be sent out to Daddy and Mummy.

Working on our Goodies Bag - can't wait for them to be filled with goodies!!!

Need to make it nice and beautiful!

My family and friends as drawn on my bag.

So many goodies, so many bags to fill ... can I have one too?

Next, the practice sessions and the pre-sport rehearsals:

Our super-duper exercise dance!

Kami Anak Malaysia!

The Chorus Bells in action!

Thanks to Grace, our music conductor

Easy does it - requires patience and balancing skills.

Throwing the bouncing balls into the upturned umbrella.

Colourful balls...

Matching the right shape to its partner ... note the hexagon, trapezium, rhombus shapes that they've learnt.

Finding the right suku kata cards to make the words.

Sticking the words onto the vase.

Pouring the water through a funnel until the line.

Requires deep concentration and a steady hand.

Arranging the bottles in sequence.

Walking confidently forward.

Transferring the clams with a pair of chopsticks.

Steadily towards the bowls.

Close-up of the chopsticks.

Sink and float - sort the objects accordingly.

Putting the item in the right box.

One of the stations for the Treasure Hunt.

Ready for the hunt!

Drawing out the map according to the instruction.

Digging out the treasure!

What are we teaching our children? Making a big mess??

Clean up after the mess!!!

Many hands make light work!!!!

Back at the station - THE END!

Rain, rain, go away.

2011-07-10T17:37:00.001+08:00

Instead of talking about the 4 seasons of the world (which I feel our children are not quite ready to comprehend yet), we focused our themes on rain and the rainforest this year. Malaysia is one of the wettest countries in the world and we are also blessed with a rich flora and fauna. In April, we did a unit on Good Morning, Sunshine & Good Night, Sleep Tight. In June, we focused on The Rainforest (which opened up a myriad of discoveries for the teachers, children and myself about the wonders of the majestic rainforest - I'll talk about them in a later post).

The above diagram provides a good explanation on the formation of rain. Another website featuring Drippy, the Raindrop, also provides an interesting take on the rain. When we talked about the water cycle, there were many terms - long words- which were discussed. They are:

water cycle
evaporation
precipitation
condensation
transpiration

The words are rather complicated, but we will revise them as part of our Junior Scientist programme. However, nothings beats having the real rain in the school. We cannot bring the children out into the rain. Instead, we replicated the rain in the classroom.

A steaming glass of hot water is used. The hot steam will evaporate up.

On top of the glass, place a flat plate full of ice over it.

When the hot steam touches the icy cold plate, the vapour will percipitate and turn to water!

Lift up the plate, and we can see droplets of rain falling down1

Fascinating!

For more details, visit this website http://www.drippytheraindrop.com/

Chinese New Year 2011

2011-03-14T16:47:00.002+08:00

Have not been updating as much I would love to ... time seems to fly this year!

Below are some pictures of Chap Goh Mei, our celebration of the Year of the Rabbit.

The Theme Board

Yuks!!!!

2011-02-25T17:46:00.000+08:00

What's this????

My first taste of bitter gourd.

Oh!!! Why does it taste so funny? I don't like it!

Trying very hard to eat the bitter gourd. Teacher says we cannot waste food.

Grape Fruit - really sour!

We like this. It is sweet!

Perfume smells nice and sweet ...

... but certainly not this. Take it away from me!

Yuks!!!

Really yuks!!!!! What is it, anyway?

They are Mandarin orange, ikan bilis, shallots, lemon grass and belacan.

We did Our Five Senses again this year, and had the smell and taste test again. Enjoy the pictures as they children taste or smell the 'goodies' we have for them!

SPIN & SPIN

2011-02-25T17:25:00.000+08:00

It was fun, watching JK and WN playing with the 2 geometric solids. They spun the ovoid and ellipsoid and discovered that both solids can spin and chase them. There was much squeal of delights as they continued to spin the solids and watching the solids go round and round and round.

Although both children were still young (not yet 3), they were engaged in cooperative play, where both were playing together and taking turns. It helps them socially and emotionally. It was a good opportunity for them to learn about the two shapes - now they know for sure that these two solids together with a sphere can roll and spin. Physically, the children had lots of exercise as they run and let the solids chase them! They also refine their fine motor skills as they spin the solids with their fingers. Cognitively, they figured out the best way to spin or roll the solids so that the solids chase could them. Linguistically, both children did not talk much, but there was clearly lots of body language and laughter from this simple activity. Don't you agree that young children learn best through play? The play was so intense that both children concentrated and played for more than 20 minutes!

THE REGGIO EMILIA APPROACH (REA)

2011-02-23T18:05:00.000+08:00

The Reggio Emilia Approach is a project-based, child-centred approach to learning. It is widely acknowledged as one of the best methods of early childhood education in Italy. The teachers or adults in the environment listen to the children and take the cue from them to embark on interesting projects for them to work on.

It is not widely known in Malaysia yet. I would say that it takes a lot of love, patience and understanding to get this approach moving. I am learning and trying to integrate this into my Montessori approach. One of the important factors is a suitable environment for the children to work in. According to the REA, the environment must be pleasing, open and aesthetically beautiful. It is a place of joy, serenity and somewhere for children, teachers and parents to meet, talk and build friendships. The children's learning processes are well-documented and displayed - making learning visible - for parents, teachers and children to ponder on, to enjoy.......it's actually what we have been practising all these years.

I've renovated and extended part of Little Beans to make the learning environment even more conducive. I don't like the idea of having children cooped indoors all the time, not knowing how to work in a natural environment (without air-con). Hence, I've built an open hall on purpose. It is basically an extension of our garden, but with a fan and roof to shield from the direct sun. However, there is plenty of natural light and space for children to roam and explore. I admit that not all children favour this as compared to an air-con room. But, the younger children love playing and working here. The freedom of space appeal to their natural needs. They, in fact, have been using this place too often, so much so that I have to ask them to use indoors. The older children would like to have the 'privilege' of working there as well!

Below are some photos of the new extension. Feel free to drop by for a visit.

The retiled hallway for the children to walk on bare-footed.

Part of the hall

The documentation panels

The whole hall

My two lovely sinks

The most important message of all - The Image of the Child
competent, responsible, expressive, creative, compassionate, independent.
We must keep this image in mind when we work with the children!

No way. The hundred is there.

2011-02-02T22:08:00.000+08:00

The child
is made of one hundred.
The child
has a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marvelling of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.
The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head and the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and Christmas.
They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

Loris Malaguzzi
Founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach

Let's Go to the Theater!

2011-01-31T17:48:00.000+08:00

We are going to the theater on March 9! Last year, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves watching Giraffes Can't Dance. It was an eye-opener and mesmerising experience for the children and myself!

This year, it is Elmer the Elephant, and I look forward to watching it very much. I've sent the details out via the Communication Book. Do let your child join us for the show - it's really good!!! Alternatively, you can bring the whole family for the show. Dates and prices are included in the details for your reference. Or, visit their website www.gardnerANDwife.com for more information.

ENJOY and Happy Chinese New Year!

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-31T17:23:00.000+08:00

BUSY! BUSY! BUSY! It has been a very busy January - there was no time to even take photos of the children. Generally, things settled in time for Chinese New Year. Hope there will not be another round of settling down after CNY!!!

We look forward to new activities in 2011. Despite some 'challenges' getting all the children feel at home, we managed to have the Sunmaid team here to organise a session with us. Audrey, Terence and her team enlightened us on how Sunmaid raisins are processed, why they are good for us and of course, there was a Q and A session, where many children (and 3 teachers) went home happy with many raisins! Everyone got at least a pack of Sunmaid raisin home and we enjoyed the goodness very much!

Terence welcoming the children.

Harvard retelling the story about how Sunmaid is processed.

What's so funny?

Get this right, and you'll get a gift from me!

I've always looked forward to Audrey's visit as her team are good, and they always get the children involved with many activities. Of course, our children love them (or their gifts???) and they are not shy to participate. In fact, most want to take part. Above are just some of the photos taken during the event.

Another event that we will be taking part in together with Audrye's team (Strategic Creative) is a fund-raising campaign with NASOM - The National Autism Society of Malaysia, which will be held in end-February. The event is called Draw to Support Autism, and the main objective is to raise fund to support the activities organised by this society. This is held in conjunction with World Autism Awareness Month, and selected kindergartens will participate by drawing and colouring pictures based on the theme "Helping Children Around the World." No participating fee is required. However, children are urged to seek for sponsorship for their art piece. It can be a token sum of RM5.00 or more, depending on the generosity of parents. This sponsorship will be donated to the cause of autism. I'll fill you in on the details later, but I hope that parents that support this noble cause and help our children learn about fund-raising, and being caring for the less fortunate.

If you wish to have more information on autism and NASOM, please feel free to visit this site : www.nasom.com.my

Cooking the Stone Soup

2010-12-27T17:22:00.001+08:00

We cooked the stone soup some time in August, 2010. Why did I bring it up now? Because I've always wanted to talk about it but somehow the internet connection back then was bad.

I did this in conjunction with the Merdeka celebrations. This is a very good story about working together for the benefit of all. In this story, the villagers were wary of strangers and selfish. They kept to themselves and never shared anything. They did not mingle, led lonely lives and did not care about each other. Along came three monks, asking for some food. All the villagers closed their doors on them. One of the monk took a big pot of water, boiled it and put some stones into the pot. A curious girl asked him what this was all about. The monk explained that he was cooking stone soup, but it would taste better if someone could add some vegetables in it. The girl brought a cabbage. Slowly, one by one the villagers contributed something to the pot of boiling water - carrots, corns, chicken, potatoes, celery, onions, etc. The soup was delicious because everyone contributed something to make it better, tastier. The villagers shared the soup and understood the meaning of sharing and working as a team. They led happier lives from that day onwards.

I wanted to use the story to illustrate the importance of respecting each other and to work as a team. We are a country rich in cultural diversity and we should embrace the differences positively. The children may not understand the importance yet. It is rather unfortunate that Little Beans is predominantly Chinese but we will continue to put this message across.

Having said this, we had a great time preparing and cooking the stone soup (minus the stones, of course!) It was the first time some of them were cutting, smelling and tasting celery and onions and they didn't really appreciate the smell. Ha! Ha! We had a big pot of soup that everyone shared.

The ingredients for the soup - waiting to be cut!

Cutting the celery

The celery has a strong smell!

Be careful, don't cut the hands!

Ahh.... the carrots are hard!

Onions - the smell is too strong for my liking!

Easy does it!

Our bubbling pot of "stone soup"! Delicious!

Good-Bye Navy Beans 2010!

2010-12-27T14:23:00.002+08:00

So long, farewell!

I bade farewell to the Navy Beans in November. The children are very close to my heart, as some of them have been with me for 4 years! I see them grow before my eyes. I wiped their tears when they cried, reprimanded them when they were mischievous and shared in their joys when they were happy, and of course was very proud of their achievement through the years. I love them all, they are my daughters and sons.

No matter how heavy my heart is, I know that they are ready for the world ahead of them. They are confident, competent and will strive to do their very best!

Before we ended the term, we did a unit on Eric Carle's books . One of the books was A House for Hermit Crab. This book represents the journey that the children have taken in Little Beans and the new possibilities that they will face as they continue on their journey into primary school.

"Hermit Crab, having outgrown his old shell, sets out to find a new one. He's a bit frightened at first, but over the course of the next year acquires not only a shell, but also an array of sea creatures to decorate, clean, and protect his new home. The story ends with him once again outgrowing his shell. He finds a new tenant to look after his friends and sets off on a new adventure - a big empty shell with "so many possibilities". This simply-told fable is replete with gentle messages about growing, moving on, accepting new challenges, interpendence and building self confidence." - by Luanna Toth, School Library Journal, June/July 1998.

The posted video will give you an idea on the richness of this book!

Just like the hermit crab, I wish all of you the best! It has been great being your teacher. I hope that you'll love me as your teacher as much as I love all of you as my learners. Good Luck, Good Health, God Bless You!

I'll like to dedicate the following to you. Come back to visit.

I'm a little like that hermit crab, I'm growing in my shell;

Soon enough I'll move along saying goodbye to preschool's bell.

I'm a little like that hermit crab, I need the safety of my shell.

Yet every month I'm bigger, the length of my clothes will tell.

I'm a little like that hermit crab, this school is my ocean floor.

There are endless possibilities, so much world to be explored.

I'm a little like that hermit crab, I'm stepping out real soon.

Please applaud my courage, even small bells ring a tune.

I'm a little like that hermit crab, and though it's sad to be parted;

I know the world awaits me - and I can't wait to get started!

Go Green, Little Scientists (2)

2010-12-27T12:21:00.001+08:00

Besides the solar toys, we also made a few toys powered by rubber band and air.

My flipping butterfly.

Making my flipping butterfly - powered by rubber band

The power of boomerangs

Letting the birds flap and fly in the air!

Birds that can flap their wings and fly - powered by rubber band.

Get set, ready, aim and shoot! One of their favourite.

Compressed air in the air canon - shoot the enemy down!

Toy car that runs on air!

Blowing air into the balloon to power the toy car.

Jet powered by balloon.

Go Green, Little Scientists!

2010-12-27T10:36:00.003+08:00

We had a five-day camp during the last week of November. The objective of the camp was to educate the children on the need to preserve energy and not to waste it. We talked about different energy such as electricity, batteries as well as solar-powered and mechanically powered energy.

6-in-1 Educational Solar Kit to make a windmill, revolving plane, airboat, plane, car and puppy.

The camp was fun, interactive and enlightening, even to us teachers because we made many toys that can move and work using mostly mechanical energy. The highlight of this camp is a 6-in-1 solar energy toy that can move when it is powered by the sun. This toy is something like those car toys where you need to tear out the pieces and construct them to form the car. Needs lots of patience but most of the children can do it by the third day! Wonderful toy to develop concentration and fine motor skills as well.

Excerpts of children in the midst of building their toys:-

catching the sun rays .... to power the windmills

I love these two videos!

Look at her gleeful face as she sees the plane revolving!

It was fun!

The Mighty Flying Machines

2010-12-27T09:44:00.001+08:00

We went on a field trip to TUDM in mid-November. TUDM stands for Tentera Udara DiRaja Malaysia or The Royal Malaysia Air Force. There were about 50 children together with some parents, teachers and a tour guide.

As soon as we reached TUDM, we were awestruck to see so many mighty flying machines around us. There were airplanes, fighter jets and helicopters. The children could take photos around and in some of the aircraft. Many, if not all of them, were excited to go from one plane to another, taking pictures. They even took turns going into one of the cockpits.

The tour guide led us from one flying aircraft to another, giving us the names of the machines amidst the din and noise. It was rather noisy with excited children's voices from other schools as well. Not much information was given about the planes.

We also visited a museum showing us the history of the Malaysian Air Force plus replicas of planes, jets and helicopters. We spent about half an hour making a paper plane inside the museum.

The awesome jet at the entrance

Eager to go in for the trip

The objective of this trip was met - showing and exposing the children to the various air crafts.

Driving the helicopter

Look at the mighty plane behind us!

Inside one of the planes

At the cockpit

Making paper plane inside the museum

Looking at the model airplanes

Lunch at McDonalds.

Coming back from the trip, I asked the children if they enjoyed themselves. Most answered yes as they were excited to see so many planes in one place. However, Joshua was quiet and I asked him why.

He answered , "I don't like this trip. I don't like it because I cannot hear what she (the tour guide) is saying. I want to hear so that I can learn more. I cannot learn new things. I just see the planes and take photos. Huijie and Cheryl also feel the same. She must speak louder so that we can hear. I like Vitagen better because we get to learn new things!"

I asked again,"You like Vitagen because you have a lot of food to eat, right?"

Joshua replied, "No, I like Vitagen because I learn that good bacteria is good for tummy ache and can help us to be healthy always. I like Vitagen because the lady spoke loudly and clearly. We can hear and learn new things!"

His remarks struck a chord!   Children are competent and can construct their own learning. The children, especially from Navy Beans, have always been encouraged to ask, query and investigate in order to learn new things. They are curious and depend on the teachers and adults to facilitate their learning. I felt that I have let them down that day.

The younger ones were excited and contented to just see  the planes. The older ones wanted to learn more, but the tour guide did not give much explanation and spoke in a barely audible voice. Looking back, I remember seeing Joshua and Huijie trying their best to listen to her. Besides telling the names of the planes, there was not much explanation and the children were also rushed through the exhibits in the museum.

As Joshua said, they did not learn much compared to the field trip to Vitagen. The staff at Vitagen spoke and explained to the children clearly and with respect. Even the 4-year olds were engrossed in the explanation about good vs bad bacteria.   One of the five -year olds remembered what she learnt and asked her Mum to get Vitagen for her brother who was having tummy ache. Such deep impression from the field visit!

After today's incident, I am reminded never to take the children's learning for granted!

Deepavali Celebration

2010-12-27T00:36:00.000+08:00

We celebrated Deepavali with a fashion show by some teachers and children. We made a KOLAM and wished everybody a peaceful and happy Festival Of Lights, plus enjoyed a sumptuous meal of Indian delicacies.

Part time models.

It was fun, showing off the beautiful Indian costume.

Thorn among the roses

Happy Deepavali, may you be blessed with good health and happiness always.

Making the kolam.

The completed kolam

Helping ourselves to the Indian sweets

The Indian food that we had.

Nice and sweet - for a sweet year ahead!

Rapunzel Came to Visit

2010-12-27T00:12:00.001+08:00

Rapunzel came just before our school concert. Actually, this was brought to us by the event organisers representing Disney and Auntie Audrey and her team are no stranger to our children. They have been here quite a number of times introducing us to Disney movies like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and the Princess and the Frog last year.

They came to show us the movie preview, prizes for everyone as as well many fun-filled activities. I'm glad that the children were not shy and in fact, were eager to participate. Shannon and Huijie read a short story in English and Bahasa Malaysia respectively,clearly and confidently. I was very proud of them. The children and teachers had a great time.

Telling the children the story of Rapunzel - the princess with very loooooooong hair.

Perfect answering a question about the story.

Watching the movie preview.

Anson really enjoyed himself during the session.

Shannon reading the story in English.

Huijie read the Bahasa Malaysia version.

Prizes for a job well-done!

Hello Again!

2010-12-26T23:32:00.000+08:00

Hello! It has been quite some time since my last post. Really sorry as I have been caught up with many non-stop activities; all the way until school closes on December 17.

I would like to give a brief update on some of the happenings so far, not necessarily in the correct time line. I will give more details on some of the events in my later posts.

Staff dinner at Tenji. Thanks for a successful concert and 2010!

We had fun in Malacca - a good time to know each other better. Now, we are all charged up for 2011!

Rapunzel and Flint came to visit!

We celebrated Deepavali too! Look at our beautiful costumes.

Amazing planes and helicopters at TUDM

Making our own planes at the Little Scientist Go Green camp

Our year-end party.

Workshop on the Reggio Emilia Approach (REA)

Making and eating sushi...

The Stone Soup - richness in diversity

Bananas! Bananas! Bananas!

Baking Christmas cookies

Saying good-bye to our dear Navy Beans

Renovation in progress

The new look of Taska Little Beans Montessori

Colours of Our World - October 31, 2010

2010-11-12T17:24:00.000+08:00

Many pictures were taken - close to 800. These are just some of them. Don't worry, parents, your child will take home a CD of the pictures and video next week.

The Chorus Bell

Requires deep concentration and team spirit in order to play the song together.

They performed two songs - The Mickey Mouse March and Jala Ikan

Good training for order of self, as the children walk in line, wait for their turn as well as putting the bells in place without making any sound.

Our butterflies, bees and flowers waiting to dance

Gently flying low and high...

The 3-year olds with their hoops (prized possession!)

so pure, so colourful...

Wave of Colours

Sailor Blue

Oh dear, my partner does not want to dance!

Never mind, I continue on my own!

The 12 Dancing Princesses

A Ballroom of Colours

Joyful Colours

Colours of the Wind

Group Singing

The teachers who made this happen. Thanks a lot!

Our backdrop.

Yeah! We had fun!!!

Colours of Our World - preconcert practice

2010-10-09T18:20:00.011+08:00

October 31, 2010 - the day of our concert. Our theme this year is Colours of Our World and we invite everybody to join us for a morning of fun and music.

We have worked hard, preparing and making our own invitation cards. We enjoyed staining the paper plates with crepe paper. We like crunching, twisting and gluing the flowers and leaves onto the plate. We've tried our best writing out the invitations ourselves. We glued on the colours of the rainbow. We had a great time, preparing this for you!

We practised and practised, yet it's not hard work for us. It was fun! We learnt about teamwork, showmanship, music and rhythm. We learnt when to stop and move with grace. It was difficult at first, and we were clumsy. But now, everything is slowly falling into place.

We take great pride in giving the best on our concert day!

Soya Beans - dancing in their hoops.

Shhhhhhh..........

March and stomp!

Shhhhhhh....... again!

The 12 dancing princesses

The flag dancers

Dancing with bells...

Dancing with poms-poms

Butterfly, butterfly...

Sailors in the Sea

Singing "I want to be your friend"

Remember to join us. We look forward to meeting all of you!

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

2010-10-09T17:22:00.007+08:00

The pupa

The eggs

Butterfly, butterfly

Gently flying low and high

Butterfly, butterfly,

Always friendly, never shy

Say to the flower, "Good Morning, Good Morning,

See how colourful are my wings."

Love the song, love the butterfly. I also like Ryan's lantern which depicts the life-cycle of a butterfly. The eggs, the caterpillar, pupa/chrysalis and the butterfly are all beautifully created onto the lantern.

See the flowers, the eggs on the leaf as well as the caterpillar.

The caterpillar made from tissue - there are a few of them 'crawling' on the lantern.

Also, beautiful butterflies and pupa. Very interesting and life-like.

We are also very fortunate to have a lime tree that attracts butterflies to lay their eggs on the leaves. Our children have the opportunity to observe the life cycle of a butterfly. The transformation is fascinating and really, nothing beats learning about this hands-on.

Photos below are taken over a period of 2 weeks. We patiently observed and waited ....

The caterpillar

The pupa or chrysalis, hanging by a silken thread

The pupa turning brown.

Finally, the butterfly breaking free!

One boy reminded me that the wings are symmetrical - glad he remembered that I told him so a few months ago as we did an art project, blotting an art paper with paint on one side and then folding it so that the paint can be transferred to the another side - hence the explanation on symmetrical.

Lantern Making Competition.

2010-10-02T20:50:00.012+08:00

So many lanterns, so many choices....We had our annual lantern-making competition. The objective - for families to work together and come up with a lantern, using recycled or low-cost materials. We received over 50 lanterns, and glad to say that almost all are using recycled materials. They are very creative and simply amazing. Many parents and children appreciated the time spent together making the lanterns. Of course, some were simply stressed out, but nevertheless created stunning masterpieces!

Below are just some of the lanterns. Sorry, I could not upload all the photos here.

The life cycle of a butterfly.

The Traffic Lights

Honey Bee

Mr and Mrs Transformer???

Mickey Mouse and a traditional lantern

Ryanair Aeroplane

1Malaysia

The Army Tank and the soldiers

Butterfly and Peacock

A Barrel of Sunshine

Transformer up close

Little Beans Go Around the World

A Rolling Lantern ...it turns and turns as you push it.

So many, many more!

And voting for the best 3 is serious business!

Children learn about voting and democracy too ... see how they discuss their choice.

Lanterns from the Soya Beans and Green Beans (3 & 4 year olds)

Lanterns from the Red Beans (5 year olds)

Lanterns from the Navy Beans (6 year olds)

And these are the winners!

In fact, everyone is one!

Making snowskin mooncakes

2010-09-26T17:07:00.007+08:00

September 19 - the day we made the snowskin mooncakes in Little Beans! A day of fun and laughter.

We made three types this year - pandan, dragon fruit and orange snowskin with red beans filling.

The dough coloured by natural dragon fruit (pink), pandan juice (green) and orange (yellow).

And the red bean paste.

How to make? First, flatten the dough and put the paste in the middle.

Wrap dough carefully around the paste and roll until smooth.

Place the dough with filling into the wooden mould. Press gently.

Knock side of mould against a wooden board until dough is loosen. Gently tap out the mooncake.

Viola - decorate mooncake as desired!

The different wooden moulds.

And the newer, modern plastic mould.

Hard at work, decorating the mooncakes.

What's so funny?

Press out the dough.

The finished mooncake - yummy!!!!

Solid, Liquid and Gas

2010-08-22T18:43:00.004+08:00

The Navy Beans (6 year olds) did a unit on water last week. We discussed the various forms of water as well as the water cycle. As an extension, I also explained hurricane and tornado. Never knew much about the differences until I checked the info from the web.

Ying asked me how I know so much. I replied that I didn't know everything, but can find out through reading as well as searching for the information from the web, which Josh asked "from Google Search?"

It was quite funny as children as young as 6 know about Google Search. I promptly assigned them to go home and ask Mum or Dad to help them look up for info on hurricanes and tornadoes. Hmmmm... I wonder how many will come back with the task tomorrow???

Back to our science lesson, I showed them the difference between solid and liquid. Most things such as stones or spoons are solids and will not change shape over time. Compare this with ice cubes (water in solid form) which will melt and change its shape into that of its container.

We also looked at the different 'shape' of water in liquid form when contained in different beakers, containers, plates. There is liquidity and no definite shape.

I've filled up a balloon with water and placed it in the freezer. Passing the frozen balloon around, we have a great time feeling the cold, smooth, wet balloon.

We next peeled of the balloon, and viola, we have a solid ice in the shape of the balloon. We placed it inside a ziplock bag and leave the ice there for several hours.

Wanted the children to observe the shape of the balloon ice after a few hours. Of course, they predicted that the ice will melt and take on the shape of the bag.

Also showed them hot steam arising from hot water - that's water in gas form when it gets very hot.

Can't really see the vapour from the picture, but visible to the children and now they know the terms solid, liquid and gas (vapour) well - thanks to the hands-on experiments under our Junior Scientist Programme.

My Green Beans 2

2010-08-22T18:15:00.010+08:00

Green Beans 2 also did a water relay. Easy at first, with no obstacles but they have to carefully fill up the bottles with water from the jug.

Later on, their teacher added some hoops as obstacles for them to pass through before finally reaching the bottles.

This activity requires a lot of concentration, good hand-eye coordination as well as patience.

Good teamwork too and notice how the children atthe back were waiting for their turn? Another test of their patience.

My Soya Beanies (2)

2010-08-22T17:54:00.006+08:00

The children have been learning about merdeka, Jalur Gemilang, bunga raya or hibiscus, the people of Malaysia, etc as part of our theme on National Day.

Some of the 3 year olds can proudly tell you that the name of our national flag is Jalur Gemilang.
Below is one of the many flags that we have done - too bad the picture is not clear as the background is too bright.

Basically, the children coloured the crescent and star with oil pastel before colouring over with tempera paint. Next, they glued red and white crepe paper to represent the stripes.

In the meantime, another group of three-year olds were making penguins - an activity associated with the letter P. They proudly came to my office and asked me to marvel at their work and to take pictures! (They saw me taking pictures of the Jalur Gemilang and did not want to be left out!)

After some hard work ... it's time to tuck in for a well-deserved meal. Note that all the children are highly independent and can eat by themselves. Even the younger ones aged 2.5 can feed themselves, occasionally needing help. Love to see them enjoying their meals.

Even Perfect, our friend from Nigeria, has no problems eating our 'nasi lemak' - pandan-flavoured rice (no santan though) with saffron carrot-potato-chicken cubes, eggs and cucumber!

Yummy!!!

My Soya Beanies (1)

2010-08-22T16:34:00.011+08:00

There are many of them now - in fact close to 20! Fortunately, I have 4 committed and passionate teachers to guide and take care of them.

Below are just some of the activities that they have been up to lately ... I was not always around to take snapshots of their activities and there are many more that are not captured!!!

WATER GAMES - scoop a ball and put it in the correct pail, according to the colours. Great for colour recognition and matching.

The balls in the pool, up close.

The children have to scoop up a ball and put in the correct pail with the corresponding label.

Very gently, and carefully scoping up the ball and dropping it into the pail.

These are the pails with the colour labels. Most children of 2 and 3 understand the game well!

Yellow ball to yellow-labeled pail.

Aaaahhhhh.... if only I can go inside the pool!!

Let me scoop first ... I want the red ball!

But, somehow got the yellow one!

Yeah!!! We are the winners! Eh, how come some children are in the pool?

Another game which they played was pouring coloured water into coloured pails - another good matching game as well as enhancing hand-eye coordination.

Listening to Teacher Vicky as she gives out the instruction.

Yeah!!! We are ready. Let's start now, OK?

Slowly, gently... don't spill the water.

Faster .... I'm waiting for my turn!

Ko Ko, can you help me afterwards?

The Kissing Hand

2010-08-22T10:55:00.004+08:00

I've been searching for many books online recently and this is one of the great books for children. However, nothing beats having the book physically, for the child or adult to flip through, to discuss as well as to admire. Also, to smell.... the smell of fresh books is always exciting!

I personally have all the three books which I've shared online, and I've read them to children of Little Beans too. Most, if not all, loved the books. There are many more... Green Eggs and Ham, Are You My Mother?, the Little Princess series, We are Going on a Bear Hunt, A Colour of My Own, Fish is Fish etc ... and of course, the Eric Carle books.

The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn, is an excellent book to ease away separation anxiety and to comfort a child who is leaving home for school for the first time. There are two other books by Penn, the Kiss Goodbye and a Pocket Full of Kisses. Enjoy the story!

Goodnight Moon

2010-08-17T20:42:00.004+08:00

Another children's classic - Goodnight Moon. I read this to Joshua when he was a baby and he loved it then. He still remembers the book now - that's the wonders of literacy and story-telling!

This book is beautiful as it sets a very subtle, calming tone to wind down for the night. Notice how the pictures gets darker and darker as the little bunny is dozing off to sleepland ...... zzzzzz.

The Very Hungry Caterpiller

2010-08-17T20:42:00.003+08:00

I want to share this video I found in You Tube - The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It's a children's classic by Eric Carle, and we will be doing a theme on his books in September. I've always loved his books and want our children to get to know them too. This will be the second time we are doing this theme in four years.

ART ON COLOURS OF OUR WORLD

2010-08-08T13:32:00.011+08:00

The above art was done by my eldest son when he was 12. I've asked him to help me come up with a banner for the school, and this is what he has done. It was done in acrylic, and was not easy as the paint dries very fast. Although it was meant to be for our theme on occupation, it is also apt for Colours of the World, as our world consists of many diverse cultures and races, and we should love and respect each other. Only then will we achieve harmony and greater beauty for all.

Art has always been an integral part of our curriculum. That is why we have two experts in this field to teach, guide and lead our children. Creative arts such as music and movement, story-telling and drawing/painting/craft are all ways of self-expression, instilling discipline as well as encouraging the children to see out of the box (cliche though it may sound!) so that they do not excel only academically.

The following are some of the work that we have done in relation to Colours of the World.

LOLLIPOPS - the whirls of the lollipop depicts the world in motion. The lollipop carries the message of my world as a sweet, colourful and beautiful one. Children love the colours and the candy-sweetness of lollipops. (Fortunately, they know that too much lolli is no good for teeth!)

This 3D craft gives the children opportunity to scrunch the cellophane paper and glue them onto the art block. Great for fine motor skill, hand-eye coordination and developing patience and concentration.

Printing using okra or ladies fingers. Somehow the children have the patience to meticulously print each okra beautifully onto the art block.

Non-objective art - arts that is not representational. It eliminates the idea of depth and instead focus on composing a harmonious arrangement of grids, shapes and colours. Beautiful creation from the children. Most use their intuition to come up with the masterpieces as they were all given a free hand to compose their own piece.

The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater is a marvellous book about not conforming to standard norms and living up to our individuality. It tells the story of Mr Plumbean who dared to change his house according to his personality, despite objections from his neighbours. "My house is me and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams."

After telling them the story, I encouraged the Navy Beans to draw me their dream house. This is what they have!

Everyone's is different, although there were many castles from the girls. All wanted a lovely house, filled with warmth and love.

Rachel's house is a colourful, checked house.

Gavin's is a submarine!

Shannon's is a candy-sweet and every thing nice! Notice the little girl at the bottom right.

Another book that we discussed was Color Dance by Ann Jonas. This is a very good book that introduces colour-mixing as well as names of different shades of green, purple and orange. I want the children to learn names of colours beyond the common ones such as vermilion, chartreuse and magenta.

My next project is to let the children mix their own colours to form the above palette of blue, aquamarine, green, chartreuse, yellow, marigold, orange, vermilion, red, magenta, purple and violet.

COLOURS OF OUR WORLD

2010-08-08T13:31:00.017+08:00

COLOURS OF OUR WORLD - that's our theme for the last two weeks of July. There are so many interesting activities that we can do with regard to this theme. Incidentally, this is also the theme for our concert this year.

We wanted to highlight that our world is made up of a myriad of colours. These colours are often taken for granted, unless we take the time to sit down and ponder on their beauty. Children are more receptive and observant to the changes of colours around them. Unfortunately, as we grow older and busier, we forgot to admire the beauty of nature. Remember the time you are driving in the car, or outside in the porch. Who will be the first to notice a rainbow in the sky? Usually, it's a child .... We are always in a hurry, and in the process hurry our children along. I know I am guilty of this!

Colours create different emotions. Let us be aware of this, and let us use colours to depict our emotion positively. Take for example, red. Red can be a colour of courage and love, at the same time, it can be a colour of anger and danger. Green represents life, a new beginning but it is also a colour of jealousy. Blue is full of optimism, hope but on the negative side, it can be a sad, sad colour. What did we choose to do? How do we want to represent these colours to the children? Positively, of course. We want them to see the world as a colourful, beautiful place to live in and cherish, but I think we should also be responsible to nurture and guide them on the possible dangers - take care of our planet and keep it clean and safe for future generations. Also, red as a danger sign is important for safety reasons- the red at traffic lights means STOP.

There are endless activities that we can do and we will continue to do so through the years. However, below are some of them. Not all are shown, though!

We started by getting the children involved in created the Tree - important for sustaining our planet with fresh air. The leaves are green, depicting life and growth.

The final theme board - many leaves, flowers, butterflies and insects.

The children and teachers also created many items, representing the objects around us.

We have created a 'rainbow' inside the school. Children have a visual impression of the colours of the rainbow and know the sequence of the colours very well.

The wall on the left depicts Colours Of Little Beans - all our children are there!

We did colour-mixing (2 primary to create a secondary colour) with food coloring in water, in milk (beautiful swirling effect) as well as

cellophane papers as shown above and below.

We played colour games on colourful mat, tossing bean bags, colourful dice, jumping or walking on the different colours, etc.

We looked and studied different colourful objects, some real and some made, such as the rubber fruits and utensils above.

We made our own rainbow and dance with them!

We even caught a rainbow using a basin of water and mirror!

We've done so many activities that are not listed here as well such as blowing bubbles, singing songs, reading children's classics such as Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss, Colour Dance, Freight Train and a amazing book titled The Big Orange Splot!

Last, but not least, the teachers also showed the children different colours of salt and sugar. Have you ever noticed the different shades of brown and white sugar or the actual colour of different salt?

FRUITS GALORE

2010-08-08T13:31:00.013+08:00

How to I open this mangosteen???

The MPs and VIPs have been having many fruit parties and feasts recently. So, I think, why not us??? It'll be a great opportunity to introduce them the the variety of fruits from Malaysia. All the children had the chance to sample various fruits (besides apples and oranges), unfortunately, I was not around all the time to capture these with my camera. These are just snippets of what happened during the various fruit parties... which we had at different days of the week.

We introduced mangosteen, rambutans, water apples as well as longan, guavas, kiwi and papayas and bananas to the children. Some have not eaten rambutan or mangosteen before and were hesitant to try. Some, of course, wanted more!

My six-year olds were amused when I played the guessing game with them involving the mangosteen. How many pulps of flesh can you guess without opening up the mangosteen?
Wild guesses from 6 to 20 came from the children. I showed them the 'petals' at the bottom of the mangosteen and explained that whatever the number of petals is shown is equivalent to the number of pulps inside. And, a mangosteen usually have 4 to 5 pulps only!

A fruit picnic... and a great tasting begins. Too bad, the King of Fruit is not around.

Any sponsors?

Teacher Yvonne, can we have some more, please?

What is that funny-looking fruit? Does not look like a queen at all!

Looking and comparing the different seeds of the fruits

How long more do we have to wait???

SHADOW PLAY

2010-08-08T13:30:00.005+08:00

We did a unit on shadow and reflection as part of our Junior Scientist programme. This is what the children and I discovered:

Shadows are created when light passed through an opaque object. Shadow is darker when the object is more opaque and is lighter when the object is translucent. It is hardly visible when the light passed through a transparent object.

The shadow becomes bigger and blur it it is far from the light source but becomes smaller and more distinct when it is nearer to the light.

We had a great time discovering all these through our shadow play and even created a storyline
to go along with our props.

Wise old owl, wise old owl,

In the tree, in the tree

Whoooooo are you thinking of?

Whooooooo are you thinking of?

Is it me? Is it me?

We also talked about reflections from mirror, a basin of water, pot lids, etc. I explained that we can see what is not visible directly to our eyes through mirrors, such as those used in a submarine. One such equipment is the periscope.

We went outside and looked (spied) the happenings in the dining room through our hand-made periscope. Amazing discovering for the children as well as myself!