Introducing our first Artist....Lyn Taylor

Well, what a hit!! Lyn Taylor came with BIG bags of goodies and many of us were VERY curious to see what was in those bags. She had bought in giant pine cones, paint, and glitter to make very amazing Christmas decorations.

Lyn explained the process, while the children listened intently. Great to see everyone showing such awesome respect for our visitor.

The concentration that showed on the children's faces while they made sure all the pieces on the pine cone had 'white snow' on them was priceless!

Once they were all covered, we got to sprinkle glitter all

over the cone. I think this might have been the children's favourite part!

Lyn was very kind and left some of her pinecones (which came all the way from Tekapo) to share with the afternoon kindy kids too!

I just think it's so special to be able to share our Kindergarten with members of the community! Keep checking the board for upcoming visiting artists. And if you know anyone that could share some of their talents with us, we would love it if they could come along.

My goodness...Look how busy we have been!!

The beginning of the week saw the Kindergarten children go...BALLOON CRAZY! We were lucky enough to have all the balloons donated to us from the Winton Open Day. How lucky were we? The chidlren certainly enjoyed them and I think being able to pop them was one of the hightlights! A big thanks to the organisers for your generosity, it was greatly appreciated!!

Also this week, our art term focus is well underway and with Christmas fast approaching we are developing our artistic ability and creating some masterpeices that could possibly be used as Christmas presents for the children's family...SHHH, it's a surprise!

So ripping was on the agenda, lots and lots of ripping!!! Using a fantastic idea out of a recent 'Littles' magazine, the children (both morning and afternoon) began the process of making their very own paper mache bowls.

By ripping up LOADS of coloured paper we will work on creating bowls for each child to take home as a Christmas gift. Morning children are already well through the process with many colouful bowls drying on the project room window sill. I must say, they look fabulous! Afternoon children next week will work on soaking their ripped up paper and mixing in the glue...Can't Wait!

Don't forget to check out all the wonderful happenings in the Kindergarten, and if anyone knows of any local artists that could come in and share some of their knowledge, of just 'create' with the children let either Judy or Kylie know.

Thanks and keep creating,

Kylie and Judy!

Tour of Southland - GO GO GO!!!

Tour of Southland is once again upon us...

What an awesome event for Southland!

We trundled out the door at Kindergarten and made our way down to the starting line.

We even managed to source some flags from Power Net (one of the major sponsors of the event). Thanks Deklyn for handing them out.

The Main St of Winton was certainly filled with heaps of hustle and bustle...the bikers were doing their warm-ups, police cars were making sure everyone was safe, and it was so cool to see some familiar faces from both Winton School and St Thomas' School there too :) !

Be sure to check out the news on the telly and the local newspapers...Winton Kindergarten might make an appearance!!

Thanks to everyone who joined us,we couldn't do it without you!

Once the Tour of Southland had departed we ventured down to see Willie Solomon at the library, he is soooo cool and the children were fixated on all the stories he shared with us...wasn't it lucky that he managed to find his pie!! I wonder if there were still some of those bees in there.....

We invited Willie to come and visit Winton Kindergarten too, so keep an eye out for when he is scheduled to visit!

Great day had by all, now we just need to get prepared for Limehills pet day on Monday!!

Can't wait

Totally FREAKY!!!!

Well it's that time of year once again and we all know how we just LOVE to dress up here at Winton Kindergarten, so a FREAKY FRIDAY was in order.

The children and parents were in awe as they entered our lair, full of anticipation of what awaited them!

Even 'Bones' our resident skeleton was there to greet everyone at the door!! He told us how absolutely excited he was to be apart of the celebrations!! How did you like his dress-up? He managed it all by himself...Totally freaky!!!

Judy and Kylie were blown away at all the effort that was put in by everyone!! The costumes were out of this world and we had the most freakiest morning tea we ever did see...bloodied fingers, blood spiders, worm jelly, and even the most magnificent toffee spider web. It really makes the day when we see how much work has gone into such a fun-filled occasion. And the children just love it.

The crazy blue bread turned out alright too, and what do you know...according to the children, it still tasted like bread!! Fancy that.

Bring on the next dress up day I say...We always have so much fun!!!

Cheers,

Kylie and Judy

Takahe Time

Welcome Back everyone !!!

... to be Creative is our Dispositional Planning for this term, and with that we have challenged the children to create their own mosaic Takahe ... complete with mosaic habitats. We plan to enter them into the Mitre 10 Takahe Rescue Kid's Art Competition ... they look fantastic. Keep an eye out in Winton Mitre 10 - competition closes 4 Nov. We have also put a challenge out to all our families to help us with our planning this term. Do you know of any artists (and remember The Arts are huge) that you could ask to come into Kindy this term and show the children their talents? Could be stone carving, card making/scrap booking, weaving etc. Please let Kylie, Judy or Courtney know. Would love to get lots o& lots of local entities into Kindy.

Keep looking at your Parent Pockets there are lots & lots of updates at the mo; T-Shirts orders are coming in thick & fast - orders close 21 Oct. Kindy Photos now 2 Nov.

Have a great week.

Cheers

Judy, Kylie & Courtney

How do I feel today?

How do you feel today? We have been watching video 4 of Amazing Me and we have had lots of discussions in our Morning buzz groups about how and what makes us feel happy, sad, grumpy or glad. Our biggest perspective is for young children to say why ... enabling feelings to be acknowledged. Videos are available to everyone to watch at home just ask Judy or Kylie. Thanks to everyone for your input ... the children are beginning to know their addresses and phone numbers and are sharing with us what makes them AMAZING ... and they are !!!

Afternoon children's beans have sprouted and are now under the veranda for everyone to watch the amazing scientific horticultural concept of propagation. We have had many parents asking about our Five Beans story. It is available through the REAP library ... it is fantastic. Another story we have read to the children is 10 Seeds - also available on request. And this week the children have been cutting out and sequencing ... from seed to plant. Well Done everyone. If you would like a copy for your munchkin to cut out at home don't hesitate to ask Kylie or Judy.

Green Fingers!

Yes, we certainly have been getting our hands dirty over the past week!! Since sourcing all the seeds and seedlings from the garden centre the children have been buzzing about gardening and planting!

Our lily bulb that was kindly donated to us by Sharon at the garden centre has gone in a pot. We have also planted seeds, which many of the children have taken home to care for, before bringing them back to kindy to become fully established in our garden plots. And we have also been propagting beans just like the story "Five Beans". My goodness we have been busy!!!

...what do all plants need to grow again?? Oh yeah, that's right...water, sun and lots of love :)!

It was very exciting to come back to kindy today after the weekend and see tiny shoots sprouting from the bean seeds!!! Make sure you keep an eye on them as they continue to grow. I wonder if we can grow a beanstalk like Jack???

A walking we did go...a planting we will do!

What an adventure!!

With the arrival and assembly of our new vegetable plots Judy and I thought we had better source some seeds. So....an excursion was on the agenda.

We talked about what we might plant in the garden

...sunflowers

...carrots

...peas

...broccoli

Oh yea...and beans! I wonder if we can grow a beanstalk?

Then off we went, it's was so awesome to see everyone keeping themselves super safe, especially when we crossed the roads!! Well done everybody.

The fish were definitely the highlight of the trip and many of the children congregated around the pond. How many were there again?? Probably not as many now as there was when we arrived :) oops!

Guess what we will be busy doing for the next few weeks with all our seeds, seedlings, fertiliser, and dirt. And how cool, Sharon the Garden Centre owner donated some Lily bulbs for the Kindy too.

Can't wait!

Maori Language Week - Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori

Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou Katoa.

Well Maori Language week went off with a bang at Winton Kindergarten.

We had healthy heart waiata - "Paki Paki", The Kei o Wai game, The "Haka" playing on You Tube and lets not forget the magnificent Taniwha pictures that were produced in Kekeno group.

Hoiho also practiced making faces, Taniwha faces for the boys and Pukana faces for the girls. Be sure to ask your child what they are all about, it's very very cool! What a great appreciation the children have for our native language and customs.

The bi-cultural focus will continue to become an intergral part of the Winton Kindergarten teaching curriculum. If you are unsure of some of the words that are coming home, be sure to ask Judy or Kylie. Or you can check out our Parent information board in our entrance way. This will now include a phrase and words that we are practicing within the centre. This fortnight it is...Haere Mai ke ti (come to the) whariki (mat), kai (Food) and ki waho (outside).

Until next time,

Ka Kite ano

Stars in their Eyes

The last couple of days have seen entertainers emerge among us. For quite a period of time, many of the children have boggied on down to tunes from hit artists such as Hi-5 and hmmm, let me think, what was the other one?? Oh that's right Hi-5!!

Today they took their dancing to a new level and pulled the platform around to the main 'dance floor'. I was very curious to see what they were up too so asked the girls. "It's gunna be a stage!" they replied. What an awesome idea. "Don't forget chairs for the audience", I reminded them. So off they went and sourced the chairs. Right, now they were all set to begin...

Stage...CHECK

Microphones...CHECK

Music...CHECK

Audience...CHECK

It was magical to watch as the girls sung their way through an assortment of Hi-5 hits. Check out the audience, I'm sure they are in awe!

I couldn't resist but take a video of the performers in action, I'm sure you will agree, we have some stars in the making here at Winton Kindergarten!

After discussions with all the children during mat-time, Brooklyn and Maddison shared with us that they just loooove ABBA, and BJ enjoys watching Twisted Sister on You Tube. We would love it if anybody could share with us some of their children's favourite music from home. I would love to compile a C.D. of music for the children to perform to. Who knows we even might do a concert!!

Watch this space....

Starry Starry Night ...

What a great time we had last night ... and the best of all was a clear and starry starry sky. Hats and Coats, Torches and Binoculars and away he went. We had to find some things ... the brightest star, What shape was the Moon?, Can you find the Milky Way? Wow did you know there was so much to see in the night sky? The children were soooo excited. Tks to all our 40+ families that came along ... the children have been so very very intrigued throughout the term with all the wonders of SPACE. It has been such wonderful perspective to 'bring to life' all that we have been researching. Oh yes and we just about got to see a real live Satellite ... it passed over at 6pm & then at again at 7:40pm ... but it was just a bit cloudy to the North. And that HOT Chocolate at Reds was just what we needed to warm us up !!!

Thanks for all you input into your child's learning throughout the term ... the children have been just buzzing with discussions on telescopes, Planets and today we even had a look at Google Earth on the iMac. We looked for the Frypan, the Southern Cross ... some of the things we saw last night ...it has been sooo exciting.

Happy Schooldays to all our children moving onto school and to all our families thanks for all you have done for us over the term ... have a neat Term Break and we will see you all Mon 20 July (Term 3 2009).

Cheers

Judy & Kylie

Bring it on ... Our Project Room

          We are sooooooo excited.  

Our Project Room is now beginning to take shape.  Our new doors have arrived and were installed on Friday.  With that we will begin to talk & discuss with the children ... what exactly the purpose of 'The Project Room' is.

Our perspective is to provide an aesthetic & 'quiet' space for children to work on Projects over time.  We hope to evoke skills & possibilities for children to enquire, research, explore, generate & modify working theories (understandings) of their world.

The possibilities are endless.  We await it's evolvement with ... excitement.  Interested in all your comments.

Cheers

Judy & Kylie

Let the celebrations continue...

Well, what have we started..??

Who knew that when we suggested we have a Queens Birthday celebration that the children interest in all things Queen like would escalate sooo much!

This week has given us a chance to go back to our roots and tell stories that both Judy and I remember from our childhood. Sleeping beauty, The Frog Prince, Rumpelstiltskin and George and the Dragon have been shared within our Buzz groups, much to the interest of the children.

Sleeping Beauty was interesting and got the children thinking, Annalise wasn't too sure of the wicked witch and the spell she cast on the princess and Jess was horrified at how mean she could be, but never fear...it all ended with a handsome Prince saving the day. And guess what??? They lived happily ever after! Hooray for the prince!!!

We have had castles in the playground, castles and crowns being constructed in the art area, fairy tales playing on You Tube and Princes' saving the day.

Who knows where our adventures will take us to next week...I can't wait!

Queens Birthday Feast ...

With invitations out ... we prepare for our FEAST.  Queens Birthday has taken on a new meaning to all our young children.  We talked about ... not coming to Kindergarten on Monday, because of Queens Birthday holiday ... and the children seemed very unsure of just what that meant.  So our Queens Birthday celebrations began.  Invitations were distributed, dress-ups (cause we are good at that) were discussed and also we planned a Feast.  And with that, we had many a discussion on ... what is a Feast?  There was a consensus ... yummy food, and that's exactly what we had ... indeed a shared FEAST.  Our day began with a 'Town Cryer' inviting along everyone to our celebrations (and in particular our FEAST) and we even watched the Queen's Coronation in 1953 on YouTube.  What a day ... and with that, when you ask the children what does Queens Birthday mean ... they will know exactly what it's all about.  

                                                          See you all on TUESDAY.

Cheers

Kylie & Judy

These hands are ready to be all that they can be

Curiousity and Intrigue (our term planning) indeed ... has and is involving LOTS of groups of children - both boys & girls.   We have a bonafide (real) motorbike ... ready to be fixed, and with that, lots and lots and lots of questions ... the children have been fascinated.  And with any bonafide workshop ... we have introduced spanners, screwdrivers and various sized crescents in our workshop - which again has created lots and lots of discussions ... the children were really intrigued by the word 'crescent'.  Now we have a BIGGG problem ... where is the wheels?  Good question?  Where could we find out or who could we ask?  Any ideas?

PS  Has anyone got some OLD gadgets we could borrow ... or fix!!!  Anything lying round the workshop or garage that you think children might be INTRIGUED with?

Kai time ...

I suppose we forget ... but we have had lots of visitors lately and they all have mentioned what a fantastic morning tea we provide.  So ... for all our new morning families, it is an opportune time to outline our routine.  Food donations which include fruit (we have had blueberries, pineapple, grapefruit, mandarins to name a few), bread rolls or bread (usually a mixture of brown, white - in fact the more choices the better) and fillings (along with the usual - lettuce, tomato, cheese we have had beetroot, avocado, zuchinni (fresh from our kindy garden), again the more choices the better) - also filtered water or in the Winter soup or Milo.  Morning tea is around 10am ... and the children just LOVE it.

Afternoon tea is also a shared platter with a colourful & varied array of fruit.  We have in the kitchen a Mission On - Healthy Recipes & we have just received a handout 'Loading Up The Lunchbox - Nga Kai Tika mo e Tina - www.heartfoundation.org.nz to share with all our families.  So lots of opportunities to remind ourselves of the benefits of Healthy eating ... Healthy living.  And if you get a minute a good walk or bike ride with the kids is pretty cool. Other opportunities for all our young children around Winton, also include ... Soccer, Rugby, Hockey.  Check out our Kindy Noticeboard.

As part of our Curiousity & Intrigue we have had some 'mystical trees' come along to kindy. Even Kylie & I have wondered how these mystical trees have grown such amazing foliage ... have we any scientists amongst us that may be able to solve this mystery.  Look forward to your responses.  Have a great week !!!

Judy & Kylie

My Oh My or is it MaiMai !!!

Oops meant to say check out all our Maimai work & display (on the wall near the children's tote trays).  The children's drawings are fantastic.  Also we are making & creating our own 'duck shooting' licences.  Oh  ...  and not forgetting to all our Mums ... have a neat day on Sunday.