Term 1 Week 9

Eco Light and Shadow

"In the right light, at the right time, everything EXTRAORDINARY" Aaron Rose

Looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary - continuing with our "Light and Shadow" Theatre, this week nga tamariki were provoked by the introduction of Antonia's Salt Lamp at the Writing Desk. The warm golden light drawing our authors to take a closer look. Around the corner from this, Christina added the cellophane to the window. As the cloud moved past the Sun, we noticed our colourful shadows appear and disappear - and after a while, Tamiah noticed how they were beginning to move off the mat! At our Morning Meeting, Taylor "found" her shadow on the mat, leading us to explore through the Arts, the shape and form of our Shadows, and other artefacts. Ah ... the wonderful phenomenon of shadows!

And then we revisited all the Translucent Blocks that were on the lightbox @ the start of the term ... and look what happened!

And this week we also reintroduced our Shadow Corner ...


Wow ... we've reached a real milestone in our thinking ... we've established a commonality about all our shadow work ... LIGHT or in modern physics terminology - optics!  A plasticity of thinking has begun to emerge - through children questioning, investigating & listening to Kaiako & other children's thoughts.  Here's an opportunity to share your knowledge ... in the comments below can you share other light sources with us?

Harvest Time

Our raised planter boxes with our seasonal produce have now been harvested!!!  We have not only investigated the seeds on the plant but also the roots (the strength of the plant).   

Thur/Fri children have also noticed the branches of our Crab Apple Tree ... laden with fruit.  The colour of the ripen fruit has definitely intrigued Rubee today.   Now what could we do with this plethora of colour? Can you share our previous BLOG with your child (Term 1 Week 7 -Crab Apple Juice) - it may just evoke some ideas or have you a Crab Apple recipe you could share with us ... Crab Apple Crumble maybe!

Taiao Tuhura - Forest Kindy

An adventure filled morning, following the sounds of the Merlot along to the Saunders Farm to watch Conrad's family collecting the stooks. On the way back we stopped by the Dragon's Nest and to our delight we found the most beautiful Dragon's Egg! The group decided to leave the egg where it was for the Mother Dragon, and we wait in anticipation to visit the nest again next week... and you are right Electra  ... we also wonder if the egg will hatch!?!? Something else to ponder is 'How do Dragons know that's it time to return to the nest?

Thanks for another great week ... next week the Parent Group have organised a Culture Night for all our families.  A lovely way to welcome our new families & a great way to share your own heritage with a corresponding shared platter. Also Easter is just around the corner ... have you any Easter ideas to share so we can plan an Easter adventure @ Kindy?  Leave your ideas in the comments below!

The Teaching Team