Family trees and Advent activities

The Busy Bees were exceptionally busy this week! 

The preschoolers turned the classroom into Santa's workshop as they made their family trees with great focus and dedication. The squeals of delight and excitement as the students went through the photos of their family members, showed the adoration that they have for their family. 

 With care, the students arranged their family members on their tree, followed by making lines to show how each one is connected to the next.

Once everyone's trees were done, it was clear for the students to see that they all have different families. However, the pride that each student showed through creating their tree, shows that the number of family members represented is not as important as the connections that each family has. 

Family members are not only connected by blood and genetics, but they are also connected by love, care, respect, trust and loyalty.

Our families also provide us with security and roots for our identities.

Advent Activities

As the arrival of Christmas Day draws nearer, the preschoolers are getting into the festive spirit by enjoying all the activities from our advent calendar. 

We were treated to a beautiful Christmas Jazz concert by one of our own Busy Bee parents, Mr Phillip Strange, and his musical friends.

The yummy hot-chocolate with marshmallows during recess, was the perfect winter-warmer. 

A jolly guest in the form of Sofia's dad came to read a sweet German Christmas story to the preschoolers. 

Cookie bakers

To end off the week, the preschoolers put their cookie cutting and decorating skills to the test and made yummy Christmas cookies. A very big thank you to the parents who planned all the fun and helped the students bring their cookie dreams to life!

Have an amazing weekend!

 Ms Theona 🍪

Family, Advent and St. Nicholas

 This week, the Busy Bees started inquiring into how our families' histories affect own own personal histories. We spoke about the different members of our families. We also compared the different names that we call our family members; some preschoolers call their mothers mommy, while some so mama. 

Some of the preschoolers are fortunate to still have living grandparents and some even great-grandparents. While some preschoolers have never met their grandparents. Some preschoolers have a sibling or siblings, and some are the only child to their parents.

The preschoolers will create their own family trees, to trace their personal histories.

St. Nicholas Day

We celebrated St. Nicholas Day! The preschoolers watched a short video about the story and traditions of Saint Nicholas. We were reminded to spread kindness wherever we go and to share with and care for all. The students were thrilled to decorate their own stockings. The students were very happy to receive their tangerines, and enjoy them together!

Christmas Tree Lighting and Advent

Another exciting Christmas season event is the lighting of the Christmas tree, which is adorned by ornaments made by all the students in the school. 

The preschoolers chose to make 'shining pinecones'. The classroom became a beautiful glittering and shimmering mess as the students created their shiny ornaments. They proudly hung their shiny creations on the tree. 

During the Lower Primary tree lighting event, we sang Christmas carols together and our principal, Mr Windmeier read a lovely poem about a Christmas tree. Ms Pam introduced the students to the mischievous magical gnomes, which Santa has gifted our students as an early Christmas gift and we received a wonderful advent calendar, made with love by the PTA!

                        

All in all, a very busy week filled with learning, fun and festive cheer!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Ms Theona 

🎄

Personal Timelines

What is a personal timeline? 

A personal timeline is a line that includes information about the personal milestones or events in your life, in the order in which they happened. 

The students used their knowledge about their unique milestones to make a visual representation of their lives so far. Some of the milestones took place before the students became conscious of their memories. Therefore, the interviews with Mom or/and Dad, and the family archive of photos and videos have helped the preschoolers piece together some of the earlier valuable moments in their lives. 

Looking at the different timelines of the busy bees...

Some of the preschoolers have been fortunate to go on many travelling adventures already.

 Some have welcomed baby brothers or sisters into their families.

All of them have learnt how to walk and talk.

Some have already acquired multiple languages.

Most of them can ride bicycles without training wheels.

Some of them have already lost a tooth or two. 

It is clear to see that good things take time! 😁

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Sports Day

What a wonderful time the preschoolers had taking part in this year's Sports Day! The focus of this year's event was to celebrate teamwork. In the weeks leading up to the day, the students participated in activities during PE with Ms Itzi, which emphasized communication, empathy, care, open-mindedness and active-listening. These values are part of our daily learning and teaching here at our school. The preschoolers had a ball of a time, collaborating with students in Grade 1 and 2 as well. Well done, Busy Bees!

Grade 4 Assembly

The preschoolers enjoyed the presentation put on by the Grade 4 class about different ecosystems around the world. The Grade 4s reminded us that we all have a part to play in protecting and conserving our natural environments.

 Have a restful and fun weekend, everyone!

Ms Theona 

Where We Are In Place and Time

 This week, the Busy Bees explored where exactly we are in place and time! We spoke about what has brought us all to our school. 

The preschoolers located our continent, country, city and the school's suburb on Google Maps. We also located the different birth countries that some of our students and teachers come from.

The preschoolers spent time locating on their world map where their mommies and daddies were born, and where they themselves were born. 

Even though we may all have different birth cities or countries, or have lived in different countries, time and change has brought us all together to this place and at this time.

As part of looking back at our different personal histories, for Show and Tell the preschoolers brought along a cherished plush toy or baby blanket to school. They proudly spent time showing each other their precious comfort items, which some of them have had since birth.

We could see how the blankets have lost some of their colour and some plush toys now have a different texture. These are all signs of how well-loved, and perhaps well-travelled these items are. Some of the comfort items had a particular scent that perhaps brings a sense of security to the preschooler. These cherished items have all been part of the preschoolers' growth and change over the years.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

See you at the Sports Day on Monday!

Ms Theona

🗺