SPCA Visit Kindergarten.

Karman and Ian the SPCA educators brought Tammy the Maltese Dog (kuri) who lives at the SPCA and some of the other rescued animals to kindergarten this morning. The children had the opportunity to handle the baby rabbits (rāpeti) that were just eight weeks old and the little kitten (punua ngeru) that was found abandoned at Countdown in Stoke.This is a wonderful example of children experiencing an environment where connections with the wider community are affirmed and extended. The children are learning to cope with changes to the daily routines with the support of the teachers and in a familiar environment. For some children this may also be the first time that they have handled some of the animals that came.

Don't forget to check out Lynne's blog....

On the right hand side of the page a little further down you will see a tab with "Lynne's adventures" as we travel around the UAE and hopefully the mediterranean.
At present we are still at Sara's enjoying wee Milan, the weather is getting really hot now and some days it is too hot for outside time.  Never mind we had joined one of the local hotel complexes and have been lazing by the pool and sunbathing.  Hard work I know.

Milan was only 5lb born but is now racing to 8lb and she has already worked out how to make the most of life and her likes and dislikes.  She particularly loves going to sleep on grand dad... and an afternoon at the intercontinental lazing under the umbrellas.

And Nana does too - spot the swimmer, I should say floater, just lazing out like Milan.
Grand dad is busy doing his laps of the big pool - too much like hard work.

Stoke Vetinary Clinic

On Tuesday 15^th March 2011 a small group of us left kindergarten making our way through the centre of Stoke and onto Stoke’s Vetenary Clinic. We were delighted to meet people we knew along the way and had fun sitting in the brass hand statue. Amy one of the vetenary nurses met us and we spent the next hour totally enthralled and mesmerized. For many of us we experienced aspects of animal welfare that we had not experienced before. Looking through a microscope and seeing a flea was a highlight of some while others were delighted seeing a dog having an operation. We had hands on experiences to feel the weight of titanium plates and screws that some animals receive to help repair bones, looked at x-rays, hold a huge hair ball that Amy had clipped from a Burmese cat who hadn’t been groomed properly and see some cats and a dog who were in the animal hospital recovering from their operations and were on the road to recovery. What an amazing morning we had, it was in walking distance and people from our community were enriching the learning opportunities of our tamariki in meaningful and real life situations

Making Paper Bricks

This week we have introduced paper brick making into our programme. This is one way we can extend on our zero waste and sustainability goals. Recycling materials in a useful way has high impact with children. Sorting through the paper recycling bins, bringing used paper waste from home, practicing ripping the paper into small pieces and soaking it in the bowl is fun. The process of making a paper brick takes time and the children can contribute at any time during the process. Certainly the squeezing and pressing of the brick is the highlight for many. The children who have so far taken a keen interest have taken on the role of teacher and it is great to see some parents staying to contribute to our ever growing pile of bricks.

Take time to smell the roses.

On Friday I took a small group of children for a walk to Broad Green Gardens. Lately I have been thinking about ways I can make it possible for children to be able to explore the neighborhood outside the kindergarten gates so today i took the opportunity and off we went. WOW, what a stunning place we live in. As soon as we go there the children were eager to run off and explore. Of course we took time to smell the roses, gaze up into tall tall trees, count fish in the pond,hug a tree, look a t things through a magnifying glass and even watch a local man pluck walnuts from the trees.All this and only ten minutes walk from kindergarten.Makes me so appreciative of the wonderful world we have right outside our gate.

Doggie Day Care!

Following the interests of many of the children we decided it would be good to bring in some dogs to visit. And because I own two small and very sweet-natured dogs we thought we would start with Maggie (Rough Coat Jack Russell) and Dolly (Spoodle). Ian arrived with the dogs and of course was soon met by some very excited children, Dolly and Maggie were very popular and soon large groups of children were eagerly waiting for a turn to pat them, feed them or take them for a little walk. Earlier in the day we had set up a dog crate so the dogs would have somewhere to rest if it all got too much, which proved to me very useful. Dolly and Maggie say thanks very much Elaine (woof, woof, lick lick, lick). Before the dogs came the cage was full of lions, wild dogs and dinosaurs, which fortunately left as soon as the dogs arrived. Ian and the dogs stayed for lunch so that the afternoon children also had a chance to meet them, and once again the dogs were the subject of much affection. Once again I had reason to feel very proud of the children of Nayland Kindergarten as they so carefully enjoyed the dogs but were mindful of caring for them too. Thanks Ian, Dolly and Maggie for giving up part of your day to come and spend time with us.

Yes pink it is! or maybe red

This one is for you Margie couldn't resist showing you children's kitchen furniture all the way from Dubai.
I wonder which one you would choose.  IT WAS ONLY 3000 DIRHAM. Quite stunning infact.

Very modern with all the bells and whistles.  
When you visit the big malls here in Dubai and Al Ain there are entire levels dedicated to children, and that could be 150 shops all side by side.
I have not had an opportunity to visit any preschools over here yet, but will be interested to see how they are resourced.
Couldn't resist this Margie knowing how much you love pink and I love red - NOT!