In the forest we always practice going up and down the steep banks with a rope. This helps to develop the children’s strength and helps them to take responsible risks.
When we are nearly back to the tennis courts, at the end of the morning, we always have a ‘go’ on the roly poly hills.
In order for children to be able to sit still (eg. Mat time) they first must learn to move in increasing complex ways and develop their sense of balance.
The damp weather could not dampen the enthusiasm of the children when it came to celebrating 2016. As has been the tradition we visited the YMCA for a Kindy Gym session first and then back to the Kindergarten for a shared lunch with all our whānau. In preparation for our party the children assembled the drift wood tree making sure we started with the largest branches at the bottom.
We were lucky to be invited to Beth’s farm at Egmont Village to experience a little of farming life and the new born lambs and calves. Beth has a miniature pony called Mel and we were all able to have a ride on her. We fed the calves milk and hay, bottle fed the lambs, chattered with the chooks, had a pony ride and finished off with morning tea on the lawn.
The farm experience is not se readily available to our city children these days and we thank Alyssa and her family and friends for making such an effort to make our visit possible.
Kaiako – Rhonda
We all went to Isla and Alessia’s home and planted some of the plants we had grown from seed. They have a very big garden patch and kindly offered some of the space for us to plant our seedlings and seeds.
We planted cucumber, beans, peas, garlic, potatoes, corn and carrots. Claire will take photographs of the progress of the plants and bring in some of the harvest to Manu. They live near Sutherland Park and we took a bus over to their home. The rainy conditions were ‘ideal’ for planting. We will visit again near the end of Term 4 to check the progress.
Thank you to the Gallagher Family.
Maxwell’s fa’e (Mum), Ana, came to Manu to talk to us about what life was like for her when she was a child growing up in Tonga. Ana talked about the freedom they had as children to play in nature and that the only ‘toy’ they had was a ball. Ana spoke fondly of how the community was one – no fences!
Ana showed us some special items from her culture like the tapa cloth made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree. Ana talked about the importance of the coconut (Nui) tree and how all the tree is used both for food and fibre. It is very hot in Tonga so it is important to use your fan to help you to keep cool.
Ana modelled her special woven skirt/ta’ovala. This is a garment worn on special occasions. Ana brought some Tongan yams that we cooked and ate with coconut cream. We all loved the fruit especially the mango. Kaiako – Rhonda
On the 15th of August, Manu Kindergarten came together as a group to celebrate the Olympics. We gathered together at Vogeltown Park to participate, develop some new skills and to have fun.
Manu Kindergarten has always promoted active movement for children. By moving in increasingly complex ways, children learn to coordinate their bodies, balance and develop core strength.
When we play in groups, we learn to take turns and consider others. In groups we contribute our time and energy to tasks that we would quickly tire of when playing alone.
To prepare for the Olympic day the children made flags, practiced the National Anthem, practiced their running, jumping, boxing, hurdles, weightlifting, shot put, equestrian, gymnastics and swimming!
2016 Olympics
Kia ora – thank you to all whānau that attended our Matariki (Puanga) celebrations and contributed kai to our Food Bank Appeal.
One hundred and fourteen people attended the event and it was great to meet the wider whānau and share kai.
Our tamariki were especially proud to contribute their pumpkin soup, jams, feijoa muffins, freshly squeezed orange juice, basil pesto, chips and chutney for this occasion.
Some of the pumpkins, the basil and the potatoes were all grown by the children at Kindergarten The feijoas and guava’s came from the trees at Manu and the chutney was made from green tomatoes that we harvested at the Community Orchard on Forest Friday.
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We deliberately do not have screens at Manu as we believe, strongly, that this is not the best way for young children to learn and, indeed, can be harmful to small children. Computers are a valuable tool and can be a great source of information. As teachers, we all use our computers to record children’s learning that has taken place at Kindergarten.
Small children need the opportunity to manipulate 3 dimensional objects, find solutions to concrete problems and have plenty of time available to communicate and form friendships. Research has shown that small children need gesture and interaction with an adult for language acquisition, not a cartoon character reciting nursery rhymes on a flat screen. When children play ‘real’ games they really learn about space and where they fit into it, they build strength and are active.
The physical harm, caused by children in front of screens for long periods of time, is damage to their growing eyes. Short sightedness is on the rise and one of the reasons for this is that children are doing too much ‘near’ work, whether it is on screen or the introduction of school type work too early. The young eye needs to be looking from ‘far’ to ‘near’ in order for them to grow effectively instead of long periods of time with ‘near’ work.
Today, we caught a City Council bus from kindergarten and got off by St Pius school on Brooklands Road. As we walked across Vogeltown Park, we were pleased that we had our gumboots and raincoats on!!! After the Playball session, we walked up to Carrington Street to catch the next bus back to Manu Crescent.
What a fun session we had with Coach Mike, Coach Dean and Coach Brent at Playball.
There were games that promoted coordination, strength, eye tracking, listening, ball control and throwing skills – All aspects that we encourage and support within our programme at Manu Kindergarten.
Everyone enjoyed the Vogeltown School Triathlon.
It was a great opportunity for the children to experience some of the activities that they will participate in at school.
A big thank you to the school staff for organising it for us.