K1 Dolphin Class

Dear Parents and Caregivers, As part of our inquiry unit, we have been focusing on understanding the properties of different materials. In addition to paper, wood is a common material that the children encounter in their daily lives. They have been engaging with wood through playful activities using sticks and wooden pieces, observing how these items float and sink in water, and learning the story of Pinocchio (小木偶皮诺丘）. Through these experiences, the children have discovered that wood is hard, durable, and capable of floating. With Easter approaching, we took the opportunity to create colorful wooden Easter eggs using markers and read stories about Easter eggs （彩蛋）. This activity not only reinforced our understanding of wood but also prepared us for our upcoming unit on colors. Last Friday, we held a Chinese assembly themed around Easter. The children enjoyed reading the story "Spot’s First Easter" （复活节彩蛋在哪里？） which introduced them to the special tradition of egg hunting. Thi...

Kindness Blooms This week, we focused on the importance of kindness and how even small acts can make a big difference. We explored this concept through some wonderful stories, including Be Kind, My Friend is Sad, and You Can Be My Friend. We also started reading the book, What Should Danny Do? This story is a choice based story that helps us look into the consequences our actions can have. We talked about how we are constantly making choices throughout the day and that the more positive our choices are, the more positive our day can be.    Our circle time discussions centered around what kindness looks like in action. As we reflected on what kindness means to us, we were able to come up with a whole host of examples of kindness that we have either performed or experienced. Some examples were: Hugging friends and family. Helping a classmate who needs assistance. Offering a tissue to someone who is sad. Telling our grandparents how much we love them. The importance of listening ...

The Measuring Continues Pancake Perfection As we continue to explore the concept of measurement, we thought a great way to show the importance of measuring accurately would be by whipping something up as a baker. As Pancake Day happened to fall on the same week, we settled on working together to create our own pancake mix from scratch. We put our measuring skills to the test, carefully using teaspoons, tablespoons, and measuring cups to create delicious pancakes. We listened carefully to the recipe and followed each step, taking turns and helping our friends when needed. We talked about what might happen if we added way too much flour or salt, or way too little sugar and how important to the taste the balance of ingredients was. Some of us enjoyed our yummy creations right in the classroom, while others took them home to share. It was so much fun to see how our hard work turned into such a tasty treat! Water Volume Adventures Alongside our cookery experiment, we explored the concept of...

Dear parents and caregivers, I hope this message finds you well. Over the previous weeks, we enriched our understanding of the UOI "How the World Works" by focusing on numbers, counting, and the exploration of common materials, particularly paper. In the engaging story "数字藏猫猫" (Number Hide-and-Seek), children developed a strong connection between numbers and quantities. Through the interactive game "What's the Missing Number," they also strengthened their number sequence and recognition skills. During the following week, we connected this knowledge to everyday experiences. We read the story "叮叮当当杂货店" (Meimei's Grocery Store), where children role-played transactions, practising their number skills and language usage in a fun, practical context. Additionally, we introduced the delightful number song "从一数到五" (Counting from One to Five) to help reinforce key vocabulary. We then shifted our focus to the exploration of materials, star...

  Expanding our Mathematical and Scientific Understanding of the World Around Us This week in the Dolphin Class, we've been busy exploring the exciting worlds of movement, measurement, and patterns. Here's a peek at some of the fun and engaging activities we've been up to: Movement Mania Following on from the movement we observed during our pendulum and slope experiments, we have moved onto exploring a spinning action. Combining our science experiments with a touch of artistic creativity, we started another week making a controlled mess! Our first activity saw us combining art and movement by squeezing a big glob of paint onto CDs and then spinning them! Rochelle had helpfully used her glue gun to stick a bottle cap on one side for the handle, and a bead or marble on the other side so that the CD had an axis to spin on. We used our fine motor skills to hold the handle with our fingers before twisting them round and releasing. Some of us found this a bit tricky to begin with...