The Week Ahead 20180427

The Week Ahead.......this week it’s from the heart!   As this week’s Week Ahead is published, I will have arrived in Abu Dhabi with my eldest son, on our way to Beirut, the extraordinary capital city of Lebanon. Once acknowledged as the Paris of the East, Beirut is a melting pot of cultural diversity, fascinating history, beautiful architecture and fabulous food. The American University of Beirut was founded in 1866 and is one of the Middle East’s most prestigious universities. Its gardens have provided many an hour of contemplation and reflection for me. Most significantly for me, it is here that the American University Hospital is located. We make a special pilgrimage every year to see a team of very wonderful and skilled medical practitioners, a team that offered my son a brighter future and to whom I could never sufficiently express my gratitude. For expatriates, when disaster strikes, help would usually be sought from within the home country as it is familiar territory. However, for my son, we were offered an alternative by a doctor, in whom we placed our trust. Because of the trusting relationship formed, we felt comfortable to take a leap of faith and explore an alternative. Which we did. In Beirut. Fast-forward five years and we return for our annual check up and a day of tests, consultations, plans, prescriptions and perspective. Perspective? Indeed. My son is healthy. My son is happy. Most importantly, he is here with me and for that, I’m exceptionally thankful. When I hear of the pressures and the stresses that parents can place on themselves because they are worried about their child ‘falling behind’ or not being in a ‘top set’, I feel a sense of sadness. When a parent starts to worry about a child’s performance, they ultimately transfer the worry on to the child. Extra tuition, additional lessons, private tutors, special classes, training sessions etc, etc. Children shouldn’t feel that they are not good enough. Not good enough for a teacher nor their parents nor anyone. Imagine the loss of self-esteem, the destruction of self-confidence, the injury to the unique identity of a human being who looks to the adults around them to validate who they are. The power of an adult is great. They have the power to make or break the children around them. It is said that the words a child hears become their inner voice. We must choose our words carefully, as carefully as we would choose our actions as these too become a child’s reaction to similar situations. I feel grateful that our parents understand that there is more to education than academics and results. Our parents appreciate that they made a choice to offer their child something different. They want happiness for their child, wellbeing and positive mental health. After all, our children are so young and there is plenty of time for academics later. Keep focused on happiness as long as you can. There will naturally come a time when a child on the cusp of young adulthood places stress and pressure upon themselves as they deal with revision, assignments, exams, applications for universities, internships or employment. I’m sure the pressure that is felt is sufficient without the need for added pressure from the adults around. Bring happiness in the support offered. Be proud of efforts. Cherish the unique identity, celebrate strengths, acknowledge and embrace the weaknesses as they too make each and everyone who they are. Invest in your child’s wellbeing, as this will set them up for long-term success throughout life, rather than the short-term success of passing an exam. Most of all, be happy. Your child is here with you. That is something to be exceptionally grateful for.  

Please note that we have a long weekend and look forward to seeing our young Wellingtonians return to us on Tuesday 2^nd May.

  Classroom News for week beginning Monday 2^nd May 2018  EY1 – Erica Ni writes about the theme The Very Hungry Caterpillar “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”—Pablo Picasso   The first week of May is our art project week. Children will be encouraged to express themselves through various art activities. Children will have opportunity to play freeze dance painting in outdoor area. Researches showed that freeze dance painting can help young children to reduce stress and ease anxiety. We are also going to make prints with hands, foots, vehicles and balls. Children could paint with a recycle water bottle, some objects and shake the bottle up. We are reading: 《很饿的毛毛虫》 《小船的旅行》 The Very Hungry Caterpillar We are singing: 《小老鼠》 《手指谣》 Days of the week A note from the EY1 team: The setting will be closed on 30^th April and 1^st May because of national holiday. Children will return on 2^nd May. We hope you have a nice holiday with your family.   EY2 – Vivian He writes about the theme A Squash and a Squeeze Next week, the children in EY2 will be reviewing numbers where they will practice counting, recognizing specific numbers and try writing numbers if they could. The children will take part in a shop role play where the children will practice counting. They will pretend to buy cookies from the shop and then give the shopkeeper toy money. We will also match the number of objects to the relevant number. The children will estimate the number of wooden blocks it takes to measure from a child’s feet to their head. Finally they will retell the story of The Three Little Pigs using puppets and props. We are reading: A Squash and a Squeeze The Three Little Pigs 《小房子》 一个小洞 十只猴子 We are singing: There were 10 in the bed. Humpty Dumpty 五只小青蛙 一二三四五六七 A note from the EY2 team: Parents please help your child bring in an old, plain t-shirt, which the children can use to design a costume for the activity.   EY3 – Nicole writes about the theme Adventures under the Sea “Everything in life is worth telling, if you have the courage and the imagination.” -- Sylvia Plath   With a shortened week this week thanks to the two day holiday, we thought it would be a good opportunity for the children to get engaged in a week of art. Art and mark making are extremely important in our children’s development as it is in this area that children will take risks, develop resilience, strengthen their fine motor skills, explore their imagination and much, much more. Each class will be looking at a different artist, or genre, and will try to inspire the children’s imagination. The regular activities will be continue in this week, including music, gym and library sessions (Please remember to send library books back into the setting every week). We are reading: 《哈利讲故事》 《乱挠痒痒的章鱼》 Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister We are singing: 《热带鱼》 《在海里》   EY4 – Emily Gu writes about the theme Imagine That EY4 children have been showing so much brilliant ideas about changing things into different things with their imagination, and creation. For the coming Art week, Children will experience different activities, such as: read some stories about the famous Artist, Art appreciation activity and exploring different art activities with open ended resources. We are reading: 《凡高和向日葵》 《达芬奇和会飞的男孩》 《毕加索和马尾辫女孩》 The Dot We are singing: 纸团画   Music and Movement Every week is Arts Week in the Music Room! From birth, music is part of how a child learns language, explores their motor skills and physical abilities, and develops a social and cultural understanding of their family and community. Music supports a child’s curiosity, encouraging independent thought, creativity, self-expression, and empathy. It is part of who we are, and for this reason above all others, it is vital that Early Years pupils are given the opportunity to explore music in a way that is hands-on, creative, joyful, and positive. In our music sessions, we work together to introduce young children to the joy of making music together, while they discover and develop new skills. Our intention for the bilingual music programme at Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai is to support learning across all academic areas while encouraging the children’s language development. Whether we are dancing, singing, experimenting with instruments or finding rhythms in the music kitchen, our goals is always to encourage children to learn through music, explore new ideas, and use their creativity to work together. As the children learn music, they are developing key skills across all learning areas that will allow them to be capable and independent learners as they grow older. Music offers children the unique opportunity to gain confidence, take risks, explore new paths and, most importantly, love learning. It’s not just tangible skills and musical knowledge children learn through music. We want to help children know that it’s okay to play and experiment, it’s okay to make mistakes, and there are many “right” ways of learning. As educators, we believe this approach helps all children learn and succeed in music, in school, and in life. So turn up the music in the car, tap rhythms on pots and pans, make a simple shaker from a reused water bottle, visit a music store to explore the sounds of different instruments, sing your child a song or have a kitchen dance party with your family. Make music part of your family life and know that it brings not only happiness but a lot of learning with it too!