A week of kindness
We have had a wonderful week this week, making a conscious effort to consider the value of kindness in everything that we do. This has been an initiative across Wellington College Shanghai and throughout every team within the academic and non-academic strands of the College. The adults in the setting have taken time to recognise the efforts of others, acknowledge the qualities in their peers they most admire, recognise the strengths of their colleagues and pay compliment to others both verbally and non-verbally. Adults choose to work in early years education because they have an innate desire to inspire young learners. Sometimes, with the children being our key focus, we need a gentle reminder of the importance of the adults around us too. This week has certainly served to fulfil that aim and prompted kind words and actions towards others. In the words of Aesop, “
No act of kindness is ever wasted”.
Growth mindset……the seven habits of happy children
In 1989, Dr Stephen R. Covey penned the first edition of ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. To date, the book has sold over 25 million copies worldwide and is identified as a powerful tool for those who wish to lead and live by principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity. Recognising that these habits cross cultures, countries, organisations and families and are common to every society that ‘prospers and endures’ his son, Sean Covey (
www.seancovey.com) applied the habits to a younger audience and in 1998 published ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens’. Realising the potential power for a growth mindset at all ages, ‘The 7 Habits of Happy Kids’ came to print. The 7 habits speak to emotions, strengths, friendships, meaning and accomplishment. The qualities reflected in children are identified here:
Habit 1 – Be Proactive – ‘YOU ARE IN CHARGE’
- I am a responsible person
- I take initiative
- I do not blame others for my wrong doing
- I do the right thing without being asked (even when no-one is looking)
Habit 2 – Begin with the end on mind – ‘HAVE A PLAN’
- I look for ways to be a good citizen
- I plan ahead and set goals
- I am an important part of my classroom
- I do things that have meaning and make a difference
Habit 3 – Put first things first – ‘WORK FIRST, THEN PLAY’
- I say no to things I should not do
- I am disciplined and organised
- I spend my time on things that are most important
- I set priorities, make a schedule and follow my plan
Habit 4 – Think win, win – ‘EVERYONE CAN WIN’
- When conflicts arise, I look for the alternatives
- I make deposits in others’ emotional bank accounts
- I balance courage for getting what I want with consideration for what others want
Habit 5 – Seek first to understand, then to be understood – ‘LISTEN TO OTHERS BEFORE YOU TALK’
- I listen to others without interrupting
- I listen to other people’s ideas and feelings
- I try to see things from their viewpoint
- I am confident in voicing my ideas
- I look people in the eye when talking
Habit 6 – Synergise – ‘TOGETHER IS BETTER’
- I value other people’s strengths and learn from them
- I work well in groups
- I get along well with others, even people who are different from me
- I am humble
- I seek out other people’s ideas to solve problems because I know that by teaming with others, we can create better solutions than any one of us can alone
Habit 7 – Sharpen the saw – ‘BALANCE FEELS BEST’
- I spend time with my family and friends
- I learn in lots of ways and lots of places, not just at school
- I find meaningful ways to help others
- I take care of my body by eating right, exercising and getting sleep
Adapted from www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positive-psychology-in-the-clasroom/201506/7-habits-happy-children
Plan, do, review – an example of taking something from design to production
One of the defined Characteristics of Effective Learning of the EYFS is ‘Creating and Thinking Critically’ (thinking). The unique child demonstrates this characteristic through choosing ways to do things, specifically:
- Planning, making decisions about how to approach a task, solve a problem and reach a goal
- Checking how well their activities are going
- Changing strategy as needed
- Reviewing how well the approach worked
The EY4 children are currently exploring the theme ‘Me and My World’. Rather than simply draw a self-portrait, the pupils were tasked with creating a sculpture of themselves. This involved designing, planning, making, reviewing and changing the sculpture where necessary. Pupils were given the brief that the sculpture could be them as they wished to be, they could look however they wished to look and they could wear whatever they wish to wear. This is Grace’s design for her sculpture.
Grace designed her sculpture on paper and through discussion with Miss Tash, Grace outlined what she would need to ‘order’ from the resource cupboard to bring her sculpture to life. Grace placed her order with Miss Amy who happily provided the required supplies. Grace then identified her supplies from those of her peers and put them together to recreate her design. Grace decided that rather than have googly eyes, as originally planned, she would prefer to draw her face, which she did with great competence.
The review? That came two days later when upon revisiting her sculpture, Grace decided that she would like to paint her dress blue; it was clearly brown and that wasn’t part of her original plan! The result, I am sure you will agree, is fabulous and Grace’s design is accurately reflected in her sculpture. Moreover, the process that Grace and her fellow pupils went through afforded an opportunity for considered thought, planning and critical thinking. Whilst the outcome is extremely important to Grace (as it is for all pupils), the process is of equal importance and is acknowledged as such with plentiful encouragement given to support the effort made. Well done Grace and the other EY4 pupils!
Classroom News for week beginning Monday 18th September 2017
EY1 – Erica Ni writes about the theme Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?
To celebrate Mid-Autumn festival, EY1 will be able to make moon cakes with playdough and talk about the colours and shape we see during the play. Building relationships with our friends and teachers is always important for EY1 because that helps children to promote their language learning and social and emotional development. We are still going to say good morning to our friends and sing songs with teachers at circle time every day. Good manners such as saying please and thank you, taking turns to play are being encouraged when we are playing. On Chinese days, we will have opportunity to walk around the setting and talk about the shapes and colours we see. We are also going to using paint, glitters, and pompoms to decorate the lines of the shapes. On English days, we will play jump in the specific shapes when music stops with Ms. Karina. Children will be encouraged to repeat the names of the shapes when they are playing with shape stamps. On Wednesday, children are going to have an animal parade party. Looking forward to seeing little animals come to the setting next week.
e are reading: Brown bear brown bear what do you see, No No Yes Yes, 圆形骨碌碌，小白兔玩颜料，我的后面是谁呀
We are singing: Brown bear brown bear what do you see, Lions and tigers, Big and small, One finger one finger turn turn turn, 一闪一闪亮晶晶，找朋友，手指谣，两只老虎
A note from the EY1 team: 27th September Animal Parade. EY1 will have an animal parade party next Wednesday. Children can dress up as animals they like when they come to the setting. Please prepare a set of Wellington uniform as well so teachers can help children to change as needed.
EY2 – Vivian He writes about the theme 10 little fingers, 10 little toes
This week, we will learn the concept of opposites. Children will have the opportunity to compare and develop a more in-depth understanding of opposites. And also we will continue to learning our numbers. We will engage in such activities as making our own number cards. As Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon as well as the National holiday, we will also introduce the traditional culture of these holiday festivals. For example, we will learn about the legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival and the meaning of our country’s flag. We will use playdough to make a moon cake. We will also use scratch paper to make fireworks. Finally, we will have the opportunity to have some fun by making flags for our small world play area.
We are reading: 月亮姐姐、一本好安静的书，Round is a mooncake, Red is a dragon, Dim Sum for everyone
We are singing: 静夜思、祖国、祖国你好
EY3 – Even Chen writes about the theme All About Me
Family is not an important thing. It’s everything. Michael J. Fox.
As we enter week three of our all about me topic, and the final week before half term, the children will start to investigate what a family is to them, and what it might mean to others. The children will start this part of the topic by drawing a representation of themselves with the people who they call family and sharing this with friends and the teacher. The children will also be introduced to a bar chart where we will be asking them to count their family members, and represent that number with pictures. Continuing with the family theme we will look at the concept of a family tree, and working in groups will create our very own class family tree. We will also continue to explore what it means to be them, and as well as continuing to talk about emotions we will find out how much we weigh and how tall we are, after which we will compare these result with our friends. In Chinese day, children will discuss the topic of Me and My Family. We will introduce our family, use complete sentence to describe the interest, characteristics and profession of our family members. We will also make our own home with different kinds of material and decorate family pictures. To celebrate National Holiday, we will delve into the meaning of national flag. We will watch the flag raising ceremony video, learn national anthem, and make birthday gifts for our motherland. Children will have the opportunity to celebrate with their friends and teachers in their own way to express their love for the motherland. During Mid-Autumn festival celebration activities, the children will observe the change in the moon by reading the story. They will also make moon cakes and fans to learn about Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese traditional culture.
We are reading: Families, Families, Families by Suzanne Lang & Max Lang，《嫦娥奔月》、《月亮姐姐做衣裳》
We are singing: “This is me”, “My body”, Different variations of “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, My Family song，《义勇军进行曲》，《爷爷教我打月饼》，古诗新唱---《静夜思》，以及各班的常规儿歌
A note from the EY3 team: Please ensure your child arrives at the setting by 8:30am. If the air quality is good, please send them to the playground near cafeteria. Teachers will take the children to the classroom. If you have any old clothes or jewellery, please feel free to bring them to the setting for children to decorate their dressing area.
EY4 – Emily Gu writes about the theme Me and My World
We will learn to understand the meaning of family and learn about the function of each room. We will also discuss the routine at home and the interests of family members and will feel joyful time spent with family members. Children will learn to take the responsibility for our classroom and recycling. In the meantime, they will also learn social etiquette such as listening to others and taking turns. We will also begin to talk about time in English.
We are reading: 《欢迎来喵喵家做客》、《最温暖的家》，Michael recycle, Time song
We are singing: 《我爱我的家》，Months of the year, What time is it Mr Crocodile?
Music and Movement – PeiHua and Sarah write about life in the music space
EY1 – It’s time to celebrate National Day together. The children will join a parade, dance with scarves and continue steady beat play along activities to traditional Chinese music. Songs celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival will also be a highlight.
EY2 – It’s time to celebrate National Day together! We will sing, dance, and play in celebration. The children will create a marching band as they play claves and shakers in a parade, and continue exploring traditional songs in our expressive movement activities.
EY3 – It’s time to celebrate National Day together! The children will work together to create their own parade, complete with music, marching, and dancing. Listening activities will compare the sounds of traditional Chinese instruments. The children will also sing a new song for National Day, and explore expressive movement with traditional music from Beijing.
EY4 – It’s time to celebrate National Day together! Music from across China is highlighted again this week. The 笛子, a type of bamboo flute, will be introduced to the children. Dancing with fans to traditional music from Beijing, singing a song celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival, and creating our very own National Day EY4 parade through the setting will be sure to keep us all learning this week.
We are singing:
EY1 – 爷爷为我打月饼
EY2 – 静夜思、 祖国祖国我们爱你
EY3 – 静夜思、 祖国祖国我们爱你
EY4 – 月亮粑粑,、祖国祖国我们爱你,、律动《月色美》
A note from the Music team: Do you have any old cookware at home? We are setting up Music Kitchens outside and need old pots, pans, chopsticks, spoons, spatulas, etc. for sound play! A box will be in reception until September 29th to collect household items in good condition. Thank you for your support!
Important dates: It’s time to celebrate! Our first ever EY4 National Day Parade will be held on Friday, September 29th. Children in EY4 are asked to celebrate the holiday by wearing RED, YELLOW, or A TRADITIONAL OUTFIT to the setting. Please be sure this is something your child will be able to play instruments and walk in as our parade route will take us through the whole setting!
