The Week Ahead 20170908

A big thank you to all parents who took time out of their busy schedule to attend the senior leadership team coffee morning on Monday 4^th September. I found the discussions to be open and friendly, the questions and suggestions made were appropriate to our setting and helpful to our development. The notes of the meeting will be sent to all Wellington College Bilingual parents at the earliest opportunity.      Academy kicked off! The Academy programmes started this week and the choices on offer seem to have met the needs of the EY2 - 4 pupils here at the setting. This term we have:

• Fun and Games
• Groovy Movers
• Chinese Storytelling
• Fun with English
• English Storytelling
• Arts and Crafts
• Etiquette and Manners (for parents and children)

  The importance of promoting independence I am always happy to receive suggestions on what information to include in the Week Ahead. This week, I have been asked to write about independence and responsibility. Responsibility is one of our Wellington values and independent is one of the pillars of the Wellington identity, therefore it makes sense to write about them together. It is also timely, at the beginning of a new term to outline what can be done at home to support what is done within the setting in promoting these fundamental skills. What is independence?  Independence is about learning to do things for oneself, which includes making decisions and taking on responsibility. These are hugely important skills for children to learn to cope with in adulthood. Helping children to become independent is considered so important that it is a major focus of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Early years practitioners help children develop these skills through some of their everyday routines, for example being encouraged to hang up their coat, put on their shoes, help tidy away toys or pour a drink. Your child is also given plenty of opportunities to choose what to play with, allowing them to explore and learn independently. What you can do for your child at home?  Home is an ideal place to practise becoming independent. Start by looking to see what your child can do already, and build on this. If your child canput their coat on, maybe they can have a go at doing up one of the buttons or pulling up the zip once you have started it off. Working alongside your child is often helpful so that they can learn skills by watching you. The kitchen can be a good place for this, as your child might want to choose and wash a few vegetables or get out some items from the fridge. (adapted from http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/news/1098703/parents-guide-developing-independence)   Try these for starters!

• Getting Dressed – experts suggest that from the age of 2½ to 3 children can dress themselves. However, children need to be able to easily access their clothes and have a modest amount of clothes available for choice. Too much choice and they can be standing there all day deciding what to wear – and we would like to see our pupils by 08:30!
• Household chores – young children make ‘mess’; they spill things, bring dirt through the house, smudge windows and generally leave a trail behind them. None of these things are a major disaster however, if mum, dad, grandma or ayi are constantly cleaning up the mess, it can reinforce dependent Have the right tools available and accessible so you can simply direct your child to clean up their own mess – a dustpan and brush, cloths for mopping up spills (don’t forget to show your child where the laundry basket is too!) and boxes for putting toys in.
• Feeding – preschool aged children and up are entirely capable of helping to set the table, helping to prepare dinner and making themselves simple snacks Again, it is about having the right equipment available and accessible for them to use. Taking the time to teach a child how to make a snack is worth the time investment – it may take a number of times for your child to do it with adult help at first but once they have the hang of it, they can do it by (and for) themselves (and for younger siblings).
• Self-care – as children begin to have the fine motor capability to complete simple areas of self-care (washing hands, brushing hair, cleaning teeth), take the time to show your child how to do them with increasing skill.

Teaching children to do these basic tasks really benefits the child. The confidence boost that children receive from being able and allowed to do things for themselves is remarkable. Children feel an enormous sense of pride when they master a new skill or gain competency in a new area. By encouraging children to do for themselves what they are capable of, you are placing them firmly on the path to confident independence. (adapted from http://childhood101.com/encouraging-independence-in-children/ and www.psychologytoday.com/blog/once-upon-child/201606/encouraging-independence-in-young-children) One final message! “Habitually doing things for your child that she’s capable of doing herself sends an inadvertent message that you don’t have confidence in her abilities,” Jeanne Williams, psychologist informs. The outcome is a child who lacks independence, self-esteem and problem-solving skills and who can’t, or won’t, do age-appropriate tasks. This is sometimes called ‘learned helplessness’. Learned from whom? You guessed it! I’m sure you’ll agree, that there are far more important skills to teach our young Wellingtonians. (adapted from www.todaysparent.com/kids/teaching-kids-to-be-more-independent/)    Classroom News for week beginning Monday 11^th September 2017 EY1 – Erica Ni writes about the theme Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? This week is all about animals. EY1 children will be asked English questions such as “Where is brown bear?” “What do you see?” Teachers will take EY1 children to go to hunt for animals in and around the setting and we will support children to repeat the name of animals in English and Chinese. We are going to make brown bears with paper plates and use cottons and feather to decorate birds and sheep – we will also try animal yoga! Routines are important to young children because these small, but important things have major influences on children’s social and emotional development. We will keep supporting children to become familiar with our routines such as lining up, drinking water, washing hands, cleaning up when teacher ask them to, just as in everyday life. We are reading: Brown bear brown bear what do you see,  棕色的熊，棕色的熊，你看到了什么？, 马戏团, 我的后面是谁呀 We are singing: If you are happy and you know it, Sit down song, Pat Your Head, Big and Small, 两只老虎，小星星 A note from the EY1 team: The life of an EY1 child has its ups and downs. We’d like to thank our parents for their continued patience when children still have a few tears in their eyes in the morning. We have been encouraging and praising our children to put plates away after snack, take off their shoes by themselves before they go to nap. Giving small tasks to EY1 children is important to build their confidence and support their development. When your child shows signs of wanting to do things by themselves, please allow them to have a go and say yes even though they might make mistakes.   EY2 – Vivian He writes about the theme 10 little fingers, 10 little toes This week, we will review key shapes and numbers in a variety of activities such as stacking up blocks up of dominoes. Children will be able to use blocks to create and build structures which they will have the opportunity to present and introduce to the class. This week, children will also be introduced to opposites such as left and right, up and down as well as forward and backward. We will also introduce the children to the game of hopscotch to develop their understanding of position as well as develop their coordination and balance skills. We are reading: Eyes, Nose, Fingers and Toes; 10 Little Fingers, 10 Little Toes; Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (the book); Shu zi zai na li; Xiao tu zi shi shu zi We are singing: Good morning song; Hello Song; One Little Finger; Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (the book); Shu ya zi; Wu zhi xiao ya We will also review our class routine songs and phrases such as the expressions we use when we clean or tidy up.   EY3 – Even Chen writes about the theme All About Me The start of the week goes off with a bang as delve further in to the topic “All About Me”. We are asking the children to dress like a family member for the day, whether that is their Mummy, Daddy, Grandad, Grandma, or a close friend of the family. It would also be helpful to the children for them to bring a photograph of the family member to help them talk about that person and explain to the class. We will observe ourselves and try to draw a big me, including the body parts, such as arms, legs, shoulders, and navel and learn about eating healthy food. To help us do this the children will be participating in a variation of the game “Eye Spy With My Little Eye”.  Also, we will discuss our five senses and get to know their features, discussing how to protect them. Self-emotion control is very important for EY3 age-range children, so we will encourage children to express their feelings (happy, sad, angry) in the right way and use languages to tell other people. We will be making scented playdough, which we will then use to create silly and funny faces. To complete the week, we will make self-portraits using mirrors, and cutting up photographs of our faces to mix with others to see what the results will be like. We are reading: I’m Like you, You’re Like Me by Cindy Giner, 食物旅行记, 我的心情, 不要随便顺从别人 We are singing: “This is me”, “My body”, Different variations of “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, 我的身体、头肩膀膝盖脚、如果感到……你就这样做 A note from the EY4 team: Monday 11^th September – Dress up like a relative day   EY4 – Emily Gu writes about the theme Me and My World This week, we will continue discussing the 5 Wellington values and will work to encourage children to be aware of the fulfilments of the five values in the setting by discussing the good models from our day to day life, inside and outside of the setting. Parents will see that the teachers will put a sticker in child’s weekly journal, if the child demonstrates any one of these values – although they are not easy to come by! However, when it does happen, please be encouraging and cheer for your child. As the theme progresses, we continue to learn more about ourselves. The children will be talking to their friends about the things they like using their ‘All About Me’ bags and practising their listening and questioning skills. They will also be focusing on building life sized self-portrait sculptures. We are reading: 责任, 小老鼠亚力山大, 南瓜汤》等, Marvellous Me We are singing: 问好歌, 再见歌, 星期歌, Heads, shoulders, knees and toes, If you’re happy and you know it, Shake your sillies out A note from the EY4 team: Please remember to bring in one Family photo, one baby photo and bring back ‘all about me’ bags for show and share. Please make sure that your book bags are labelled and brought to the setting when we have our Library sessions.