This is one of my favourite themes! We get to explore difference terrains of the world as well as the animals that inhibit their land and the Crew get to have a look at different types of places and animals they may have never heard of before.
The first place we delved into was the Amazon rain forest/Amazon jungle. This is such an amazing place with many interesting facts, like the tree cover is so thick it takes 10mins for the droplets to reach the rainforest floor. It also rains 8 months of the year in the Amazon and spans over 9 counties of South America. The animals we discussed were the Toucan, Anaconda snake, pink river dolphins, poisonous dark frogs as well as jaguars and black panthers.
Next we discussed the Tongess national forest, which is Canada near Alaska. The Tongess is home to some of the oldest trees in the world! The Tongess forest is home to some of the rarest ecosystems on the planet. It is one of the few places left on earth that maintains a delicate balance between land, water, wildlife and human activity. There are more bears than people in this forest. We looked at salmon fish, black and brown bears, the American bald Eagle and little Sitka deer’s.
Then we discussed the Sahara desert! Our art activity for the weeks was based on an animal that lives in the Sahara desert. Just like the Amazon jungle the Sahara expands over 11 different counties in Africa and is over 3 million square miles. Despite is harsh conditions many animals call the Sahara home. The hottest temperature ever recorded there was 57 degrees Celsius. The animals we learnt about were the horned viper, Namaqua chameleon, the Addax antelope, Saharan camel, golden jackel and the scorpion.
Last but not least we explored the icy Artic circle. Because the Artic circle is right at the top of the Earth it will have one day of complete darkness in winter and a day of complete sunshine in summer. Temperatures in the Artic are as cold as -70 degrees Celsius. I would never survive Brrrrrr! But it is home to many beautiful animals. The polar bear, who’s fur is actually transparent and just appears white because of the reflection of the white snow on its fur. The artic fox, the Harp seal and snowy owl. The narwhal which is the unicorn of the sea and the albatross which has the wing span of 3.5 meters. WOW!
For art this week, our art consisted of a few different components. The Crew got to water paint their chameleons. Cut out their green cactus ovals and construct a cactus of their own using a cactus picture as an example for guidance. We then added a few white cactus spikes and some sand to complete our own Sahara desert.
Assessments are in full swing this week and I know it’s been super tricky with this terrible flu going around and we appreciate you keeping your kiddies home for a full recovery. We look forward to having healthy children back so assessments can continue.
At music this week with teacher Mo, we learnt about high and low notes as well as different cords played on the guitar. Thank you teacher Mo for these wonderful lessons. Music is such an important part of children’s development, especially learning through instruments.
Protective Behaviours this weeks was based on feeling and that it’s ok to feel all different feelings angry or sad. The Crew had to draw a face of how they were feeling today and at the back of their paper plate draw a place where they felt safe.
Yoga this week was animal yoga to go with our wild animals theme. Using our magic yoga bag the Crew picked out little animals and discussed some interesting facts about each of them while doing the relevant yoga pose. They incorporated breathing techniques as well while in each animal pose. Thank you teacher Yoga.
At Fun Fit Sports this week we concentrated on assessment skills. Coach Trevor just knows how to make even assessments fun! The Crew love a good workout session and find it fun to be competitive!
We hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Next week’s theme: Farming Vegetables and fruit
