Winter, Temperature, Fire, Ice

Winter, Temperature, Fire, Ice

THEME

Winter, Temperature, Fire & Ice

COLOUR

Grey

SHAPE

Rectangle & Rectangular Prism

NUMBER

20 & Recap

j

LETTER

Ww  – Winter

IB Principle: Balanced – We explained to the Squad how important it is to take care of their physical, emotional and mental well-being such as, eating healthy food, exercising and getting enough sleep as it helps us feel happy and calm. 

Writing and Phonics: This week the Squad focused on the “ap” family and wrote sentences in their workbooks using the cat method. We are so pleased with how well they are progressing with their handwriting, focusing on finger spacing and placing the letters in the correct part of the “cat”. They also decoded words using sound buttons in their TimetoRead books. Great work Squad! 

Mathematics: This week we focused on 2D and 3D shapes. They cut out each shape and carefully pasted them into the correct blocks labelled “2D” and “3D”. Well done, Squad! We also practiced counting to 30 and backwards, as well as in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.  

Creative Art: For art this week the Squad went on a lovely nature walk, collecting sticks and rocks to create their own unique fire pits. Back in class, they used wood glue to assemble their designs, adding a pop of colour with red and yellow flames. Way to go Squad, your craftmanship really shone through!  

Music: We are in full swing of practicing for our annual concert – the children are singing their hearts out. Keep it up.  

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. 

 

HAVE A WONDERFUL MID-TERM BREAK!

    Dates to Diarise:

 

27 June: Mid Term Break Up Day

7 July: Back To School

10 July: Reptile Day

11 July: Haircut Day

18 July: Nelson Mandela Day

26 July: EcoKids Concert

8 August: Pyjama Dress Up Day

8 August: Break Up Day

9 August: Public Holiday

11 August: Holiday Club Starts

 

 

 

 

Lots of love

Teacher Hayley, Teacher Alexia and the Smart Squad Assistants 

Our Squad!

Winter, Temperature, Fire, Ice

Winter, Temperature, Fire and Ice

THEME

Winter, Temperature, Fire & Ice

COLOUR

Grey

SHAPE

Rectangle & Rectangular Prism

NUMBER

20 & Recap

j

LETTER

Ww  – Winter

This week we had a wonderful time exploring our winter-themed topic. We spoke about all sorts of interesting things like how veld fires start, how snow is formed, how we measure temperature, and why we experience winter in the first place. The Crew were full of questions and observations—what a curious and clever bunch! 

To recap our numbers 1–20, we played a fun game of hopscotch where the children had to count aloud as they jumped along. It was energetic, engaging, and such a great way to reinforce their counting in a physical, memorable way. 

For our letter of the week, we did a multi-step playdough activity. First, the Crew formed the letter “w” out of playdough. Next, they placed little dots of playdough onto printed “w”s. Finally, they wrote the letter using whiteboard markers. This activity worked their fine motor muscles and letter recognition skills all at once—it was wonderful to see the concentration and creativity. 

One of the highlights this week was our 3D volcano project. These turned out so beautifully that we’ve decided to keep them for our annual Art Expo. The children painted their cardboard pieces in fiery tones—orange, red, and yellow—then glued matching scraps of fabric onto the correct colours. Once the pieces were dry, we assembled them into eye-catching 3D volcanoes. It really was a blast! 

We also introduced a new 3D shape: the rectangular prism. The Crew had a great time hunting around the classroom to find objects shaped like a rectangular prism—like our tissue box and some of the books on our shelf. It’s amazing how quickly they pick up these concepts when they’re connected to real-world items. 

Concert practice is going so well! The Crew are truly shining during rehearsals, and it’s heartwarming to see how serious and excited they are. We can’t wait to perform and showcase all our hard work, creativity, and catchy songs! 

We did not have yoga this week as Teacher Yoga started her holiday early. Yoga will continue when we get back from break. 

Reports are going home today along with your child’s portfolio, which contains worksheets from the beginning of the year. We hope you enjoy looking through all their hard work and noticing just how far they’ve come. Please note: their workbooks will not be sent home now—they’ll go home at the end of the year. We’re excited for the months ahead as we continue to prepare your child for Grade R. 

Have a wonderful midterm break! We’ll see everyone back at school on 7 July—rest well and recharge. 

 

Our Next Theme: Reptiles 🦎🐍 

 

HAVE A WONDERFUL MID-TERM BREAK!

    Dates to Diarise:

 

27 June: Mid Term Break Up Day

7 July: Back To School

10 July: Reptile Day

11 July: Haircut Day

18 July: Nelson Mandela Day

26 July: EcoKids Concert

8 August: Pyjama Dress Up Day

8 August: Break Up Day

9 August: Public Holiday

11 August: Holiday Club Starts

 

 

 

 

Lots of love

Teacher Tegan, Teacher Avril and the Curious Crew Assistants 

Our Crew!

Winter, Temperature, Fire, Ice

Winter, Temperature, Fire and Ice

THEME

Winter, Temperature, Fire & Ice

COLOUR

Grey

SHAPE

Rectangle & Rectangular Prism

NUMBER

8

j

LETTER

Ww  – Winter

The Happy Hoppers have been working extremely hard this week.   

We spoke about Winter temperatures and how cold it can get in Winter. We discussed different clothing we can wear in winter like boots scarfs, gloves, and jackets. We discussed warm foods to eat like soups, stews, and curries. Teacher C told the Hoppers her favourite food is curry. We also spoke about activities we enjoy doing in winter. Some of the Hoppers told us what they like to do in Winter like watching movies. Teacher Cecilia shared some of her favourite things to do in Winter. Its was so much fun sharing our Winter stories and all the things we enjoy doing in Winter.

For art this week the Hoppers made a lovely art piece Teacher Cecilia pre- cut a template of mittens then we painted the Hoppers hands white and made handprints on the mittens we decorated it by putting cotton wool on the edges and added a piece of wool joining one mitten to the other. These look super cute. Great job Hoppers. 

We also went on a beautiful nature walk around our school to collect all sorts of objects we used for our ice experiment. We used a plastic cake lid to place objects inside and we place it in the freezer over night and the next day we put it in the sun to watch how it melts. We placed a ribbon in it so we could hang it up and watch the water drip down. We even place a key and looms bands in the water to see how long it takes before these items fell out. This was to demonstrate how cold temperatures can drop in Winter.  

We also had some fun on Friday braaing some marshmallows. This was so delicious, and the Hoppers are very aware about Fire and ice after all the activities we experienced this week.  

We practised for our concert and I’m sure the Hoppers are going to blow you away on concert day. 

Reports are ready and have been sent out. 

We have really been working hard and are looking forward to our well-deserved our Mid-term break next week. 

Have a wonderful weekend and break! 

 

HAVE A WONDERFUL MID-TERM BREAK!

    Dates to Diarise:

 

27 June: Mid Term Break Up Day

7 July: Back To School

10 July: Reptile Day

11 July: Haircut Day

18 July: Nelson Mandela Day

26 July: EcoKids Concert

8 August: Pyjama Dress Up Day

8 August: Break Up Day

9 August: Public Holiday

11 August: Holiday Club Starts

 

 

 

 

Lots of love

Teacher Cecilia and the Happy Hoppers Assistants 

Our Hoppers!

Winter, Temperatures, Fire and Ice

Winter, Temperatures, Fire and Ice

THEME

Winter, Temperatures, Fire & Ice

COLOUR

Grey

SHAPE

Rectangle

NUMBER

3

j

LETTER

Ww – Winter

The Pups had so much fun exploring this interesting and fun theme! We started off the week by doing an amazing “water colour” painting with food colouring and an ice block! The children loved to touch the ice block which we used as a brush and explore the different sensations on their fingertips! The idea was to drag the wet ice block over drops of food colouring on a piece of paper. The water from the ice block made beautiful patterns with the food colouring and afterwards, the children sprinkled salt over their creations to make it look even more interesting and unique. The salt brought out the true colour of the food colouring to create truly spectacular patterns and paintings.  

We did some concert practice. Singing, dancing and having fun.  

On Wednesday morning we spent a fun time playing with balloons (and practicing to blow them up!) and then we played with our playdough to exercise cold fingers! Teacher Cecilia made a snowman for all the pups to see an example of what they could make out of salt dough. We then let the children create exactly what they wanted, and we are so proud of the results! The children had an absolute blast making their salt dough snowmen. They are all so unique and we have decided to keep them for our art show. 

The children had a great week learning all about winter, although they know all about what’s cold and what’s not, so they were able to tell us so much this week! We are very proud of how well they are all talking and growing up so nicely. Well done little Pups!  

 

Next week’s theme: Remember we are on Mid-term break next week but when we come back our theme will be: Reptiles. 

Have A Wonderful Mid-Term Break! ... Keep Warm! ... Safe Travels To Those Going Away!

    

 Dates to Diarise: 

3 July: Back to School

5 July: Reptile Day

7 July: Hearing Tests (details to follow soon)

12 July: Haircut Day

15 July: EcoKids Concert

18 July: Nelson Mandela Day

21 July: Eye Screening

 

Lots of love

Teacher Cecilia and the Playful Pups Assistants

Fun Activities To Keep Warm!

Winter, Temperatures, Fire and Ice

Winter, Temperatures, Fire and Ice

THEME

Winter, Temperatures, Fire & Ice

COLOUR

Grey

SHAPE

Rectangle

NUMBER

20 & Recap

j

LETTER

Ww – Winter

Moral conscious theme: Open-Minded We have been going through the IB principles of a learner and this week we focused on what it means to be open minded. This means that we try new things and that we are able to take chances and not let fear get the better of us. We gave them examples of stepping outside of their comfort zone and trying new foods or sliding down a slide that they were once afraid of. 

Writing and Phonics: This week we wrote sentences for our ‘ap’ words that we went over last week. The children are really focusing on keeping their letters inside the lines and writing smaller and neater. We are proud of them. We also went over letter names and sounds by playing a game with match the sound to the visual picture of the letter. They did really well with this.

  

Mathematics: We have been trying to assist the Squad with understanding the before and after concept. We completed another worksheet using the number line so that they were able to visualise the numbers before and after.

  

Creative Art: The Squad constructed their very own bonfires using stones, sticks, paper and glue. It is so wonderful to see how differently the children see things and how they build them – it ensures that every art piece is individualised and unique. 

Music and Cooking: For cooking this week we went over different temperatures for different foods. What is the correct temperature for the oven when baking? The Squad went into the function room for Music this week, Teacher Katy played the piano, and it was so much fun. We also let the children play different instruments. 

FunFit Sports: This week the children dribbled around cones and picked up a ball in teams and then dribbled around another set of cones. They also chased each other around the field. They enjoyed this so much. 

 

Wishing you all a lovely mid-term break and see you when we return. 

Have A Wonderful Mid-Term Break! ... Keep Warm! ... Safe Travels To Those Going Away!

    

 Dates to Diarise: 

3 July: Back to School

5 July: Reptile Day

7 July: Hearing Tests (details to follow soon)

12 July: Haircut Day

15 July: EcoKids Concert

18 July: Nelson Mandela Day

21 July: Eye Screening

 

Lots of love

Teacher Carla, Teacher Hayley and the Smart Squad Assistants

Fun Activities To Keep Warm!

Winter, Temperatures, Fire and Ice

Winter, Temperatures, Fire and Ice

THEME

Winter, Temperatures, Fire & Ice

COLOUR

Grey

SHAPE

Rectangle

NUMBER

20 & Recap

j

LETTER

Ww – Winter

This week , the Curious Crew class had so much to chat about in our theme discussion and Morning ring. We spoke about what winter means to us , and how do we know it’s winter . We spoke about the different clothing we wear , the different food we eat , and what we do in our homes to keep warm. We also spoke about what happens to our temperature during winter , and what happens to our environment and surroundings on cold mornings. 

We also focused on our phonic letters , as well as our counting. And we are so proud of how well everyone is doing regarding their counting. 

For art this week ; we made the most beautiful icicle, using silver glitter , and boy this came out beautifully! We also finger painted a fire flame using red , orange and yellow paint. This was by far their most favourite art activity yet. We then used sand and sticks to incorporate a 3D art for the week..

Yoga Day! 

This week we used our senses to guess what was in our mystery bag. 

Each yogi got a chance to feel around in the bag, with their eyes closed, and select 1 item to squeeze, feel, shake, smell. The yogis then had to describe the item using textures, hard or soft, shapes, what it’s made of etc.  

Heart matters 

Learning about our 3 different brains we have in our bodies 1. Head brain. 2. Heart brain 3. Gut brain , and teacher Hela explained that out head brain is where we use our brains to think and process our emotions and how we learn etc. 

We used our fist , to demonstrate our brain , and the different sections of our brains and what they control. 

Teacher Hela then used a little doll house ,and little puppets , she explained that the house demonstrates a house in our brain , with an upstairs and a downstairs , dividing up our different emotions, that we process throughout our day. 

This was a wonderful and creative way to demonstrate on our our brain works together control how we react in situations. 

May we have the most blessed and warm midterm break next week ! May everyone be safe and enjoy their time at home. 

SCHOOL WILL CONTINUE ON THE 3rd OF JULY 

Next theme : Reptiles 

 

Have A Wonderful Mid-Term Break! ... Keep Warm! ... Safe Travels To Those Going Away!

    

 Dates to Diarise: 

3 July: Back to School

5 July: Reptile Day

7 July: Hearing Tests (details to follow soon)

12 July: Haircut Day

15 July: EcoKids Concert

18 July: Nelson Mandela Day

21 July: Eye Screening

 

Lots of love

Teacher Clarissa, Teacher Ash and the Curious Crew Assistants

Fun Activities To Keep Warm!

Winter, Temperatures, Fire and Ice

Winter, Temperatures, Fire and Ice

THEME

Winter, Temperatures, Fire & Ice

COLOUR

Grey

SHAPE

Rectangle

NUMBER

8

j

LETTER

Ww – Winter

Winter is well and truly upon us, which gives us so many opportunities to explore this awesome theme. This week we explored Winter, temperatures, Fire and Ice! A theme of extremes.

We played with a lot of ice and examined what happened when we put the ice into water, placed it in the sunshine, put salt on it… It was so interesting! Obviously our Bugs were not going to pass up an opportunity to put the ice in their mouths, either! Haha!

We had lots of conversations about fire and fire safety, what it is used for and how it’s actually quite dangerous, even though it is so beautiful, and we must always stay far away from fires and anything that can make a fire – like a heater, or matches and lighters! For our fire art, we use tinfoil dipped in red, orange and yellow paint to dab beautiful fire onto a page, and then collected sticks from the garden for the base of our fire.

In winter, our children told us that the weather gets very cold, and that we have to wear long tops and pants, and put on jackets and beanies to keep warm! We use gloves and extra blankets and scarves so that we can keep the cold away! It is fun to drink hot chocolate with marshmallows and eat yummy warm soups! We are all very lucky to have enough warm clothing and a nice warm bed to sleep in at night! We spoke about how, in Benoni, it really hardly ever snows, although it does happen sometimes. We do get frost on the ground in the mornings and sometimes, there is fog and mist that we can’t see though! Frost is fun to walk on and goes “crunch crunch crunch!” under our feet!

Friday book character dress-up day was so much fun! These kiddies all looked amazing dressed as their favorite book characters!

Reports have gone out, and we hope you enjoying reading about your kiddos adventures at school. If you have any questions regarding reports, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Have a wonderful, relaxing, mid-term break, and we can’t wait to see all of our Bugs back at school for the second half of the term!

Please remember to send beanies AND sun hats back to school, and label jackets please, as jackets always almost come off after playtime. Have a happy and safe weekend everyone!

The Next Theme Is: Reptiles

 

Have A Wonderful Mid-Term Break! ... Keep Warm! ... Safe Travels To Those Going Away!

    

 Dates to Diarise: 

3 July: Back to School

5 July: Reptile Day

7 July: Hearing Tests (details to follow soon)

12 July: Haircut Day

15 July: EcoKids Concert

18 July: Nelson Mandela Day

21 July: Eye Screening

 

Lots of love

Teacher Gemma, Teacher Monette and the Busy Bugs Assistants

Fun Activities To Keep Warm!