Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Family Day

Once again, we reflected as a staff team and together with the children, about celebrating Family Day on Sunday. Today, we don’t assume that families all look the same. More children than ever are being raised by single parents, adoptive parents, same-sex parents, or in blended families. They all deserve respect and support.

With this in mind, we have decided to have a Family Day instead of Father’s or Mother’s Days. For us, as Early Childhood Educators, we use this celebration as a platform for visibility and speaking out. The more the children hear about different kinds of families, the more inclusive they will become. We engaged in discussion with the children about all types of families, focussing on the loving relationships a child has instead of a specific relationship they may not have.

What is a family?

Ollie: A family is a mum, a dad, and a kid.
Finn: And a baby.
Alice: Me, Kaya and Georgia.
Arlo: A family is a whole group of special people.

Are families the same?

Alice: No, every type of family is different. People’s names of families are different.
Arlo: No, because some are separated, and some are not.
Mili: Some families don’t have any dads.
Neveau: Sometimes in families there are no kids.
Finn: Some families don’t have mums either. Because there are not enough mums and dads in the world.
Bronte: My mummy’s friend has a kid and two mums.
Ollie: Sometimes there are two dads and sometimes zero dads.

Why do you think we call it Family Day and not just Father’s Day at Kornmehl?

Alice: Since some people don’t have any dads.
Arlo: They might feel sad and jealous if they don’t have a dad and we call it Father’s Day.
Finn: How about this? We have no Father’s Day, and we have no Mum’s Day and no Children’s Day and no Sister’s Day?

We wish all our Kornmehl families a very happy family day on Sunday.

Rosh HaShanah

As Family Day and Rosh HaShanah are so close together, we reflected on how we could combine these gifts into one to make one special gift that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

The children have been working consistently over the past two weeks to prepare these special gifts. Throughout the process of making their gifts, the children have been learning lots of new skills. They worked with clay to mould the most beautiful and unique clay honey jars. Each child will bring home their honey pots, filled with a special jar of personalised honey from Kornmehl.

As part of our Rosh HaShanah learning we have been exploring and looking closely at apples and honey.

We did a mindfulness tasting exercise using four different types of honey. Sitting in a circle, each child was given a paddle pop stick with a bit of honey on. What does it look like? Can you smell it? What does it smell like? Can you put it close to your ear? Can you hear anything? and taste…

We first put a little bit of honey on our lips and smacked our lips together…What does it feel like? What do you notice is happening inside your mouth…The children explained their mouths were watering…“My mouth is wet,” said Finn. “It’s getting wetter,” said Bronte. We then licked our lips and savoured the honey. We put a little bit of honey on the tip of our tongue and waited to see what happened…Again the children noticed their mouths “getting wetter”. We tasted it…And put a little bit of honey on the middle part of our tongues…Did it taste the same or different? We put a bit of honey on the inside of our cheek…Did it taste any different?

We repeated this process with each type of honey. It was quite a powerful exercise.

The groups have also been exploring where apples come from and what the different kinds of apples taste like. We cut open apples to look inside and of course we have eaten lots of apples dipped in honey for a sweet New Year.

The children have been working collaboratively on a Rosh HaShanah inspired mixed media artwork. Bees have been drawn and painted, we have used pastels, paper pieces and paste added too. Words have also been copied, written, and included.

Over time we have noticed how the art piece has evolved and changed by adding more layers and noticing that some materials are not so visible anymore, whilst others add a new dimension. We are using this beautiful piece of artwork to inspire our Rosh HaShanah recipe book that we are compiling, as well as our Rosh HaShanah cards to send out.

On Wednesday, we sent home beautiful Rosh HaShanah packs to the children at home, to enjoy and to wish them a Shana Tovah.

Early Childhood Educators Day

On Wednesday, we acknowledged and celebrated all our wonderful educators at Kornmehl.

The purpose of Early Childhood Educators Day is to recognise and celebrate the work of early educators working in long day care, community care and pre-school services, for their enormous contribution to the wellbeing and healthy development of the young children in their care. This year more than ever, we thank our front-line early childhood educators for their unwavering strength and resilience during this trying time of COVID-19. We appreciate your commitment and dedication to the early childhood profession and to the children in your care.

Early Childhood Educators Day is a day to acknowledge the valuable work of the early years’ educators in educating and caring for tomorrow’s leaders.

Families at Kornmehl joined us in thanking all our wonderful educators by sending in messages of gratitude.

Our educators received a scrumptious morning tea and the chance to read all the heartfelt messages sent by Kornmehl families.

Here are a few parent messages:

Dear Kornmehl Educators,
We have had the great privilege of being part of the Kornmehl community for the past three years, since Arlo joined the Seashells the day after his third birthday. Since dropping our little three year old off in his classroom on Day 1, we have been constantly amazed at the level of care, creativity, empathy and passion demonstrated every day by you – his educators. In your care, Arlo’s hunger to learn has been fed and fed and has grown into what we suspect will now be a lifelong quest to learn about and understand the world. You have shared the benefits of your experiences with him, role modelled how to be mindful and compassionate citizens of the world, taught him how to care for himself and others and encouraged him to wonder and ask questions. These are the building blocks of a fulfilled life. So much of what he will achieve in his lifetime will be because you prepared him to be the best version of himself as he sets off on his life’s adventures. We will be forever grateful.
Amy, Olli and Willow

Dear Wonderful Kornmehl Educators,
I cannot tell you what a joy it is to leave Bronte in your care each day. I know that with you she will be supported to grow into her wonderful self, and I have seen her flourish since she started. Your dedication, commitment, skill, and passion shine through in everything that you do. You create such a nurturing environment which fosters positive social experiences as well as a loving space around each child for them to grow into. Thank you for what you have given our child, and for what you give to all the children and the community,
Katherine (Bronte’s Mum)

Thank you so much for the love and care that you bring to work every day, the delight you show in the children and the role modelling that you provide. We feel so lucky to have you as custodians of our beautiful children, putting so much of yourself into motivating them and teaching them to be their best selves. Thanks for all that you do!!
Daniella, Jonathan and Adam Gavshon

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love and kindness you show our little people. There’s something very special about Kornmehl and it all starts with you, so thank you for doing what you all do.
Lisa and Trev Salamon