Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

A scientific visit

The children had an engaging, fun, and interactive Science incursion on Tuesday. Darren, from Young Scientists, set up different stations in the Dream Room for the children to explore, investigate, raise questions, and wonder about. In groups of two or three, the children were invited to engage in the learning activities around the room. The activities integrated more than one of the disciplines of Science, including Technology, Engineering, and Maths. Through play and hands-on experiences, the children explored the concepts of gravity, friction, motion, energy, force, kinetic energy, potential energy, vibrations, sound, electricity, reflections, light and mirrors, density, air, magnets and more.

We asked the children what they liked about the Science experiments. These were some of their comments:

Tahlia: I liked the rocket and the little magnet things that they stuck together and not stuck together.
Freddie: I also liked the one where you tip the marbles from the buckets. I liked watching it.
Xander: The balancing thing with the bird on my finger, because it was my first time ever I have done that. It was fun and I can balance two on both hands at once on my fingers.
Luca: The shooting one and the magnet stuff. They were fun, I discovered that the other side of the magnets are not strong and don’t stick together, and on the other side they are strong and clip together.
James: I like the rocket because you need to bounce on it and then it flies up into the air.
James F: The rocket because they let you stomp on it, pop up so high and then I pushed all the air out with my feet.
Lexi: The marbles because they were going down.
Grace: My favourite thing was the rocket when we stamp our feet the rocket goes to the roof.
Ziggy: I like everything. The magic in the rubbish bin and the big balls.
Noam: I liked the binoculars and the scope. We put our eye in and then we saw different patterns. The rainbow made the patterns.
Rafi: I liked the big balls that opened and closed.
August: I liked the binoculars. I could see tickets in them.
Drew: I liked the marbles, how they went round and round.

Parent/Teacher meetings

These took place on Thursday afternoon into the evening via Zoom. Educators and families were able to connect and discuss each child’s progress, strengths and interests these past two terms.

We will hold the remainder of parent/teacher meetings on Thursday 24 June 2022.

Preparing your child for Primary School

Continuing from my article in last week’s Ma Nishma on School Readiness, below are pointers for parents, in preparing their child for formal school:

Provide your child with spontaneous learning experiences (colours, shapes, numbers, how ‘things’ work).
Look for opportunities to teach in everyday experiences and through play.
Make school exciting – talk positively about big school.
Encourage independence (dressings, eating, bathing, packing their bags, putting on school shoes, opening lunch containers, looking after their belongings, toileting, saying goodbye).
Read to your child as much as possible and ask questions during and after the story.
Encourage your child to follow through on instructions and to complete tasks.
In order for your child to be “ready” for school they need to be able to sit still and listen.
Encourage set routines at home that are clear, predictable, and consistent for your child.
Make sure your child gets enough sleep each night. This is essential to good behaviour and for concentration.
Encourage your child to hold a pencil correctly and write their own name.
Organise play dates for your child, children need to be able to get along with other children, demonstrate basic manners, assert themselves, and be able to play independently as well as with other children.
It’s alright for children to be bored. This allows them to use other parts of their brain as well as their imagination.
Limit screen time for your children during the week and try to get back to how we all grew up with no screen time available during the week.
Put your toys at home on rotation, don’t have them all out at once as this gets overwhelming for children.
Encourage your children not to sit with their legs in a “W” shape, as this is not good for their knees and hips, but most importantly it weakens their core muscles and postural tone and limits their ability to interact in the environment.
Children tend to avoid activities they find difficult. Be positive, give them lots of praise and encouragement to build up their confidence to try things that might be challenging for them.
Teach your child strategies for helping them to calm down such as breathing deeply, yoga or mindfulness strategies.
Early intervention is important to address any issues or concerns.
Don’t be afraid to give your child a steady dose of Vitamin N – saying NO.
Children need protection, affection, and direction. Protecting your children from frustration, does not help to build resilience or prepare them for disappointments that may come their way in life.
Our main aim should be to build children’s confidence in themselves, to encourage a love of learning, and to develop each child’s resilience to cope with their busy days in Year K.