Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Deborah Blackman talks

Mrs Deborah Blackman’s workshop with Kornmehl parents on Tuesday night was informative and gave parents tangible and hands on skills and strategies for keeping children safe and opening communication with your child about protective behaviours. Deborah also spoke to the children on Wednesday and Thursday morning, re-inforcing these same messages.

Some of the key messages were:

Good and bad feelings and recognising these.
Good secrets and bad secrets.
Private parts are private.
Safe and not safe touches.
Always tell an adult.
Safety network – tell your child who their safe adults are (4-5 people).
Encourage open communication about any topics.
Have conversations with your child about which adults are safe to care for them and to go in their car, without your permission (e.g. grandma).
Have regular conversations about the “safety rules.”
Validate your child’s feelings.
Always give your child the message that you believe in them.

Pesach explorations

Re-enacting the Passover story

This week we have begun learning about the festival of Passover and the wonderful traditions, stories, characters, songs, food, and creative experiences involved with this festival. We tell the story of Pesach using animation, song, music, props and costumes and invite the children to take on roles in the story. Re-enacting the story helps to bring it to life and allows the children time to process the details and make sense of it. We tell the story of baby Moses and how he grew up in Egypt, being cared for by King Pharaoh’s daughter. The children love dramatising the story, particularly the parts when Moses goes to ask King Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go.

Each group invited the children to represent baby Moses in the basket using the medium of clay and collage to express their thinking and ideas. This technique consisted of first rolling a small ball out of clay and moulding it into the shape of a basket, by pinching and smoothing it with the tips of the fingers. The children had to be careful to use small bits of clay to shape into a head, body and arms. They learnt how to connect the pieces using slurry and their fingers to squeeze the two parts together. Some of the skills involved in this process included eye-hand coordination, visual perceptual skills, fine motor skills, recalling the story of Pesach and understanding and following instructions. Their representations are just unique and delightful.

We created Egypt, the desert, and the pyramids in the classrooms by using sand, triangle shaped blocks and camels. The children love this type of imaginative play.

They have participated in cooking experiences, from making matzah pizzas, to charoset, to dipping parsley in saltwater and learning about the tears of the Jewish slaves in Egypt. The children have loved these interactive experiences and enjoyed all the tasting too.

Through all these sensory and visual experiences, the festival of Passover comes alive for the children and has meaning for them.

The Starfish asked the group: What is a question?

Raphael: A question is something to answer. Asking something to somebody.
Noah: Do you want to go to the shop with me? – It’s a question.

Comments about Pesach:

Jordan: We eat matzah, and we have grape juice. Wine is like grape juice.
Dylan: When somebody breaks up a piece of matzah, sometimes they eat it and other times we hide it and get a prize.
Edison: You put matzah in a kind of bag, and you have to find it.
Aimee: I didn’t find it because I was too busy talking. It was too hard. My cousin found it behind the pillow.
Drew: You eat something sour. (bitter)
Aliza: We drink grape juice and dip that green thing (parsley)in salt water.
Allec: The story is about Grandma Moses.
Aimee: Actually, it’s about baby Moses.
Noa: A naughty mummy put the baby in the water and the pharaoh’s daughter picked her up with a teddy bear.
Asher: It’s about where they eat and where there is a long table.

Connecting with elderly members of our community

This week we welcomed Mel, Hudson’s grandma, who came in to share his semi-precious stone and crystal collection – a passion and interest that they share together.

We also welcomed volunteer, Kay Kotzin, a past Kornmehl and Emanuel School grandma. Kay will be visiting weekly, to interact with the Starfish group. The intention is to form a relationship with the children and educator’s, to share her wisdom and knowledge and to form meaningful connections.

Elderly members of our community are a great resource when it comes to caring for and educating young children. These activities can increase self-esteem and promote friendship. These interactions also help children learn how to interact with older people, to slow down and play in a more calm and gentle way. While they foster more social and emotional skills, they enjoy all the extra attention they are receiving.

Having the elderly and children play and care for each other is a union of future and past generations and brings value to human interactions. It’s a win, win for us all.

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Lexi Kalinko (5) and Ella Johns (5). We also wish a very happy birthday to our special educator Joanne Woods. We hope you all had a beautiful birthday celebration.