Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl

Mothers Day

We celebrated Mothers Day on Monday morning with a special breakfast for all our wonderful mums, grandmas and special friends. We enjoyed a wonderful and delicious breakfast prepared by some of our talented dads. A big thank you to Neil Shilbury, Ilan Miller, Danny Stein, Chris Botsman and David Marishel. Thanks also to the mums who came in on Friday to bake – Debbie Lawrence, Anita Weinberger and Wendy Botsman. Your support is very much appreciated.

All our special mums were  lucky enough to visit the Kornmehl pamper parlour to have their nails done as well as a relaxing massage. In the Seashell room parents enjoyed sharing activities together. There was a choice of beading, making a bookmark or decorating a twig with coloured wool. The children were so excited to serve breakfast to their mums. It was a morning of pleasure, fun, connections, special and shared moments.

Having a morning like this reinforces the importance and value of the connection between families and the Pre-school. The children gain so much pleasure from sharing this experience with their mums and having time together in this relaxed setting enhances their feelings of belonging and connections to the Pre-school.

A word of thanks from a parent:

“A very enormous thank you to all you beautiful woman for the incredible Mothers Day party that we had yesterday at Pre-school. It was so wonderful, as usual, just as with all the events that have been held at Kornmehl.” – Janice

Shavuot

We celebrated Shavuot on Friday 18 May with a Bikkurim parade and yummy milk lunch, consisting of macaroni and cheese, fruit salad and ice cream. The children came to school dressed in red, orange, yellow or green and wearing flowers and leaf garlands in their hair. We collected a generous supply of dried and tinned food to donate to Oz Harvest.

Many thanks to our parent helpers Candy Mervis and Carli Rothman. Your support is very much appreciated.

A reminder that we are closed for Shavuot on Monday 21 May.  

We wish all our Kornmehl families a Chag Sameach and happy Shavuot.

A note about play

 “It is a happy talent to know how to play.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Play is self-chosen. Children were born to play. They love to play. They will play all day if they’re allowed. If you have to coax them into doing something, then it’s not play. Play never feels like work or an obligation. Play is enjoyable, fun and has no agenda. Play is not the purpose of meeting adult goals. Play is inherently valuable. All play is learning. No matter what it is. Whether you can clearly see the skills being mastered or not. There is no hierarchy of play. Play is unstructured. In play, children make the rules. They decide how long they play for and what direction their play takes. Children should feel free to play and use what is available however they like, with no expectations. There’s a lot of work involved in play — problem solving, skill building, overcoming physical and mental challenges — going on behind the scenes.

There are many different types of play: solitary play, risky play, sensory play, parallel play, dramatic play, rough and tumble play, constructive play, active play, and co-operative play. Play builds the imagination, promotes social skills, advances physical development and helps children work through emotions.

There are 7 basic characteristics of play:

• voluntary – something children choose to do, but other children can be invited to join in,
• pleasurable – a deep sense of enjoyment, which will vary from child to child,
• symbolic – usually includes some type of make-believe or pretend and objects assume new meanings and purpose for the player/s,
• meaningful – to the player/s, but the meaning may not always be clear to an observer,
• active – it requires active mental, verbal or physical engagement with people, objects or ideas,
• process oriented – it’s enjoyed for the activity itself, not concerned with an end product,
• intrinsically motivated – it is its own reward.

Our Kornmehl Philosophy states:

We believe that children learn best through play. We see play as being the “heartbeat” of our Pre-school program. Play provides opportunities for children to learn as they experiment, explore, discover, create, improvise and imagine. When children play with other children they create social groups, test out ideas, challenge each other’s thinking, explore language and build new understandings. Play provides a supportive environment where children can ask questions, solve problems and engage in critical thinking. In these ways play can promote positive dispositions towards learning.

We embrace and acknowledge that children come to the Kornmehl Centre with a richness of experiences. We believe that childhood is a time to be, to seek and make meaning of the world.  

Care Packs

Our Care Packs have begun to come in and we are extremely grateful for the support from the entire Emanuel School Community for this worthwhile cause. Our goal is to collect 1000 Care Packs by 15 June. Please drop your Care Pack either at the Emanuel School Reception area or down at Kornmehl.

Kornmehl Go Go Healthy

A reminder to reserve Sunday 17 June for our exciting Kornmehl Go Go Healthy fun family event from
10 am to 12 pm in the MPH and basketball court. Tickets will be available shortly for purchasing.

Parent Talks

A reminder that our interesting and informative parent talk series is starting next week Wednesday evening 23 May from 7.45 pm – 8.45 pm in the Pre-school.  There are 4 sessions in the series. The cost for all 4 sessions is $30 or $10 per session.

Sarah Robuck is a Clinical Psychologist (registrar) with a combined Masters/PhD from the University of NSW and specialises in working with children/families and also in perinatal mental health. Sarah works with families helping children with various presentations including anxiety, depression, emotion regulation difficulties, defiant/aggressive behaviours, adjustment difficulties, learning delays and Autism.

The workshops will help:

• build positive relationships with children
• provide encouragement and precise feedback to children
• establish and create a positive environment
• establish and implement ‘rules’ for children
• manage misbehaviour effectively.

Module 1: Learning Behaviours

Enhancing Good Behaviour
Behavioural Principles
The Importance of Attention
Positive Attention with Descriptive Praise
Other ways to give positive attention for good behaviour
Why use behaviour charts?
When to reward good behaviour?
When to stop or change a reward chart?
Tips for creating a reward Chart

Please secure your spot by emailing taizen@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Biggest Morning Tea

Next week Thursday, the Pre-school is going to be a hive of activity as we set up our Kornmehl Café and we welcome students from Year K to come and buy some goodies from our shop.

The children will be baking during the week in preparation for this community event. The money raised will go to Cancer Research.

At the same time our Kornmehl Parent Club will be hosting their own Biggest Morning Tea for all Kornmehl parents and grandparents from 9.30 am to 11.00 am.

Kerri Sackville will be the special guest at the morning tea. Kerri (an ex-Kornmehl parent) will no doubt keep you all entertained.

Kerri Sackville is an Australian columnist, social commentator, author and mother of 3. She has written extensively for print and online publications including the Sydney Morning Herald, the Melbourne Age, the Telegraph, The Women’s Weekly, Practical Parenting magazine and Mamamia.com

Kerri is currently a regular contributor to Sunday Life magazine, the Fairfax website Daily Life, and news.com.au. Kerri’s latest book, Out There: A Survival Guide for Dating in Midlife (Echo) is part memoir, part guidebook, and filled with hilarious anecdotes and warm wisdom.

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Tom Shilbury (4). We hope you had a special day.