It’s hard to believe, but it’s the last few days of the school year….it’s not an easy thing to say goodbye to all the little people who are moving on to ‘big’ school after spending the year getting to know them and being part of their wonderful journey of growth & learning, but they’re heading in the right direction, and it’s an exciting time for them and for us all! With that in mind, this short week will be a relaxing and calm(ish!) one; we will be having a teddy bears’ picnic, dressing up, looking through our end of year All About Me photo books, group projects and most importantly, spending precious time with the children before finishing up with a party on Wednesday!

Many thanks to all of you who helped us out throughout the year whether by coming on nature walks/ sports day/ school tour etc, or coming into school with your child to read a story or celebrate their birthday, or in general just being such a supportive part of your child’s preschool experience! If you don’t have a child returning in the near future, we hope that you & your child will continue to visit any time – this year we had the first transition year student on work experience who is an ex-pupil of the Montessori, & 3 other secondary level ex-Montessori pupils also on work experience, so there’s no excuses – we can always find a space for your children!!

Teddy Bears’ Picnic

If you go down to the woods today,
You’re sure of a big surprise…
If you go down to the woods today,
You’d better go in disguise!

For all the bears that ever there was,
Will gather there for certain,
Because today’s the day the
Teddy bears have their picnic!

Our last full week in The Children’s House!!!! What a quick year it’s been….and we’re going to make the most of the time we have left!! After a wonderful week last week celebrating grandparents, philosophising about change and of course having our annual Sports Day, this week we will be focussing on the children’s emotions and possible concerns in a positive way; we will be making worry dolls, a traditional Guatemalan peg doll that the children can confide their worries in and the dolls are meant to take the worries away. We always reiterate to the children that they should always be able to tell their parents/guardians/teachers about their worries, but if for instance they are awake in the middle of the night and need a bit of comfort, the worry dolls are a lovely support. We will also be doing some mindfulness during the week, and getting the children to come up with different strategies they can use when they are feeling a bit worried or stressed – like deep breathing, yoga, jumping up & down….whatever suits that particular child to help them regulate their own behaviour and give them control!

We are continuing to learn sign language after huge success with If You’re Happy and You Know It last week – this week your children are learnign how to sign 5 Little Monkeys!!

5 Little Monkeys

5 little monkeys jumping on the bed,
1 fell off & bumped his head!
Mammy rang the doctor and the doctor said –
‘No more monkeys jumping on the bed!!’

4 little monkeys…

3 little monkeys…

2 little monkeys…

1 little monkey…

This week in The Children’s House we are celebrating grandparents, and asking if any of the children’s grandparents would like to join us during the week and show us photos of when they were children, or read a story at circle time, or anything they like at all!! We will also be doing some art for Father’s Day, as well as doing the musical instruments and later in the week philosophising about change that is coming for next year – some children are moving to different classrooms within the Montessori, while some children are moving to different schools, so we will be discussing why change happens and how that makes us feel.

Also this week, we are learning some sign language!! We are using Lámh, which is a signing system used in Ireland by people with intellectual disability and communication needs, and one of the children is currently using this system so we thought we’d all learn it together! So we’re signing the song If You’re Happy and You Know It – by the end of the week your children should know how to sign ‘happy’, ‘sad’ or ‘angry’, so just ask them to teach you

If You’re Happy and You Know It

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands,
If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands,
If you’re happy and you really want to show it –
If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands!

If you’re sad and you know it wipe your tears…
(sign for sad: pass hand down over face making sad face)

If you’re angry and you know it stamp your feet…
(sign for angry: draw index finger across forehead making angry face)

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands…
(sign for happy: 2 thumbs up)

Welcome back from the long weekend, hope you all had a lovely break! It’s only a short week this week but we’re going to pack a lot in – drama, science and cooking! We will be acting out the dramatic poem of the big bad wolf, and making homemade pizzas, and then at the end of the week we’ll be doing an experiment to demonstrate the power of our lungs using straws, cotton balls and marbles – it’s going to be a lot of fun!!

The Big Bad Wolf

I’m a big bad wolf and I look for things to eat –
I don’t like leaves and berries; I only like meat!
I see those little piggies – am I dreaming, or awake?
Those chubby little creatures…
What a dinner they will make!!