December is approaching fast, & we will be marking the start of the new month by talking about why some people celebrate Christmas & the story behind it, & decorating the classrooms, as well as doing Christmas star crafts & Christmas tree art! The children will also be dressing up & doing yoga – trying to balance the excitement with some relaxation!!

We are aware that there are many wonderful celebrations that occur during December, & would love to know if you celebrate any of them e.g. Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve – or any other that is special to you – & if so if you could send us a brief description of your celebrations/how you mark the occasion via email or text to the school that would be wonderful to share with your child’s class!

I’m a Little Christmas Tree (tune of I’m a Little Teapot)

I’m a little Christmas tree tall and straight,
Here are my branches for you to decorate.
First you put the star on the very top –
Just be careful that the baubles don’t drop!

The Snowman

There was a little snowman who had a carrot nose,
Along came a rabbit, and what do you suppose?
That hungry little rabbit, looking for his lunch,
Ate the snowman’s carrot nose….
Nibble, nibble, crunch!!!

It’s all about lifelong learning this week at The Children’s House! To coincide with College Awareness Week, we will be talking with the children about their journey of learning – which starts as soon as they’re born – and all the steps along the way that they might take, such as preschool, primary school, secondary school, third level education….alongside their primary educators of course which are you, the parents/guardians! To link into their home environment, we are asking that family members also give us information about where they went on their journeys of learning, and if they have photos from graduations to please send us in copies to display on our Timeline of Lifelong Learning!

As it is Thanksgiving on Thursday, it is a wonderful opportunity to focus on things that we are thankful for in our lives, and to encourage the children to be aware of the fact that not everyone in the world has food, or a home, or even a family, and to be grateful for all of those things that we often take for granted but which are so important, and worth celebrating!

Let’s Be Thankful (tune of Twinkle Twinkle)

Let’s be thankful for this day,
For our friends and for our play.
Let’s be thankful, let’s be glad,
For the food and things we have.
Let’s give thanks for you and me,
And our home and family!

Winter is here at The Children’s House! We will be talking about the change in the weather, & the coldness that is (eventually!) creeping in, as well as learning about areas in the world that are colder than most, such as the Arctic, & the animals that live there such as polar bears. The children will be doing finger painting to make snow pictures, doing meditation, & learning a polar bear action song! They will also be learning the Lámh sign for snow.

Snowflakes Snowflakes (tune of Twinkle Twinkle)

Snowflakes, snowflakes falling down,
Falling, falling to the ground.
Can you catch them on your nose?
Can you catch them on your toes?
Snowflakes, snowflakes falling down,
Falling, falling to the ground.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear

Polar bear, polar bear turn around,
Polar bear, polar bear touch the ground,
Polar bear, polar bear growl real loud,
Polar bear, polar bear sit on the ground!

Welcome back everyone, we hope you all had a great midterm break!! We’re excited to see all our little people again & we’ve got a great week planned – following the childrens’ interests, we’re learning all about the rainforest this week in The Children’s House! We’ll be looking at where in the world the rainforests are, what animals live in the rainforest, & doing lots of related stories & songs, as well as animal inspired movemnt & yoga, matching card games, & plenty of arts & crafts.

Five Little Monkeys

Five little monkeys swinging from a tree,
Teasing Mr Crocodile – ‘you can’t catch me!’
Along came Mr Crocodile as quiet as can be….
And SNAP!!!!
4 little monkeys swinging from the tree!

(Repeat until no more monkeys)