This week at The Children’s House, the theme is friendship – we will be discussing what makes a good friend e.g. kind hands & words, taking turns, caring for & respecting each other – reinforcing our classroom rules! The children will be making a friendship quilt, and doing their pages from their All About Me books to do with friendship.

We will also be carrying out our first Fire Drill, learning about parts of the flower & planting spring bulbs, and practising some mindfulness at the end of the week!

The More we get Together

The more we get together, together, together,
The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.
For your friends are my friends,
And my friends are your friends,
Oh the more we get together, the happier we’ll be!

It’s Pets Week this week at The Children’s House, so we’re asking families to bring any appropriate pets to come & visit us this week in school! We’ll be learning all about different pets, what they need & how we can look after their needs. We’ll also be doing all sorts of fun pet related activities, like paper plate pets, Guess the Animal (making animal sounds) & Follow the Animal Leader!!

During the week we will also be preparing the children for their first Fire Drill – something that we do once a month – so we will be learning about the importance of fire safety & why we practice fire drills.

Sleeping Bunnies

See the little bunnies, sleeping til noon,
Shall we go & wake them with a merry tune?
Oh so still, are they ill?
Wake up bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!

It’s getting very Autumnal this week at The Children’s House! We’ll be talking about the changes that the season is bringing that the children can already notice in their world – e.g. leaves changing colour before they fall off the trees, weather getting colder, days getting shorter & nights getting longer….then we will do a little science experiment using a torch & a globe, showing how the different parts of the earth experience seasons as they orbit the sun throughout the year!

We will also be looking at apples – halving them to use for apple printing, but examining their insides before using them, & noticing the colour & shape of the insides, & the seeds we can see there. Following on from this we will be introducing a space for our nature table, & encouraging children to bring in items from their gardens, or from walks, to put on it. Also, at the end of the week we will be doing some relaxing yoga, a great habit to practice from an early age!!

Head Shoulders Knees & Toes

Head, shoulders, knees & toes, knees & toes,

Head, shoulders, knees & toes, knees & toes,

And eyes and ears and mouth and nose…

Head, shoulders, knees & toes, knees & toes!

Ceann Lámha Gluaine Cos

Ceann, lámha, gluaine, cos,

Ceann, lámha, gluaine, cos,

Agus súil agus cluas agus béal agus srón…

Ceann, lámha, gluaine, cos!

The first full week at The Children’s House is here, & it’s going to be a busy one! The children will be creating their own rules for the classroom (all part of the Montessori ethos of respect, care of self & care of the environment) – they will be asked to think about what might be needed in order to make their classes safe & happy for all, & what they decide on together will be written down, so they have ownership of these rules. They will then be displayed up on the wall for all to see & live by!

We will be practising how we walk slowly, talk quietly, carry chairs and trays in the classroom (refining gross motor movements). The children will also be starting their All About Me books – as part of this they will be measured to record their height at the start of the school year, which can then be compared to their height at the end of the year; they will also be doing self-portraits – very cute!! At the end of the week we will be doing Music & Movement, which is always a big hit with the children!

All Of Me!

My hands are for clapping,
My arms can hug tight,
My fingers can snap or turn out the light.
My legs are for jumping,
My eyes help me see,
This is my body & I love all of me!!