Happy month of May everyone!! We hope you all had a lovely long weekend – the months are passing by so quickly now, & we’re celebrating the start of May by having a little Maypole out the back that the children can walk around with their crepe paper ribbons! This week we’re continuing our continents project & looking at the biggest continent, Asia. The children will once again make their own map of Asia including landmarks & animals, & they will be learning how to say ‘hello’ & ‘goodbye’ in Japanese & Chinese.

We will also be talking about the Olympic Games which will be held in Tokyo, Japan this summer. The children will then have a ‘mini Olympics’ on Friday in school, with all sorts of sporting events like the long jump – it promises to be a fun week!

Olympic Oath (for children):

Welcome back everyone after our Easter break – we hope you all had a lovely couple of weeks & that your children are coming back all energised as we’ve a busy week ahead!! We’re starting a big group project today about the continents, so we’re beginning with North America; we’ll be learning all about it this week – the children will be introduced to it through the continent song, globe, jigsaw map & continental folder. It will cover areas of the cultural curriculum including history, geography & zoology and there will be pictures, discussions, & activities around the different countries, flags, animals, monuments, & musical instruments associated with North America. The children will also learn about Native Americans, Indigenous people of North America & the type of homes they lived in.

The Children’s House will be closed from today Friday 26th March for 2 weeks for Easter holidays

We will be reopening on Monday 12th April

Happy Easter everyone, have a great break & keep safe!!

Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Pádraig daoibh!! Happy St Patrick’s Day to you all – this week in The Children’s House we will be celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge with St Patrick’s Day festivities in the middle of the week; we will be making rainbow chains and process art shamrocks (this just means that the emphasis is on enjoying the creative process & not focussing on the end product so much!), celebrating St Patrick’s Day on Friday with a parade, and finishing the week with a céilí – all the children can come in to school on Friday wearing green for this if they would like to!

Within the classroom we use Irish phrases such as ‘faigh do chóta’ (get your coat), ‘dún an doras’ (close the door), ‘cé leis é?’ (whose is this), ‘anseo’ (here) etc on a daily basis, so this week we will be practising our Irish vocabularies greatly!

Rolaí Polaí (Irish rhyme)

Rolaí polaí suas, suas, suas,                    (roll arms and raise them up)
Rolaí polaí síos, síos, síos,                       (roll arms and lower them down)
Rolaí polaí amach, amach, amach,        (roll arms and stretch them out)
Rolaí polaí isteach, isteach, isteach!      (roll arms and bring them in, hugging yourself)

Lámh, lámh eile

Lámh, lámh eile, a haon, a dó,           (Hand, other hand, one, two)
Cos, cos eile, a haon, a dó.                  (Leg, other leg, one, two)
Súil, súil eile, a haon, a dó,                 (Eye, other eye, one, two,)
Cluas, cluas eile, a haon, a dó,           (Ear, other ear, one, two,)
Ceann, srón, béal, smig,                      (Head, nose, mouth, chin,)
Agus fiacla bána i mo bhéal istigh.   (And white teeth inside my mouth.

Welcome back everyone!! We’re SO happy to see you all again, it’s amazing to be back in school with our friends at long last! This week we will be focusing on resettling everyone  & reintroducing the class routine, while also keeping the emphasis on good hygiene practises especially hand washing, & covering our mouths & noses when sneezing or coughing. To this end, we’ll be doing the science experiment using a bowl of water with ground pepper sprinkled on it (the pepper representing germs), dip a finger in soap & then in the bowl, & watch how the ‘germs’ scatter & spread away from the soap.

It’s Mother’s Day at the weekend, so we’ll be doing some Mother’s Day crafts – making cards, doing yoga to stretch & exercise our bodies, & at the end of the week we’ll be baking some Mother’s Day treats!!

Mother’s Day Song (tune of Jingle Bells)

Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day, happy Mother’s Day!
Here’s a gift I’ll give to you, on this Mother’s Day –
I’ll clean my room, I’ll make my bed,
I’ll put my toys away,
I’ll be good, just for you,
On this Mother’s Day!

March is here at last, & what a beautiful day to start the month We will be back to being in the classrooms next week (hooray!!!) so this is the last weekly plan for activities/ ideas for now – we are focusing on preparing the children for their return to Montessori, to ask them what they’re excited or nervous about, & reinforcing the importance of good hygiene e.g. hand washing & giving each other personal space – not always easy for the little people have a great week & enjoy this wonderful sunshine, see you all soon!!

This last week of February our theme for activities is All About Me, incorporating yoga, mindfulness & lots of love!! ❤️ We’re encouraging the children to think about themselves & how they’re unique & different from everyone else, & how to express their love for others & also themselves – which is so important We’re asking families to give compliments to each other, write them down & maybe decorate them & hang them somewhere in the house – celebrate each other this week!! ✨