This week in The Children’s House we will be celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge which starts on 1st March, as well as talking about the new month, and making a craft for Mother’s Day. We will be learning an Irish poem about our body parts, looking at the map of Ireland and the weather in Irish, and also learning Irish names of farm animals, as well as practising our Irish dancing at the end of the week which should be lots of fun!!

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 expanding our Irish vocabularies greatly!

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 after the mid term break – we hope your children all had a lovely few days away from school, and have lots of energy for all the activities this week!! The morning classes will be continuing on with our project from the Big Bang and learning about the Proterozoic Era, when life was just beginning on earth in the oceans – for example worms, sponges and jellyfish; the children will be making pictures to represent the era, and we will set up a sponge painting area. The afternoon classes will be learning about Spring and will have a Spring art area set up.

Both morning and afternoon classes will be practising their gross motor skills as we will be creating obstacles courses in our indoors and outdoors environments!

Istigh sa Zú

Istigh sa zú tá an Babaí Cangarú                    In the zoo there’s a baby kangaroo
Léim anois, léim anois                                      Jump now, jump now
Léim anois go luath!                                          Jump now quickly!

Istigh sa zú tá an Mamaí Cangarú                  In the zoo there’s a mammy kangaroo
Léim anois, léim anois                                      Jump now, jump now
Léim anois go luath!                                          Jump now quickly!

Istigh sa zú tá an Dadaí Cangarú                    In the zoo there’s a daddy kangaroo
Léim anois, léim anois                                      Jump now, jump now
Léim anois go luath!                                          Jump now quickly!

The Children’s House will be closed for mid term break on Thurs 18th and Fri 19th February

This week in The Children’s House we will be learning about Spring time, and all the changes that it brings – lengthening days and shorter nights, buds appearing on trees, plants and flowers growing, baby animals being born (e.g. lambs, bunnies, chicks) and the start of warmer weather – hopefully soon!!

We will also be talking about fire safety and will have a visit from a fireman on Wednesday!!

Oh When The Trees All Sprout New Leaves (to tune of When The Saints Go Marching In)

Oh when the trees all sprout new leaves,
Oh when the trees all sprout new leaves,
We know it must be springtime
When the trees all sprout new leaves.

Oh when brown earth gives way to green,
Oh when brown earth gives way to green,
We know it must be springtime
When brown earth gives way to green.

Last week in The Children’s House was very busy, between celebrating St Brigid’s Day, learning about the Azoic Era, making volcanoes and exploding lava to go with them – but it looks like this week might be even busier!!

We have a lot of activities planned for this week, between learning about and celebrating the Chinese New Year (Year of the Monkey), making pancakes on Tuesday, and also celebrating Valentine’s Day – we will discuss how it’s always important to tell the people you love how you feel about them, and the importance of expressing emotions.

AM classes: Chinese Dragon (to tune of Frere Jacques)

Chinese dragon, Chinese dragon,
Breathing fire, breathing fire.
Happy, happy new year,
Happy, happy new year,
Gung hay fat choy,
Gung hay fat choy!

PM classes: Five Little  Monkeys

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed –
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama rang the doctor and the doctor said:
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Last week’s music appreciation was a fantastic week in The Children’s House! Thanks to all the parents who gave their time and came in to play music with us – we had guitars, recorder, trumpet, keyboard, as well as some singing spots – and still have drums to come this week! It was such an enjoyable week, and the children loved seeing all the different instruments and having their parents in the classroom with them.

This week will be very busy!! The morning classes will be learning about St Brigid on Monday and making St Brigid’s crosses for the classrooms, as well as talking about the new month February and the start of Spring. Then we will be continuing on with our project from the Big Bang and learning about the Azoic Era, when earth was newly formed and no life existed; the children will be making pictures to represent the era. Following that, towards the end of the week, we will be making volcanoes and carrying out an experiment using baking soda, vinegar and red food colouring to simulate the volcano exploding! The afternoon classes will be learning about the new month and season, and also doing the volcano experiment!

Monsieur Pouce

Toc toc toc, Monsieur Pouce, es-tu la?          Knock knock knock, Mr Thumb, are you there?
Sshhh, je dors!                                                    Sshhh, I’m sleeping!
Toc toc toc, Monsieur Pouce, es-tu la?          Knock knock knock, Mr Thumb, are you there?
Sshhh, je mange!                                                Sshhh, I’m eating!
Toc toc toc, Monsieur Pouce, es-tu la?          Knock knock knock, Mr Thumb, are you there?
Sshhh, je bois!                                                    Sshhh, I’m drinking!
Toc toc toc, Monsieur Pouce, es-tu la?          Knock knock knock, Mr Thumb, are you there?
Oui, je sors! Bonjour tout le monde!!             Yes, I’m coming! Hello everyone!!

It’s music appreciation week in The Children’s House! Introducing music at a young age has such important life-long benefits such as brain stimulation, social development, boosting self-esteem and creativity – and children love it!! This week we’re going to look at various aspects such as the different groups of musical instruments (string, woodwind, brass, percussion), how music is written and read, making our own musical instruments, and discussing why music sounds so nice to our ears.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky,
Twinkle twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are!

It’s all about art appreciation this week in The Children’s House!! The afternoon classes will be experimenting with colour mixing, while the morning classes will be learning about the artist Kandinsky, and creating their own masterpieces later in the week! They will also be philosophising about whether colours can represent our emotions.

At the moment in the classroom there are many practical life activities out on the shelf which can easily be reproduced at home  – as that is exactly what practical life activities are: activities that the child sees in their own home environment, and the objective is to give them confidence in carrying out these activities in order to grow in independence. For example, pouring grain – all you need to set up is a tray with 2 jugs, 1 full of rice/pasta, and when the child feels competent at this activity it can be made more challenging by changing to pouring water/pouring using a funnel. Another example would be cleaning a baby’s bottle – for this activity you need to set up a tray with a baby bottle, bowl of water, bottle brush and drying cloth. The children will be familiar with the steps in the activity and will work away to their heart’s content!

The Colour Song (tune: If You’re Happy & You Know It)

If your clothes have any red, any red,
If your clothes have any red, any red,
If your clothes have any red, put your finger on your head,
If your clothes have any red, any red!