Welcome back, we hope you all had a lovely restful mid-term break! This week at The Children’s House we will be starting a group project, all about the 5 senses – taste, hearing, sight, touch & smell. We will be learning all about the sense of taste this week – which tie in well with Pancake Tuesday!!! The children will be learning about how the mouth has different taste receptors that sense the tastes of sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness & savoriness (or umami). We will be talking about which tastes & foods we like the best….no prizes for guessing the favourite!

Five Senses (tune of Frere Jacques)

Five senses, five senses,
We have them, we have them.
Seeing, hearing, touching,
Tasting and smelling –
There are five, there are five!

This will be a very short week at The Children’s House, but it will be full of love!! We will be talking about how important it is to show the important people in our lives that we love them, by telling them & also doing nice things for them. The children will be doing Valentine’s art on Monday, and on Tuesday we will be having our Valentine’s ball!! They can dress up as much as they like for this, & we will have lots of fun dancing & walking the red carpet!

The Children’s House will be closed for mid-term break from Wednesday 15th until Friday 17th February inclusive, re-opening next Monday 20th February.

Valentine’s Day

Red hearts, white hearts, pink hearts too,
I like purple hearts – how about you?
Green hearts, blue hearts, yellow hearts too,
I like rainbow hearts,
How about you?

Welcome back from the long weekend everyone, we hope you all had a lovely extra day off!! This week at The Children’s House we will be learning all about the water cycle. The children might be coming home talking about evaporation, condensation & precipitation – so be prepared!! We will be doing an experiment to show how the water cycle happens in miniature, & looking at the Montessori land forms – sets of land and water form plastic trays showing the pairs of island & lake, peninsula & gulf, isthmus & strait, bay & cape. The children get to pour water into the trays & see how the water & land make these different formations – really good fun and so educational at the same time, in the true Montessori way!

It’s Raining It’s Pouring

It’s raining, it’s pouring,
The old man is snoring.
He went to bed,
And bumped his head,
And couldn’t get up in the morning!

Welcome to Spring time, as February arrives here at The Children’s House!! We’ve had a lovely time in January but are looking forward to a new month, & to celebrating St Brigid’s Day on Wednesday by making St Brigid’s crosses, & we’re excited about all the changes that Spring will bring!! We’re going to be talking about the weather changes that will be happening, & making bird feeders at the end of the week, as well as doing music & movement & listening to Vivaldi’s Spring – a lovely week ahead!!

Hello Spring (to tune of Frere Jacques)

Hello Spring, Hello Spring,
Goodbye snow, flowers grow.
Birds and bees,
Leaves on trees,
Hello Spring, Hello Spring!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!! We will be learning about the year of the Rabbit with the children this week, and we will be talking about some of the traditions associated with the Chinese New Year – cleaning the house and decorating it (mainly in red the lucky colour), the red packets of money given to children, the New Year’s Eve family dinner, and the fireworks to drive away evil to name some! We will be doing process art making fans, and also creating cherry blossom trees with our arms & hands!

Chinese New Year Poem

Dragons, lions,
Red and gold,
In with the New Year,
Out with the old.

Banners flying,
Bands playing,
Lions prancing,
Dragons swaying.

Fireworks crackling,
Lanterns swinging,
People laughing,
Dancing, singing.

We’re going to be doing all about healthy eating this week at The Children’s House!! We will be looking at the food pyramid during the week, and discussing what sort of food our bodies need to work properly, and how much quantities we should have of different types of food – lots of fruit, vegetables, meat, milk, bread & breakfast cereals, and the occasional treat! It’s so important to have a healthy attitude to nutrition while also being aware of the amount of fats, sugars and salts that there can be in food. To this end, we will be talking about using the energy that food gives us to exercise, and how important this also is for our bodies’ growth and development. We will look at food sample jars to match to the pyramid, to relate it to the children’s lives in a practical way, & they will be making lunch plate artwork – they should come up with some interesting meal ideas!!

Apples & Bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.

Now let’s make a long “a” sound…ay-ples and ba-nay-nays
I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays
I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays

Let’s try a long “e” sound…ee-ples and ba-nee-nees
I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and ba-nee-nees
I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and ba-nee-nees

How about a long “i” sound…i-ples and ba-nigh-nighs
I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and ba-nigh-nighs
I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and ba-nigh-nighs

Great, let’s sing it with a long “o” sound…oh-ples and ba-no-nos
I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and ba-no-nos
I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and ba-no-nos

I know let’s make an “oo” sound…oo-ples and ba-noo-noos
I like to oot, oot, oot, oopples and ba-noo-noos
I like to oot, oot, oot, oopples and ba-noo-noos

Apples and bananas, one more time!
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.

Welcome back to The Children’s House and a very happy new year to you all!! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the break – we’re definitely ready to get back into our routine here and see all our friends again! This week we’ll be settling back in, telling all our news from the holidays, doing some new activities on the Practical Life shelf and progressing with others, doing fireworks art & sensory play with rice, & yoga as well as a birthday walk for the Earth!

We Wish you a Merry Christmas

Bells are ringing, people singing,
New year’s here! New year’s here!
Happy, happy new year!
Happy, happy new year,
Let’s all cheer –
New year’s here!

The Children’s House will close for Christmas holidays on Wednesday 21st December, reopening Monday 9th January

Welcome to the last few days of 2022 at The Children’s House – it’s hard to believe Christmas is almost here!!! We’re going to enjoy our few days with the children this week, making reindeer food, having a party & disco,& of course a visit from our very special guest Santa Claus himself!!!

We’d like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas, and every happiness for 2022 – we’re looking forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

We Wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy new year!
Good tidings we bring,
To you and your kin –
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy new year!

Well it’s the last full week of school at The Children’s House for 2022, and it’s going to be a busy one!! This week we will be making some Christmas tree ornaments from modelling clay, doing art painting & decorating Christmas jumpers, making winter playdough & also using the musical instruments, as well as doing our songs Christmas shows! Each class will be putting on a little show with some songs and poems that we’ve learnt since September:

Wednesday: 9.30am class Christmas songs @ 11.15am

Thursday: 1.15pm class Christmas songs @ 3.15pm

Friday: 9am class Christmas songs @ 11am

Friday: 1pm class Christmas songs @ 3.15pm

Thanks so much to everyone who’s given in their €1 – we’re making a donation on the children’s behalf to Barnardos Children’s Charity to support vulnerable children in Ireland this Christmas.

Jingle Bells

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride on a one horse open sleigh – hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh!

Bualadh Bos (Jingle Bells in Irish)

Bualadh bos, bualadh bos,            (clap hands, clap hands)
Bualadh bos go léir,                        (everyone clap hands)
Tá San Nioclás ag teacht anois,    (Santa Claus is coming now)
Anuas an simléar;                             (down the chimney)
Bualadh bos, bualadh bos,            (clap hands, clap hands)
Bualadh bos go léir,                        (everyone clap hands)
Tá San Nioclás ag teacht anois,    (Santa Claus is coming now)
Anuas an simléar!                             (down the chimney!)

This week at The Children’s House we will be doing lots of festive crafts & having tons of fun getting ready for Christmas! We will be talking about if & why we celebrate Christmas with our families, writing letters to Santa, doing Christmas movement, making wreaths& importantly talking about the gift of giving, & friendship & sharing. We will also be doing mindfulness with the children through doing a body scan – checking in with how their bodies are feeling, at this exciting time of year!

Christmas Poem

Christmas is a time for giving,
And showing that we care.
It is a time for joy & kindness,
Through the gifts we share.