This week we will be getting ready for Halloween by doing lots of arts & crafts, as well as having a Science Week with lots of spooky experiments!! We will be learning about the parts of the pumpkin – before carving it! Then we will be making Witches Cauldron pictures, cooking ghostly apples & bananas, & doing experiments such as dancing raisins, making slime, skittles experiment…and on Friday we will be having a dress up Halloween party, going for a Halloween Walk & playing lots of games – it’s going to be a great week!!!

5 Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,                                       (hold up 5 fingers)
The 1^st one said “Oh my, it’s getting late!”                               (put hands to cheeks)
The 2^nd one said “There are witches in the air,”                     (flutter fingers above head)
The 3^rd one said “but we don’t care!”                                        (shake head)
The 4^th one said “Let’s run and run and run.”                         (mime running with arms)

The 5^th one said “I’m ready for some fun!”                               (thumbs up)
Then ‘Oooo’ went the wind, and out went the lights…           (clap hands)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!                      (roll arms)

We’re starting to get ready for Hallowe’en this week at The Children’s House! The children will be decorating the classrooms with lots of spooky stuff, & we’ll have Hallowe’en themed activities on the shelves, e.g. spooning spiders, transferring bats with tongs!! During the week there will be plenty of seasonal arts & crafts such as making spider webs using marbles dipped in white paint on black paper, pipe cleaner spiders, pumpkin art & using bat stencils for spray painting!!

I’m A Little Pumpkin (tune: I’m a Little Teapot)

It’s all about emotions this week at The Children’s House, so we will be focussing on our emotional well-being. At the start of the year, we talk about emotions, how they make us feel, and start to use various props in the classroom such as an emotions wheel (children can turn the arrow on the wheel to point to the image of the emotion that they’re feeling). We will be focussing on relaxation techniques like yoga, and deep breathing, and expression of emotions through using puppets. At the pre-school age, children are usually learning a lot about emotional self-regulation, often needing support to handle their emotions; we as adults can help by doing things such as naming their emotions for them e.g. ‘I can see that you’re feeling upset/ angry/ frustrated by what’s happened’, and coming up with possible solutions e.g. ‘maybe taking some deep breaths would help you to feel better’ / ‘do you think you’d like a hug?’; then at a later stage when the child is familiar with using strategies to calm themselves, ask them to choose their own self-regulation strategy, e.g. ‘what do you think would make you feel better?’

To this end, during the week we will be making some tools to help with emotional regulation – an ocean bottle (a mixture of oil, water, food colouring & glitter) which the children shake gently to mix the liquids, then it is very soothing to watch them settling & separating again. We talk about how our insides feel when we feel sad or upset or angry, & how we can help soothe those feelings; we also encourage children to talk to trusted adults when negative feelings. We will also be making a worry box with each of the classes – this is a box that we decorate together, and if any of the children are worried about something, we write it down on a piece of paper and put it into the box until the child decides that they’re not worried about it anymore, whereupon they can tear it up and put it in the recycling bin! This gives a very real representation to the children that worries are temporary things, which come and go, so it can help to put anxieties they may have to rest!

If You’re Happy & You Know It (using LÁMH)

If you’re happy & you know it clap your hands,
If you’re happy & you know it clap your hands,
If you’re happy & you know it & you really want to show it –
If you’re happy & you know it clap your hands!

If you’re sad & you know it wipe your tears…
If you’re angry & you know it stamp your feet…
If you’re scared & you know it say ‘oh no’…
If you’re happy & you know it shout ‘hooray’!!…

We’ll be talking all about the change of month this week, & the change in weather which brings the leaves falling down & causes some animals to migrate before the winter comes – we’ll be doing beautiful leaf rubbings with the children as well as leaf handprint art, & will be learning all about the long journeys that swallows make from Ireland at this time of year to fly to Africa for the winter!

Thanks to everyone who’s been coming been doing the Zoom observations of the children, we will be organising follow up parent teacher meetings over the next few weeks – we really appreciate you taking the time to do it!

Duilleoga Deasa

Duilleoga deasa deasa (nice nice leaves),
Duilleoga deasa buí (nice yellow leaves),
Duilleoga deasa deasa (nice nice leaves),
Ag damhsa leis an ngaoth (dancing with the wind).

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!!

A very warm welcome to The Children’s House to all our wonderful new and returning children and their families!! We have a short week to settle everyone back in, and we will be focusing on getting to know each other, learning each others’ names, practising how we walk slowly and talk quietly in the classroom, and lots of songs, games, and fun activities in circle time – we really can’t wait to get to know the classes!

Circle Time Song

Hello everyone and how are you today?
We’ve come to our circle time to sing and laugh and play!
And when we’re up we’re up, and when we’re down we’re down,
And when we’re only halfway up we’re neither up nor down.
So roll your hands so slowly, and roll your hands so fast –
Give your hands a clap clap clap,
And place them on your lap lap lap!

Bumble Bee Song

Bumble bee, bumble bee,
Won’t you say your name for me?
Child’s name, child’s name,
Bumble bee, bumble bee,
Won’t you say your name for me?
(Until each child has said their name)

Unbelievably, it’s the last few days of the school year already – what a fast year it’s been!!! We’ve had such a wonderful year with your fantastic children – thank you all so much firstly for entrusting us with your children, it’s been a real privilege to facilitate them in their learning, and secondly thank you for all your ongoing participation and support in that learning, and for all the input you’ve given to us in the school! We’ve had so many visits from family members – parents, grandparents, siblings – you’ve been a big part of your child’s year whether helping out with our school tour, sponsored walk, primary school visit, or coming into school to be part of your children’s day – it’s meant so much to the children as well as us staff, so thank you, as it has added hugely to all of our experiences this year!!

So onto this short week! We will be having lots of fun & games – musical statues, sports activities, yoga – and in between we’ll be spending precious time with your children before they head off for the summer; it’s not an easy thing to say goodbye to all the little people who are moving on to ‘big’ school after spending the last 2 years getting to know them and being part of their wonderful journey of growth & learning, but they’re ready for that step, and it’s an exciting time for them and for us all! We’re so happy to be welcoming a lot of children back for their second year in September, which is always some consolation! If you don’t have a child returning in the near future, we hope that you & your child will continue to visit any time – and this year we had several secondary school students on TY work experience who were ex-pupils of the Montessori, so there’s no excuses – we can always find a space for your children! ❤️❤️

The Children’s House will be closing on Wednesday 26th June for summer holidays,

re-opening Wednesday 28th August 

– have a wonderful summer everyone, and thanks for another wonderful year!!