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!!
22nd – 26th March
What a wonderful Seachtain na Gaeilge and St Patrick’s celebrations last week. The children made and put up some fantastic decorations and created some beautiful artwork. This week is going to be an exciting week. It’s hard to believe this is the last week before the Easter Holidays!! We will be decorating the school for Easter and doing some lovely arts and crafts, as well as some egg painting. We will also be cooking some yummy Easter nests. Finally on Friday our last day of school we will be having some fun games, and an Easter egg hunt!!
Sleeping Bunnies
See the little bunnies sleeping
Til its nearly noon
Come and let us gently wake them
With a merry tune
Oh, so still
Are they ill?
Wake up soon!
Hop little bunnies
Hop, hop, hop (X3)
15th – 19th March
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.
8th – 12th March
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!
1st – 5th March
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!!
22nd – 26th February 2021
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!! ✨
15th – 19th February
Hi everyone 
we hope you’re all doing well, & had a great week last week!! The ideas we’re sharing this week are all related to Spring & the life cycle of a plant, so below you’ll see the plan for the week which involves mindfulness & art – as well as lots of pancakes of course 
we hope you’re all doing well, & had a great week last week!! The ideas we’re sharing this week are all related to Spring & the life cycle of a plant, so below you’ll see the plan for the week which involves mindfulness & art – as well as lots of pancakes of course Here also are some Youtube links related to Spring & the lifecycle of a plant – enjoy!!! 
8th – 12th February
Hi everyone, hope you’re all doing well it’s a busy week ahead with Chinese New Year celebrations starting this Friday – the year of the Ox!! 
And then on Sunday it’s Valentine’s Day of course, so we’ve got some arts & crafts ideas below for your children to do at home with you 
it’s a busy week ahead with Chinese New Year celebrations starting this Friday – the year of the Ox!! And then on Sunday it’s Valentine’s Day of course, so we’ve got some arts & crafts ideas below for your children to do at home with you If we were in school we would be asking them how they show their love e.g. by giving a hug, by making something, or by helping with something around the house – so now might be a good time to get the Valentine’s chores list drawn up 
As we will be missing our annual Valentine’s ball, we’re encouraging everyone to dress up & have one at home on Sunday – & don’t forget to send us in the photos
e.g. by giving a hug, by making something, or by helping with something around the house – so now might be a good time to get the Valentine’s chores list drawn up As we will be missing our annual Valentine’s ball, we’re encouraging everyone to dress up & have one at home on Sunday – & don’t forget to send us in the photos 1st – 5th February
Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Bríde!! Happy St Brigids Day & a very big welcome to Spring at last!!! 
We hope you’re all keeping well – as you know, we’re starting our zoom calls this week to the classes, & we hope your children will be able to join in for even 1 of the 2 weekly check ins, we can’t wait to see them!! As normal we are sending on some weekly activities, this week though is a little bit different as they are based on philosophising with children which is all about using open-ended questions, discussions & using ‘what if…’ & ‘I wonder…’ statements 
– trying not to ask leading questions but just to encourage critical thinking – young children have that innately if we just encourage & support it, using a conversation starting point like a particular story, video or picture. To this end, you could ask your child a fun question (e.g. ‘what would you rather have – 4 legs, 6 eyes or 2 mouths?!’) & ask them to think about their answer & explain why – obviously there are no right or wrong answers here!!
– trying not to ask leading questions but just to encourage critical thinking – young children have that innately if we just encourage & support it, using a conversation starting point like a particular story, video or picture. To this end, you could ask your child a fun question (e.g. ‘what would you rather have – 4 legs, 6 eyes or 2 mouths?!’) & ask them to think about their answer & explain why – obviously there are no right or wrong answers here!!Attached below is an emotions wheel & relaxation thermometer, if you would like to use them with your children in order to support them in talking about their feelings & using deep breathing or other strategies to help them relax when needed. The song this week is also about emotions ‘If you’re happy & you know it’ – don’t hold back & go all out doing happy, sad, angry & tired faces & actions with your children!!
Take care & keep in touch, from all of us here at The Children’s House xx
Continued School Closure
We hope you & your families are all keeping safe & well – as you know, unfortunately we will not be reopening before 5th March as part of the ongoing level 5 restrictions. However, as we would love to have some direct contact with the children in the meantime, we are planning to have short zoom circle times twice a week for each class, just to check in & have a quick chat with the children & let them know that we are still here & missing them!! We will be in contact about the days/times, & hope to see your children there if they can make it – we will still be continuing on with the weekly plans & activitites for you to use as appropriate. Stay safe & talk soon, from all at The Children’s House.