Gong Xi Fa Cai!! It’s the Chinese Lunar New Year on Tuesday, so this week we will be learning a bit about China – looking at where it is in Asia, learning about some customs & superstitions, and looking at some photos and objects from China. As it’s the Year of the Pig, the children will be making pigs from paper plates, as well as Chinese fans, cherry blossom trees with thumb prints, and decorating the classrooms for the week.

Happy New Year (action poem)

Happy new year, hop hop hop,
Happy new year, stop stop stop,
Happy new year, jump jump jump,
Happy new year, stomp stomp stomp.
Happy new year, touch your nose,
Happy new year, touch your toes,
Happy new year, turn around,
Happy new year, now sit down!

This week at The Children’s House we will be starting to learn about the beginning of the universe, and doing an experiment to demonstrate the Big Bang almost 14 million years ago, and we will be talking about how we are all made of stardust! Later in the week the children will be making their own pictures of the Big Bang, we will do some philosophising and have a discussion about what everyone imagines the world might have been like in the very beginning….then we will also be doing some drama – moving to music with different coloured ribbons to represent all the particles swirling about after the Big Bang.

As well as this we will be talking about the change of month from January to February, which also means that Spring is officially here!! We will celebrate St Brigid’s day on 1st March by making St Brigid’s crosses, and listen to Spring from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (there is a beautiful reimagining of it by Max Richter, here is the link for anyone who is interested – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaCib0B8T24); so a busy week ahead!!

93 Percent Stardust – Nikita Gill

We have calcium in our bones, iron in our veins,
Carbon in our souls, and nitrogen in our brains,
93 percent stardust, with souls made of flames,
We are all just stars that have people names.

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!

After a great week discussing dental hygiene and learning all about our teeth, we will be continuing on to do a healthy eating theme this week at The Children’s House – we will start off the week with a discussion with the children on why they might think it’s important to eat healthily, talk about what our bodies need from food and which foods are best for us, and continue from there to look at the food pyramid. After this we will introduce practical activities such as matching sample jars of food to the food pyramid, art activities, and sugar experiments, as well as doing some healthy cooking of soup!

We emphasise the importance of having a good balanced diet and a healthy relationship with food – to know which foods are healthy and which are not, but to stress that having a treat is not a bad thing either!

Oh, Do You Eat Your Vegetables (tune of Muffin Man)

Oh, do you eat your vegetables, vegetables, vegetables?
Oh, do you eat your vegetables, each and every day?

Oh, yes we eat our vegetables, vegetables, vegetables;
Oh, yes we eat our vegetables, each and every day!

Another busy week ahead in The Children’s House!! We will be learning all about teeth as our topic is dental hygiene, so we will be talking about the importance of dental hygiene and why we look after our teeth, and discussing what might happen if we didn’t do so – in a non-scary way, we don’t intend to add to anyone’s fear of the dentist!! We will then be examining our tooth model and looking in the mirror at our own teeth and learning the names of them, as well as talking about why we lose our teeth and learning about the parts of the mouth.

We will also discuss how to brush our teeth using toothpaste & brush, and finally talk about foods that are healthy for our teeth – especially crunchy foods like apples and carrots, and calcium-containing foods which strengthen our teeth such as milk, cheese and yoghurts – and foods that aren’t.

Brushing Song (tune of Twinkle Twinkle)

Brushing, brushing, brush this way,
Keeps our teeth clean every day.
Once in the morning, then at noon,
And at night when we see the moon.
Brushing, brushing, brush this way,
Keeps our teeth clean every day!

Happy new year everyone!! We’re so excited to welcome you all back at the beginning of a brand new year! Hope all the children had a great break and are ready to get back to the routine of exploring and learning with their friends!! This week at The Children’s House we will be focussing on our families; we are asking all children to bring in a family photo that they can put up on the wall as part of their family trees and we will be discussing what makes each of our families so special and different, as part of the process of getting the children to see themselves as unique individuals in their own community.

We will also be talking about the new month January and the new year 2019, as well as doing some yoga and mindfulness – these are important tools to learn how to use when we need to calm ourselves down, and good to practice on a regular basis, so we will be starting off the year on a positive foot!

Families (Poem)

Woah ho ho!!! The weeks have been flying past, and suddenly we’re into our last week at The Children’s House before our Christmas holidays! This week we’ll be making Christmas cards & wrapping paper, reindeer food, having lots of Christmas fun and being very hyper – in between the usual learning, exploring and experimenting! The classes’ Christmas songs are as follows:

9am class Christmas play & songs @ 11am on Tuesday 18th December

9.30am class Christmas play & songs @ 11.30am on Monday 17th December

1pm class Christmas songs @ 3pm on Tuesday 18th December

1.15pm class Christmas songs @ 3.15pm on Monday 17th December

We will be having a very special visitor on Wednesday….then we are closing for Christmas holidays on Friday 21st December, and re-opening on Monday 7th January; we would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas, and every happiness for 2019 – we’re looking forward to seeing you all in the New Year and having a fantastic 6 months with your beautiful children!!

***Please note that we’re asking the children to bring in €1 each if possible, as we’re making a donation to Focus Ireland this Christmas***

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!

This week we will be talking to the children about giving to others and asking them to bring in unwanted items for charity which are in good condition, as it’s important to remember others that don’t have much, especially at this time of year. Also they will be writing messages about things that you can give to people rather than physical things, such as hugs or thoughtful actions. The children will also make photo frames.

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!)

December has arrived!! This week at The Children’s House we will be talking about the change of month, and what happens in December….yes, it’s the start of the Christmas season! So we will be talking about the story of Christmas, and how the first Christmas happened, and then decorating the classrooms, and making snow and wreaths at the end of the week. It’s a lovely time of year to talk to the children about other people that have less than us, and about giving to others, and having kindness and respect for all.

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!

Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh,
O’er the fields we go, laughing all the way – ha ha ha,
Bells on bobtail ring, making spirits bright,
Oh what fun it is to sing a sleighing song tonight!

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!

This week at The Children’s House we will be talking about the season of winter – the type of weather that we get in winter & how it affects animals, the clothes we have to wear, the different signs that winter is here e.g. leaves have fallen off trees, days are shorter etc. We will be planting bulbs and explaining that plants stay under the soil until the weather gets warmer again in the spring time, and we will be making mittens while talking about keeping warm in the winter time. It is important in these discussions to ask the children open ended questions, so that we are not just giving information to them to recite back to us, but rather asking their opinions and seeing what they come up with from their observations of the world. At the end of the week we will also be making snow dough!!

I’m a Little Snowman

I’m a little snowman, look at me,
There are my buttons 1, 2, 3.
These are my eyes and this is my nose,
I wear a hat and scarf – brrr it’s cold!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! This week we will be learning about this lovely North American celebration in The Children’s House, discussing the first Thanksgiving, baking bread to share, doing Thanksgiving crafts, and really focussing on talking about things that we are thankful for – family, friends, our homes, food etc – things we often take for granted but which are so important, and worth celebrating!

I’m a Little Turkey (tune of I’m a Little Teapot)

I’m a little turkey, my name is Ted,
Here are my feathers, here’s my head.
Gobble gobble gobble is what I say,
Run run run because it’s Thanksgiving day!!