Blog post 21st - 25th January

Hello parents of preschool A

I hope that this post find you all healthy and well!

This week in class we have had a focus on maths, letters and planning for our YEP performance. Please email me your child's t-shirt sizes as soon as possible as I will be ordering the costumes this week.

Maths

We have really focused on addition this week, a number of our activities have been building on adding two small numbers together as well as different groups of numbers adding up to the same number!

We are continuing our recognition of small finger amounts which all add up to ten during all snack time so please feel free to try this at home as well.

Ms Sara has been playing BINGO with our friends as well so that we can recognise the numbers 1-20 as fast as we are able to.  We have really been enjoying this game too.

English

In English this week we have been having a real focus on our writing and quickly recognising the uppercase and lower case letters! (mummy and baby letters). I am happy to report that with the use of play dough, writing sheets and whiteboard markers we have steadily been improving. Many of our friends who have had problems in the past of writing letters backwards have been showing the greatest improvement!

Inquiry

This week we have been deciding the dances and music for our YEP performances, we have been sharing our favourite dances and music to do with it. We had a great time showing our friends our best moves. Our dances are going to be based on the emotions of happy, angry and sad.

We will be ordering our costume t-shirts this week so please contact me with the t-shirt size of your child or sadly I will have to choose a size that will fit all of our friends.

However I am planning for this t-shirts to be fun enough to be warn by your child after the event as well.

We also tried making our own musical instruments, with balloons, coffee cans, Tupperware containers, rubber bands, cardboard tubes and much more.

Music

We have a new music teacher who has been helping us to understand rhythm and to improve our singing! 

Important Information

Share time for the following week

Siwoo - 30th January
Gento - 1st February

Indoor shoes

There are a number of our friends who haven't brought their indoor shoes for this term, this can create problems as their socks sometimes get wet in the toilet area and they then refuse to wear their socks for the rest of the day. Please ask your child if they have their indoor shoes (or if they are too small for them).

Lost property

One of our students has misplaced their rainbow striped snood (circular scarf) if possible please check your child's clothes in case it has accidentally been brought home. Should you find it please email me so it can be reunited with its owner.

Influenza and Stomach bug

As you would have been advised via email it is influenza season at the moment so are we encouraging all of our friends to be extra careful with their health and to stay home should they be exhibiting any fever or illness. We had two students exhibiting flu like symptoms on the 9th floor on Friday so please stay safe and healthy. 

Further more there have been a few cases of a stomach bug floating around as well (from personal experience ;P)  please take care as it can last a few days.

Finally should you have any questions please contact me at bbelyea@abroadschools.jp

Blog 15th - 18th January

Hello parents of preschool A

I hope everyone has been having a good week and hopefully staying healthy and flu free!

We have had fun this week expanding our exploration of the inquiry unit - How we express ourselves. We listened to different kinds of music, tried making things with play dough and making up new dance moves.

We also talking about wearing masks and keeping germs at bay so that we can stay healthy during influenza season.

Maths

In maths this week we and working on recognising the small numbers can add up to the same number. We have been doing this before each meal or snack break with numbers adding up to 10, please feel free to practice this with your child at home as they have been really enjoying this activity.

English

This week we focused of remembering upper and lower case letters and how to tell the difference between the lower case letters of b,d,p and q. It has been a little tricky for some of us because they are so similar!

We are continuing to try reading simple words and for some of us it is getting a little easier but we are all practising really hard so that we can start reading books for ourselves.

Unit of Inquiry

This week in our unit of inquiry lessons we have been looking at how music makes us feel. We listened to classical music, pop music from different countries and more. There were many conversations about how the music made us feel as we also tried to make different dance moves for the music that we heard.

Important information

Lost property

One of our students has misplaced their rainbow striped snood (circular scarf) if possible please check your child's clothes in case it has accidentally been brought home. Should you find it please email me so it can be reunited with its owner.

Important dates

Grandparents day - Wednesday January 30th (9:40am - 10:30am) - Grandparents (or one guardian) are invited to join us for an observation and activity! please remember to register up to 3 days before the event. (please bring a pair of indoor shoes)

Picture day - Tuesday February 5th - class photo

Share time

The students who have share time this week are -

Ai - 23rd January
Ayman - 25th January


Should you have any questions please don`t hesitate to contact me on bbelyea@abroadschools.jp

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year parents of preschool A!

We have had a fun filled first week back at school. The new unit has started and we are exploring expressing ourselves through the creative arts such as music, art and dance. Our transdisciplinary theme is an inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.

This week we have been looking at how different colours make us feel different things, how to express different emotions through dance and finally we have been listening to classical music and talking about if the music makes us feel happy/sad.

English

During our language lessons we have been practising our handwriting, I have provided blank writing sheets for us to practice with and students are more than welcome to take some home to continue their practice however this is not required.

Maths

This week we have the learning to recognise small groupings of numbers and that they can add up to the same number (3+3=6 and 2+4=6). We have been doing this while we count down to eat at meal times and our friends have been having fun taking turns to pick the number we are going to be counting down from.

Music

We have welcomed our new music teacher and we are looking forward to the new music and songs that she will be introducing to us!

Playing with our friends from preschool B

We are continuing our study into what makes the best towers!

Wooden letters.......

.........or lego? 

Working together to make a master art work.

Important information

YEP

The year end performance is coming up and we have been discussing in class what we would like to do. I will be asking parents to advise me of their child's shirt size so that we will be able to order a costume that will fit them nicely.

Influenza

As you would have been advised via email it is influenza season at the moment so are we encouraging all of our friends to be extra careful with their health and to stay home should they be exhibiting any fever or illness. We had two students exhibiting flu like symptoms on the 9th floor on Friday so please stay safe and healthy.

Lost property

One of our students has misplaced their rainbow striped snood (circular scarf) if possible please check your child's clothes in case it has accidentally been brought home. Should you find it please email me so it can be reunited with its owner.

Birthday Party

This month we will be celebrating January birthdays in our class!
The party will be starting at 3:15 pm on the 9th floor.


Share time schedule

Please note our share time schedule listed below, should your child have something special they wish to share outside of their scheduled day please let us know so we can make sometime for them.

Kinyu - Wednesday 16th January
Gen - Friday 18th January
Ai - 23rd January
Ayman - 25th January
Siwoo - 30th January
Gento - 1st February
Lian - 6th February
Osuke - 8th February
Etta - 13th February
Yun - 15th February
Rizumu - 19th February
Kaname - 21st February
Sara - 27th February
Julia - 1st March
Asim - 5th March
Mao - 8th March
Ayuma - 13th March

We look forward to seeing what treasures they will be showing us!

Should you have any questions or concerns please don`t hesitate to contact me at bbelyea@abroadschools.jp