TREE TRIMMING

It's that time again - time to trim some of our trees back into shape to allow light back in and/or reshape to keep them looking good and to maintain their size. We need to do this every two to three years and this year when Peter and his helper Jason came to Kindergarten the children really enjoyed watching the process.  Peter kindly shared what he was doing with the children, showing them his tools and explaining as he worked. By the time they left we had tidy trees in our car park and in the playground (including our orchard) and a lovely pile of mulch to put onto the garden.

 Margaret ❀

TERM ONE 2011

What a busy term we had! When I look back over everything we did I am amazed that we managed to cram so much into 12 weeks.

The children made the most of the beautiful Summer we had with lots of water play and we even created a water slide with our slide by using the hose on it and putting a water trough at the bottom - too much fun! Other days we used the sprinkler to cool off.

Our children demonstrated immense empathy for the people affected by the earthquakes in Christchurch. One of Chris' colleagues works in an Early Childhood Centre in Christchurch and we raised funds to help them replace some of their damaged equipment. We held a Red and Black Day and the children raised $318.00!!! We will be keeping in touch with the centre to show our support during their recovery.

The vegetable garden we redeveloped last year has been very productive and so has our small orchard. The children really enjoyed using the produce from our trees and veges to create yummy food to eat. We made potato wedges, vegetable quiches, feijoa cakes, apple shortcake and enjoyed the fruit and vegetables straight off the plants. This is such a good way for  children to experience where food comes from.

We raised and released many monarch caterpillars as we followed the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly.

The children became very interested in sharks and so we visited Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World to see the sharks in real life. What fun we all had as we enjoyed seeing the sea creatures and penguins.  To finish we enjoyed an educational puppet show before going to Bastion Point to enjoy a picnic in the sun. We then returned, by bus, to Kindergarten.

Another area of interest for our children has been the role of the fire fighter. We discussed with them the ways they could keep safe in a fire, how everyone needs an escape plan and learned the smoke alarm song.  Then, we had a visit from a team of fire fighters from Albany Fire Station and their fire engine.  Max was able to dress as a fire fighter and all the children had a turn at squirting the hose.

We finished our busy term by having a party on the last day - we love any excuse to have a party at Greenhithe Kindergarten!  I wonder what learning adventures we will go on next term?

Margaret ❀