1. August Newsletter. Welcome to KA for 2008/9. Welcome to our class! I would also like to particularly welcome families who are new to TAS and those of you who are new to Taipei. I hope you are also feeling settled in your new homes. We have children from many different backgrounds and I hope we can enrich the program by learning more about any special celebrations that are important to your family. Thank you to those of you who were able to attend our Open House. As you saw from the presentation the KA year is a very important year for your child who will grow and develop in so many ways. We are off to a great start with well settled, happy children. So many of you have told me how much your child enjoys coming each morning which is what we hope for. We are all getting to know each other as we build our class community which encourages friendship and respect for each other. The children have been really enjoying taking the ‘Who I am’ bag home and presenting themselves to the class. This experience has encouraged the children to gain confidence when speaking in front of the group and has given the other children opportunities to be respectful of their peers and listen to each other. Thank you for helping your child be patient as we wait for everyone to have their turn!

2. Who I am

3. The children are learning the routines of the day and the expectations of our classroom. We like to start the day with a ‘morning meeting’ when we say good morning to each other, discuss what we will be doing and have a planned discussion. To start the year we have been talking about ourselves, how we are all unique and special. We have been looking at our bodies and what we can do. We have had fun using photos that are cut up, trying to recognize ourselves by only looking at our smile or our eyes. Everyone drew a self portrait by looking at themselves really closely in the mirror. We have noted we all look different by looking at our hair and our eyes. Using blocks we were able to tally our results.

4. What do we use our hands for? Mia Hands pick something up. Things that fall down. Jared Pick up the trash. Minna We paint and draw with our hands. Nicholas First you draw and color. Harry Eat. Sunghyun Drawing and color. Michal Sing. Megan Hug. Anya Turn pages in a book. Graciana Put on clothes and shoes and socks. Jozef Climbing the mountain. Nathan To play. Grant Swimming. Jared Eating cake. Tal Make something. Nicole Do puzzles.

5. We looked at our fingerprints closely and found that everyone's are different and unique.

6. Self Portraits

7. As the weather cools down we are able to go outside into our own KA playground. Experiences outdoors are also specifically planned to promote language, cooperation, inquiry and discovery and gross motor skills.

8. Our dramatic play area has now become a supermarket which has been a wonderful opportunity for role playing and cooperative play. The children discussed as a group what we would need and insisted we had credit cards! We need more grocery items so please send in any empty boxes.

9. Everyone is enjoying the specialist classes, please note the change for library day from day 7 to day 9. Things to remember: Establishing a strong connection with family is important to the children so we are asking everyone to bring in a family photo for us to put on display in our classroom, (4X6). Please do not send in any peanut products for snack due to the risk of allergic reactions in some children. Please send in the 500nt for the party fund in a named envelope. Thank you, Ms Nixon and Ms Doris