KA September Newsletter 2008 We have had a busy month with the children well settled and feeling a part of our classroom community. A few reminders firstly: * Teresa Wang, Nicole’s Mom, has kindly offered to be our class Mom. Teresa welcomes assistance throughout the year when different class events come up so please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any ideas or want to help out. * Please send in your 500NT for your child’s party fund as preparations are already underway for Halloween. * Please send in a family photo for us to have on display in our classroom. * Please ensure your child has a healthy snack each day. Fruit, crackers, cheese or seaweed seem to be favorites.

Thank you for sending in spare clothes for your child. They often get wet at water play and need to change! We have been experimenting with different containers estimating and counting as we fill the different sizes. The interest in our bodies and particularly our senses has continued. We have had many language experiences learning new songs, games and reading stories about what our bodies can do.

Opportunities for reinforcement of number concepts have been using puzzles and games alone or in small groups. The children have enjoyed using cubes to match to numerals and demonstrate an understanding of one to one correspondence. Threading experiences have extended the children’s fine motor skills and been extended with some children following patterns by reading cards

The children have continued developing their scissor skills cutting out their own footprints and handprints. Printing our footprints were fun as it tickled when we painted the soles of our feet!

We continue to find many more uses for our hands. Finger painting with shaving crème not only felt smooth and slippery but our sense of smell also enjoyed the experience. Other sensory games included being blindfolded and only using one sense at a time like touch.

Sharing any special celebrations with the class is greatly appreciated. As we learn about other cultures we broaden our perspective on the world and enrich the program for the children. Thank you to Anjali Malde (Anya’s Mom) who came in and talked to us about Henna painting in India. Anjali talked to us about this special activity for celebrations and very skillfully painted intricate designs on some of the children’s hands. Please see photo gallery for more. Thank you to Yafa Gur (Michal’s Mom) and Ifat Judah (Tal’s Mom) for showing us how Rosh Hashanah is celebrated. We all learnt a lot about traditions you practice today and enjoyed some of the special sweet foods for this special time. See photo gallery for more photos.

Our latest class members are three hermit crabs. The children are enjoying their shy personalities and holding them gently. Thank you, Liz Nixon.