Minischool Mini News March 2014

Minischool Mini news March 2014


March was a great time to re-introduce and give a fresh
approach to learning all about ourselves, colours, shapes, letters and sounds
as well as numbers which turned into simple addition. It certainly has been a
fun start to the year with extra excursions around the island to learn
together.


We are so close to having our amazing new space and gardens
up and ready for us and we will be sure to invite you all to our fun open day
once we settle in after Easter.


Speaking of Easter, we have been getting stuck into a
variety of Easter crafts, some to hang on our walls and many to place in our
scrapbooks to remember our early learning years.


Here is what our 3-5 year olds though about Easter, I love
their creativity and imagination.

I asked “where does the Easter Bunny live?”


J-At the Easter Carnival, J- No he lives in the sky, B- at
foodlands, A- I know, Its Easter Island, M-On the other side of the Island, A-
At Easter land (who with?) his helpers, the other Easter Bunnies (how many?)
there are 14! K- In a tunnel (why? Because he wants to hide because everyone
wants his chocolate, T- in a tent, B- In his own imagination, O- In a tunnel
making eggs and eating carrots, J- He lives into Christmas with Santa Claus
they help each other out at Christmas and Easter. The Easter bunny lives at
Santas house and they drink cups of tea, eat bananas, peas and carrots and he
loves potatoes pumpkin, zucchinis and that is all.


Why does he like to give eggs out? W-He wants to give them
because he is nice, A- He likes to be busy, busy, busy making them.

“How does the Easter Bunny make eggs?”


A-   
The Easter Bunny gets eggs from the brown
chickens, he mixes them all together and gives to us. K- He has an egg factory
which gives them to the Easter bunny and he gives them to the children. K- He
splits the egg yolk out & puts in a special eating glue in and covers with
chocolate. B- He gets some chocolates and eggs and covers them with little choc
bits (people take the wrappers off and shove them in their mouths.) J- He buys
some chocolate from a shops, opens the wrapper, tips it in, cooks it. He adds
some grated carrot and rolls them into little Easter bunnies and eggs with
spices. When he is on Norfolk he grabs some guavas then tips them in to the
bottom and gives to the people.


“ What does he do for the rest of the year?” B-He makes more
Easter eggs, J- He goes on holidays and sleeps forever, K- He has fun at
Minischool.
Hope everyone had a very hoppy Easter!


YES we are open 50 weeks a year and offer vacation care to
3-7 years olds ( and their older siblings if needed).

Call 51862 to enquire about vacation care vacancies

Mini News January/ February 2014

Minischool Mini News January & February 2014

Thankyou to all of our blog and facebook followers, we have had such an interesting year so far already.

We began our preschool year at the beginning of January when we returned early in the New Year to enjoy a summer of activities and preschool vacation care.

Our preschool graduation was a success. The afternoon tea ceremony, cake cutting, presentation of folders and super cape gifts were much appreciated by the graduates but their highlight was when we left the parents at home and headed out for a teacher/ student dinner. The kids enjoyed ordering the biggest pizzas and scribbling their artworks and names all over the paper tablecloths before tiki touring on the way home. Thanks to Pauline, Michael and Meliss at The Rock for hosting our dinner out. We already miss our big boys as they head off to school.

So far this year, we have already covered themes and learning of

All about me, where we learnt how tall we were, the letters in our names, what our footprints look like and eye colour. Plus what are the same and differences between us, our friends and family.

Valentines day and love, We learnt about the best emotions, what made us happy and loved, posted letters to our parents to let them know we loved them (thanks to Jasper for licking 18 stamps!) we also made huge heart cookies and gave loads of free hugs.

We then enjoyed the winter Olympics with games and obstacle courses (the jumping Olympic course was our favourite). We included an international theme to learn about the continents, flags of the world and international costumes. Lots of laughs as we found out what ducks and other animals sound like in 7 to 10 different languages. Our Minischoolers got to have an up close view of the beach carnival from our gazebo. Thanks to all of our parents and volunteers who came and had fun with us especially cooling off with a splash-a-thon at the end of the day.

At the beginning of autumn, it was a great time to learn about all the seasons. We learned about weather patterns and what clothes we need to wear in each season. Lots of leaf collecting and leaf craft. The windy weather was perfect for testing our handmade bag kites. Many of our kites also made it to the foundation day kite festival which was great to see such a good turn out from our little ones, even if all didn’t enter, we hope you had fun anyway J

Last week we went on a guava (porpay) hunt in 3 different locations and now have plenty of juice for making guava jelly to enjoy on our lemonade scones. One of our older children invented Guava pops- Just pop yourselves over to our blog for a photographic display on how to make these easy and tasty treats for kids.

You will find our guava jelly & lemonade scone recipe on there as well.

http://norfolkislandpreschool.blogspot.com

There were also plenty of ending and beginnings during the past week. An excursion to the airport farewelled one of our friends, we hope he saw us as we raced the place in the field at the side of the runway.

Thankyou to all of our parents, families and community members who have helped us on our transition towards our new home closer to the school and town. It has been done with minimal disruption to our children thanks to your support.

New Adventures await us on this fabulous early learning journey.

♥ Cristina & Mandy

Minischool is a fresh, fun, inspirational & educational preschool offered to 3 to 5 year old children of Norfolk Island.

Love is still in the air

A Mini Christmas Message

Minischool Educational Preschool

Would like to wish all of our families an very Merry Christmas and thanks for your support of our brand new educational experience throughout 2013.

 We also thank the Norfolk Island community for your encouragement and offering your help & businesses for excursions and supplies throughout the year.

The children have absorbed and learned so much throughout the year through our thematic preschool teaching.

We look forward to our preschool graduation ceremony in January and wish our big boys heading to big school many happy school adventures to come.

 

There are a few limited vacancies at Minischool in 2014 contact Cristina on (+6723) 51862 or norfolkislandphotos@gmail.com for more information. We also have a short waiting list for 2015 and 2016 (already!) If you are interested.

If you would like to visit Minischool at anytime, please give us a ring to let us know when you would like to view our preschool.

Our Preschool year finishes on Friday 20^th of December. We return on the 6^th of January for preschool vacation care to help our working parents out, these are the only 2 weeks we close each year. Children from 2 and a half (toilet trained) to 6 years olds are welcome to join in the fun in the January holidays.

 

We have received wonderful feedback from the community via these newspaper articles. To read our monthly updates and view our photos, please visit our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/minischoolpreschool

 

With love from Cristina, Mandy, Lauren, Peri-Peri and all the Minischoolers.

Have a safe New Year and we look forward to seeing you all in January 2014.

Christmas crafts aplenty

We have started our Christmas countdown. See the photos on my personal family blog
http://norfolkheavenonearth.blogspot.com/2013/12/its-beginning-to-look-lot-like.html

I was proud of the Minischoolers for rising to my challenge of sewing with tapestry needles onto our mesh Christmas trees.
I made this craft up over 15 years ago for my pre-school class on the Sunshine coast. Many of that class finished high school this year!

Here are some good links for Christmas crafts.
http://creativewithkids.com/the-creative-christmas-countdown-2012/

http://livingmontessorinow.com/2013/11/19/hundreds-of-december-holiday-activities-for-kids/

http://livingmontessorinow.com/2010/11/26/december-family-activities/

http://livingmontessorinow.com/2012/12/07/montessori-inspired-nativity-activities-and-focus-on-the-nativity-blog-hop/

http://livingmontessorinow.com/2012/11/27/40-plus-christmas-countdown-activities/

How our bodies work theme

 Science class at the Norfolk Island Central school science lab

 Using our big gross motor muscles

 A visit to the dentist

The sweetest beetroot relish made by our children.

I got this recipe from Not Quite Nigella who visited Norfolk island in the past year.
Click here for full instructions.

 

This is the recipe

Beetroot Relish

An Original Recipe By Not Quite Nigella

• 500g beetroot, roasted* instructions below
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 3/4 cup-1 cup white or brown sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons salt

 

We used the freshest just picked beetroot while the natural sugars were quite high.

I added chopped spring onions, coriander and orange zest also freshly picked from the garden.

 While we were making things from the garden, It was time for some science fun.

Have you ever tried a purple cabbage ph experiment?

First boil some purple cabbage leaves, save the coloured water and discard the leaves (or eat them for lunch!)

When the water has cooled, keep in a clear jar or beaker so the children can experience the magic.

 

By adding acids and alkalines found in our kitchen, we were amazed by the water turning a combination of reds/pinks and green/blues.

 

Try these and see what happens to your cabbage water.

lemon juice, egg white, vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, salt and hot sauce.

 

Have fun!