Newsletter 1.04.16

Dear Parents,

We have been very busy in F2T doing lots of fun and exciting activities in the different learning spaces.

Physical Development

In the soft play room this week, we played balloon tennis. The children worked hard to keep the balloons aloft using their racquets or hands. In the big playground, we all had fun throwing balls in the net and doing a hoop race!

Library

For library this week, I read the story How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? The children stayed focused throughout our session and practised one to one correspondence.

1- tattered teddy
2- big balloons
3-trucks
4-bouncy balls
5-letter blocks
6-dirty socks
7-cars
8-paint jars
9-dinosaur pictures
10-books to borrow








Maths

In the maths area, the children continue to name shapes such as square, circle, triangle, rectangle, oval, semi circle and crescent. They also counted how many shapes they found on the dinosaur photos. 

Music

The children had fun making different sounds in music this week  as Mr John did 'Magical Musical Box'. They used tappers (tambourine, drums, claves), shakers (egg shakers) and scrapers. The children also showed brilliant listening and are able to make soft and loud sounds using their musical instruments. 

Focus groups
For focus groups this week, we talked about the different countries where we came from and how we say hello in different languages. Ms Gurvinder focused on rhymes and rythmic activities whilst Ms Clarissa continue to focus on letters and sounds activities.

Things you can do at home
                                     
-here are some iPad app suggestions for this week:

-we've also been learning to say hello in different languages (we have 9 nationalities in class)
ask your child if they remember how to say hello in these countries: UK, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, India, Kuwait and America

-F2 children have been using the climbing frame in the big playground really well. If you would like to do a fun physical activity with your child, here is a place that Ms Gurvinder suggested:
Vertical Academy, District 2 (please visit their website for more details)
https://www.facebook.com/vertical.academy.vn/

-ask chn at home if they can sing the following songs:
The world is round (lyrics below)
Do Your Ears Hang Low (lyrics below)


THE WORLD IS ROUND

The world is round (x2)
The world is made of land and water
A large piece of land is called a CON-TI-NENT

Asia (x4)
Asia is the largest continent

Australia is the land of the kangaroos
Australia is the land of the Koalas too

Antartica's the coldest continent (x2)

The rhinoceros and the hippopotamus,
Where can we find them? AF-RI-CA!

Europe is the land of the musicians
Europe is the land of the artists too!

There are two Americas! (x2)
North America
South America
North America
South America
There are two Americas!

There are 7 continents!

Where are we now?

Asia! We are in Vietnam

DO YOUR EARS HANG LOW

Do Your Ears Hang Low?
Do They Wobble to and Fro?
Can You Tie Them in a Knot?
Can You Tie Them in a Bow?
Can You Throw Them Over Your Shoulder Like a Continental Soldier?

Do your ears hang low?

Notices:

Trip to KIZ City District 4: Tuesday 5th of April

Please bring your child to school on time 7.55am

End of Term 2: Friday 8th of April

School finishes at 11.30am on this day for all children.

Please pick up your child on time.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Ms Precious and the F2 Team

Newsletter WB 21.03.16.

Dear Parents,

Another busy week!  An increasing number of children have been showing an interest in dinosaurs including their names and what they look like.  Here's a round up of what F2T have been up to...

Maths
We have continued to explore shape by making pictures using 'Tap it!', playing a shape game on CBeebies and by looking for shapes in everyday objects.

Music
Mr Jon introduced a new song called magical Musical Box the children in which the children used their voices to imitate the sounds of instruments including maracas, scrapers and claves.  The children also sang the song, 'Do Your Ears Hang Low?'  Please see below for song words.

Library
We shared a story called Dinosaur Roar!  In the story, we learnt lots of new words to describe the dinosaurs including lumpy, spiky, grumpy, fierce, short and tiny.  We will practise using this vocabulary next week in the splash pool.

Physical Development
In the big playground this week, we enjoyed using the Dome (climbing frame), Super Nova, bikes and trikes and a target practice.  The children are able to climb higher up but learning that if they do, then they must be able to get down by themselves safely.  For our target practice activity, the children were asked to throw beanbags into the hanging hoops.

In the splash pool this week the children continued to practise blowing bubbles.  Everyone can now blow bubbles with straws but we are now encouraging the children to blow bubbles by placing their noses and faces into the water.  We also began practising putting our heads under the water.

Other areas
We have built a den as part of our role play area.  Come and have a look!  We will develop this over the coming weeks.  At the moment, the children are enjoying dressing up as dinosaurs, putting on explorer hats and playing with the natural resources.  They are beginning to look for dinosaurs!

Mako
We are very sad to say that today is Mako's last day with us.  Mako and her family will be going back to Japan for a short time before beginning a new adventure in Jakarta!  It has been a pleasure to get to know Mako over the last two years and we wish her and her family lots of luck with their move.  We will miss you lots Mako!


How you can help at home
This is a popular song with the F2 children at the moment.  There are several versions of it available on youtube.

Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Do Your Ears Hang Low?
Do They Wobble to and Fro?
Can You Tie Them in a Knot?
Can You Tie Them in a Bow?
Can You Throw Them Over Your Shoulder Like a Continental Soldier?
Do your ears hang low?

Golden Box
All children have now had a turn at taking the Golden Box and filling it with their favourite toys.  We would now like to change the focus of the Golden Box so that each child brings in their favourite book.  The book should be one that the child knows really well and looks at regularly.  It can be in any language.

Notices
-On Tuesday 5th April, F2T will be visiting KizCiti in District 4.  More details to follow next week.
-Thank you for all your junk modelling contributions.

Please see below for photos.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thank you for your support.

Kind Regards,

Gurvinder

Throwing the bean bag through the hoops

Creating from junk modelling materials

Exploring the new resources in the Malleable Area including scales, a pestle
and mortar, baking equipment and fresh herbs

TEST EMAIL AS REQUESTED- PLEASE IGNORE

Newsletter 18.03.16

Dear Parents,

We have had another fun and busy week of learning in F2T!

Library

Following children's interest in dinosaurs, I read the story '10 Little Dinosaurs' for our library session this week. The children practised counting from 1-10 and also counted backwards 10-1. Some children are able to recognise the dinosaur names and were particularly good at imitating the noises that dinosaurs make! The children listened very well and responded brilliantly to questions throughout the session.

Physical Development

We continue to practise our climbing skills in the big playground on the climbing frame, spinning around on the SuperNova, playing football and mark-making on the floor using big chalks! Since we are not able to use the splashpool this week, we booked the gym for some fun physical activities. On Thursday, Ms Gurvinder facilitated a 'shapes game' to reinforce children's knowledge of shapes. They all had a turn at running around the gym and standing on the correct shape. The children also played the game 'What's The Time Mr Wolf?'. On Friday, we've set up an obstacle course where the children can walk in and out of cones, balance on the bench, jump on the trampoline, crawl in the tunnel and jump over the hurdles. It was fun! fun! fun! F2T children are now more aware of the effects of the activities on their bodies. They have been particularly good at expressing their needs such as saying "I am tired", "I want to drink water" or "I want to use the toilet". 

Maths
The children have been busy tapping away to create a design of their own on a cork board using various shapes such as ciircle, sqaure, triangle, rectangle, diamond and a lot more!

Afternoon Group Activities
I've introduced some question cards this week such as who, what, where, when and why. I am very pleased to see that most children are able to come up with such fantastic questions. Ms Clarissa continued to focus on listening games and Ms Y facilitated a shapes game.

Other

We have been very lucky to have Ms Koto again from Animal Rescue and Care last Tuesday. This time, she came in with Dr Nghia who is a well known Vet. The children all had a turn at listening to the cat's heart beat and stroking a puppy.

How you can support your child at home

-We share weekend news most Monday mornings.  Please talk to your child in English or their home language about their favourite activities over the weekend.

-Please follow the links below for a few songs and rhymes that we've introduced with the children.

Jack and Jill- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u39W2Emyr5c

Do Your Ears Hang Low- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDlACz2iCbo

Hickory Dickory- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGgsklW-mtg

I Can Count To 20- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VLxWIHRD4E

-Please talk to your child about using 'Gentle Hands' and 'Gentle Feet' in the classroom. We've been talking to the children about playing nicely in the classroom, sharing our resources and using kind words during play time.

Notices

Splashpool sessions back as normal next week
Please remember to bring in your child's swimming kit every Mondays and Thursdays.
NO PLASTIC BAGS PLEASE. 

Family Photos
Thank you for sending in your family photos.  It would be wonderful to see a photo from every child in the class so if you haven't sent one in it, there is still time!

Junk Modelling
In F2, we've added our JUNK MODELLNG BOXES to help the children be more creative and imaginative. They have been building their own masterpieces! Please, can we ask parent bring in junk modelling materials such as cardboard rolls, yogugrt pots, small boxes and plastic bottles.

Thank you for your continuing support.  Please see below for photos.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kind Regards,
Ms Precious and the F2 team

Newsletter Week Beginning 05.03.16.

Dear Parents,

What a busy week of learning it has been!  Here are the highlights:

Library
This week I shared the story 'Harry and the Dinosaurs Have a Very Busy Day'.  This was linked to our shape focus.  We concentrated on the following shapes: triangle, square, rectangle, circle, semicircle and diamond.  We drew big shapes in the air and used language such as 'long, 'short' and 'round'

Physical Development
We practised our climbing skills in the big playground on the climbing frame, we enjoyed spinning around on the SuperNova, playing football and riding the bikes and trikes.  We also practised blowing bubbles and mark making with water and paintbrushes.

Maths
As well as our story above, we played a game on the IWB called 'Shape Shuffle' on our busythings website.

Afternoon Group Activities
I shared a story called 'Paula the Vet'.  Ms Precious focused on asking and answering questions using 'who?', 'what?', 'where?', 'how?' and 'why?'  Whilst Ms Clarissa played a listening game

Other Events

Animal Visit 
Koto and Melissa from Animal Rescue and Care (ARC) visited us with two dogs called Misty and Ziggy .  In the previous ARC session, the children had learnt about how to approach an owner and his dog safely if they wanted to stroke the dog.  This week the children practised doing this.  Most children wanted to approach and stroke one of the dogs.  We were impressed with how calm the children remained and how gently they stroked the dogs.  Next week, we will be visited by a vet.

How You Can Support Your Child At Home
-We share weekend news most Monday mornings.  Please talk to your child in English or their home language about their favourite activities over the weekend.

Notices
-No splash pool next week due to the ongoing construction next door.  We will be spending more time in the big playground and gym to ensure children continue to have the opportunity to develop their physical skills
-Thank you for sending in your family photos.  It would be wonderful to see a photo from every child in the class so if you haven't sent one in it, there is still time!

Thank you for your continuing support.  Please see below for photos.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kind Regards,

Gurvinder and the F2 team

'Harry and the Dinosaurs Have a Very Busy Day' in the Book area

SuperNova

Shape Collage in the Maths area

Mark Making with paintbrushes and water

Looking After Pets

Dog Visit from ARC

Music with Mr Jon

No Splash Pool Tomorrow

Dear Parents,

There will be no splash pool tomorrow for health and safety reasons.  This is due to the construction next door.

Kind Regards,

Gurvinder

Newsletter 4.3.16

Dear Parents,

This week, F2T childred had fun taking part in various classroom and outdoor activities.

Library
In the Library, we shared the story Elmer by David Mckee. The children were asked the following questions:
"What makes you special?"
"Who makes you happy?"
Most children showed awareness of the things that make them unique and also of people who makes them happy. After reading the story, we also watched the video version of the book. Please use this link if you would like to watch the video with your child/children at home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZlNp-8zOgk

The Tiger Who Came To Tea
The children continue to enjoy the resources in the reading area and also had a turn at doing mark-making activities with Ms Gurvinder. The children were so good at naming characters in the story and some were also able to describe the main events. In one of our circle sessions, we also watched the video version of the book. Please use this link if you would like to watch the video with your child/children at home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZlNp-8zOgk

Mark-making
F2T children loved exploring the shaving cream on shallow trays. They have been using their hands to make their pictures or draw different patterns.

Workshop area
In the workshop area, the children have been building different things using recycled resources such as tissue rolls, empty food boxes and scrap papers.

Big Playground
Our big playground sessions this week has been fun! fun! fun! They all had a go at using the climbing equipment, supernova and tricycles.

Splashpool
In the splashpool, we continue to focus on building each child's water confidence. This week, they blew bubbles using a straw!

Maths
Shapes! Shapes! Shapes! It's all about shapes for Maths this week. We have been talking about the different shapes around us and have also made our shapes display for our class.

Circle sessions
In our circles sessions this week, we continue to talk about the following:
-respecting our toys and our environment
-sharing our resources
-using gentle hands and gentle feet at all times
-responding to new and difficult situations.
We have also been singing some new and familiar lots of songs this week. Please see the links below:
-Do Your Ears Hang Low? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asilllx2dbg
-The Grand Old Duke of York https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGvEQTQaTbQ
-Put On Your Shoes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jBfb33_KHU
-'p' sound  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCjJYB07aSU

ARC Visit
This week, one of the representatives from the Animal Rescue and Care visited F2T. Ms Koto showed the children how to take good care of our pets. We are all looking forward to our pet visitors next week!

Have a lovely weekend everyone and we hope to see you all tomorrow at our TX Fete!

Notices:
Talking Wall
As we are developing our Talking Wall Display in F2T, please can we ask you to bring in one family photo for the display or send a copy to our email.
Ms Precious- preciouscendana@bisvietnam.com
Ms Gurvinder- gurvinderpaul@bisvietnam.com