IT IS NOT KNOWLEDGE, BUT THE ACT OF

LEARNING, NOT POSSESSION BUT THE

ACT OF GETTING THERE WHICH GRANTS

THE GREATEST ENJOYMENT. – C F GAUSS.

It’s hard to believe we are already in April! So many activities to

look forward to…We are all looking forward to the Easter Long

Weekend and hope you all enjoy a safe and relaxing break with

friends and family.

We will be having our annual Easter egg hunts in the lead up to

the long weekend, and family members are more than welcome

to join us in the festivities. Keep an eye on the noticeboard and

facebook page for more details.

Do you have a special skill or talent? Why not pop in and share

it with us one morning here at Attunga. The children love it

when their families get involved!

COCONUT LADOO IS

AN INDIAN SWEET

OFTEN PREPARED TO

CELEBRATE FESTIVALS

– PAGE TWO!

UPDATE CHILDREN’S INFORMATION More information on page 5;

April Newsletter

Children’s Book Day ------------ 13th

Baisakhi Festival ----------------- 17th

Pay It Forward ------------------- 21st

NATURE PLAY WEEK – APRIL 11 TO 19

Nature play is a term used to describe the

creation of simple play opportunities in the

natural environment. Nature play encourages

kids and parents to see the natural environment

as a place to enjoy, play, imagine, relax and

explore. READ MORE

Coconut Laddoo

Ingredients 1-cup suji (semolina) 1 1/2 cups grated fresh coconut 1 tin Milkmaid (condensed milk) 1 cup caster sugar

Method 1. Roast suji in a round vessel and when it starts turning light brown take it out and keep aside. 2. Add at least one cup grated coconut to the semolina and keep the mixture to cool down. 3. Keep rest of the grated coconut to wrap the laddoos. 4. Put caster sugar after a while and add ¾ tin milkmaid. 5. Mix well. 6. Make small balls of the mixture. 7. Roll the balls in the coconut powder. 8. Place it in the refrigerator. Laddoos are ready to serve.

Baisakhi Festival falls on April 13th or April 14th and marks the beginning of the solar year. People of North India, particularly Punjab thank God for good harvest. Celebrated when the Rabi crop ripens, Baisakhi is not confined too villages and fields only, but now has an urban presence. This recipe is just one that can be found at www.baisakhifestival.com

Book Review Tales of the ANZACs

This much loved book won the New Zealand Children’s Book of the Year in 1997.

Learning about the ANZACs helps young children understand the

life and times of Australia and its people. Building your child’s

knowledge about the traditions, facts and folklore of ANZAC Day,

the many real life stories of sacrifices and heroism of everyday

Australians will not be lost, but be handed down to future

generations. Young children learn best when they are highly

interested. The books chosen for this month’s review

are age relevant and full of interesting imagery and stories.

The Bantam and the Soldier By Jennifer Beck & Robyn Belton

It tells the story of “the smallest bantam” on a French farm, abandoned as the war gets closer, and a shy, homesick farmer’s son called Arthur “from a country on the other side of the world”. Arthur saves the starving bantam, feeds it and looks after it and names it Bertha after his niece back home. At first the other soldiers make fun of him, but then they adopt Bertha as a mascot too and start to hunt out grubs and worms for her. Bertha rewards them each day with “a warm, brown egg” and her resilience gives them courage and hope.

My Grandad marches on ANZAC Day

ANZAC DAY – APRIL 25

100 years on Anzac Day goes beyond the

anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915.

It is the day on which we remember Australians

who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and

peacekeeping operation.

GO TO THE WEBSITE

By Catriona Hoy

Simpson and his donkey By Mark Greenwood

A simple, moving look at Anzac Day and its significance, through the eyes of a little girl. A gentle story about families and the importance of sharing memories and remembering.

Jack Simpson Kirkpatrick demonstrates the ‘Anzac qualities’ of bravery, patriotism and sacrifice. As a veteran of the initial Gallipoli landing on 25th April 1915, he worked tirelessly in Shrapnel Gully carrying wounded soldiers from the battlefront to the beach hospital. In 24 days, under constant attack from artillery and sniper fire, he rescued close to 300 men.

Focus Article: Compassionate kids

Children have an inborn capacity for compassion.

Small in stature themselves, they naturally identify

with stuffed animals, other kids, pets, and

underdogs. The tricky part is that their empathy

must compete with other developmental forces,

including limited impulse control, which makes them

pull the cat's tail, and their belief that their needs

absolutely must come first, which makes it hard for

them to let their cousin push the cool fire truck.

But with so much hatred and turmoil in the world today,

it seems more important than ever to raise kids who can

understand and be kind to other people. Teaching this

doesn't mean lectures or visits to soup kitchens. It’s part

of day-to-day life: how you answer your child's

questions, how you solve conflict at the park, how you

nudge his or her growing capacity to understand and

think about other people. Temperament of course plays

a role—some kids are naturally more tuned in to other

people's feelings and difficulties, while others are a bit

oblivious. Either way, you have influence in fostering

your child's ability to empathize. Age by age, here's how

to do so in small, daily doses:

Monkey see - monkey do: As with much of our parenting,

it’s about modelling. If our kids see us showing empathy

and compassion, it becomes one of their values and

normal behaviour. Research has found that

compassionate parents raise kids who are nicer to their

peers.

Talking about what we’re thankful for: While it may

sound a little “Brady Bunch”, psychologists claim that

simple dinner time conversations about the positives in

our own lives boosts happiness, well-being and health.

Embrace the good: Acknowledging people who are

what’s termed “morally inspiring” has been found to

improve people’s feelings of connection to one another

and their sense of purpose.

Being nice feels nice: Researchers have measured the

amount of the feel-good chemical oxytocin that humans

can produce when they’re compassionate. Help kids feel

that by encouraging them to do a good deed or be kind

to others.

Recognise your kids’ acts of kindness: If your child

shares their toys or comforts a sad friend,

acknowledge it and talk about how that act made

everyone feel as well as what the feelings could have

been if the act of kindness hadn’t happened.

Have a family pet: Being nice to animals has been

found to help develop compassion as often a child’s

relationship with a pet is the first one in which they

learn to understand the feelings of others. Research

has found that children with pets had higher self-

esteem and were more popular with their classmates

because they were more empathetic.

“If you want others to be happy, practice

compassion. If you want to be happy,

practice compassion.” - Dalai Lama

Read more of these articles here:

www.parenting.com/article/raising-a-compassionate-child

and www.kidspot.com.au/Preschool-Behaviour-How-to-

bring-up-compassionate-kids+7090+33+article.htm

Health & Safety: Easter Drive Time

As the April long weekend nears many of us are planning

to pack up the family and head off for a day or even the

whole weekend. Ensuring you arrive at your destination

safely is paramount. As we all know driving with bored

and unhappy children can make it harder for you to

concentrate and drive safely.

The following tips might help:

Have a chat while you drive. Talking helps pass the time

and distracts your child. Discuss what you’ll be doing

when you arrive, point out sights through the window,

have a singalong or recite some nursery rhymes.

Position your child’s car seat so that you and your child

you can see each other, if possible. If your child can see

your face, they are less likely to get bored or feel lonely.

Praise your child for good car behaviour, such as not

wriggling out of seatbelts or harnesses, not distracting

the driver and not playing with the locks.

Easter Foil Art

Mention your child’s good behaviour several times during

the journey. For example, ‘I like driving the car when you

keep your seatbelt on – that’s great behaviour’.

Provide plenty of safe distractions, such as CDs or audio

books to listen to, and soft hand-held games to play with.

Snacks and drinks are also a good idea.

Below are some age specific ideas to keep children

entertained in the car:

Babies: Give your baby a rattle or musical toy to play

with, hang a mobile above the baby capsule/car seat,

keep a few soft toys with you – you can rotate them so

your baby will occasionally get something new to look at.

Tie a couple of your baby’s favourite toys to her seat with

a ribbon, so if she drops them she can get them back.

Make sure the ribbon isn’t long enough to go around her

neck.

Toddlers: Have some toys and books within easy reach,

give your toddler something to eat and drink on the way

– make it a ‘car picnic’. Point out interesting things you

pass – for example, ‘Look, can you see the train? Where

do you think it’s going?’ If it’s a long trip, stop every little

while and let your toddler have a run around.

Pre-schoolers and older children: Count the cars, horses,

bridges or other things along the way. Guess how many

you’ll see before the next town, Sing some favourite

songs. You can even try to make up some new verses for

them, Play guessing games – for example, ‘I'm thinking of

an animal that’s big and grey’.

It is that yummy time of year when there is lots of nicely wrapped chocolate scattered around our home. Instead of throwing out the foil, recycle it. It doesn’t matter if it has been unwrapped neatly or torn it can all be used.

Materials needed: Easter foil wrapping, Permanent Marker, Clear contact, Scissors.

Collect all of your left over foil wrapping.

Before peeling off the back of the contact ask your child for some picture ideas. Draw it for them on the non-sticky side with permanent marker.

Peel off the backing and show your child how to stick the foil onto the contact. Allow them to finish their artwork.

Once they finished stick another piece of contact over the back or stick it onto a piece of cardboard ready to display.

Hint: Print of an outline and trace it onto the contact.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

It is our duty of care to ensure that we are prepared to

act quickly and responsibly in the event of all

emergency situation types. To do this effectively we

need your help.

If any of the following information has changed since

enrolment / re-enrolment (January) please contact us

as soon as possible:

Your address & contact details

Authorised emergency contacts

Emergency contact phone numbers

Any changes to your child/children’s health

information

Authorised persons given permission to collect

your child / children

Persons authorised to consent (or administer) to

medical treatment

Authorised Educator/s to take the child outside the

education and care service premises

Details of any court / parenting orders

Thank you.

Email:

Phone number:

How can we

make your

newsletter

even better?

What

information

would you like

us to include?

Attunga Cottage CCC

Ph: 0295341625

attungacottage@gmail.com

Update Children’s information

Just a reminder that the Centre will be closed

for the long weekend on Friday 3rd April and

Monday 6th April. We will be open and

operating throughout the school break as

usual.

Don’t forget to bring along your family

portraits for our family tree. We are also

inviting children to bring along a photo of

their bedrooms as part of a story program the

children have been participating in for our

room display. More information can be found

on our facebook page.

We’re madly going through our policies as

part of our annual review. We are hoping to

have made our way through them all by July

this year. If you have any suggestions

regarding our centre policies please let us

know.

Full policy details can be found online at

www.attungacottage.com.au and in our

centre policy manual located above the

children’s lockers. Please remember that your

feedback is VERY much welcomed!