Tigger’s Montessori Preschool

NEWSLETTER

Art Expo – Friday the 30th October 2015.

Tickets on sale now from reception, please purchase

separate to fees.

Note gold coin to purchase art items on the night.

Donations for spot prizes welcomed. See Tammy at

reception.

Term Four

General Parent Information and Reminders

Spring has arrived and the vegetable gardens and flower

pots plante4d by our Tigger’s Children are taking on a new

lease of life. The in dement weather over the past couple of

months has certainly presented ‘it’s’ challenges. Thank you

to all the parents who consistently send a selection of spring

clothes, warmer jackets etc. and all clearly named. It makes

it so much easier as we change to “take off and put on”

jackets several times each day. Some of the temperature

changes recently have been sudden and staff and children

have had to move very fast to beat the big black clouds and

sudden showers. It is great to have children able to dress

themselves quickly and you have all obviously enjoyed the

technique the staff have used to teach each and every child

how to put on and take their jackets off, quite an old

Montessori lesson leading the children to independence and

self-sufficiency. Many thanks to all the families who have

given us such positive feedback particularly relating to your

child’s development, skills learned, independence and

curriculum growth and knowledge. It is very exciting for us

to hear how well our pupils do when they progress onto

Public and Private Primary schools alike. Always remember

if you have anything you wish to ask, inform us of or discuss,

please come immediately to your classroom

Supervisor/Team leader, staff member or even manager and

owners. Many questions can be answered immediately if

Important dates to Remember

Term 4 Starts – 12th October 2015

Term 4 ends- from 16th to 18th December.

Labor Day – Monday the 26th October (school closed)

Canterbury Anniversary Day – Friday the 13th November – (school closed)

you direct them to the informed source. Via the Tigger’s Staff

Lockers – Please remember to choose a number on the whiteboard and

select the corresponding locker for your child’s belongings, Take note

the numbering system is the number located at the top of the locker.

Equipment Purchases – To let you know all that we contribute. We

have purchased extra new tables, a climbing box and ladder for the

Nursery, A large range of Dramatic play with cots and prams etc.,

puzzles, construction blocks and I PADS. We also have an ever growing

supply and demand in art and stationary supplies to keep the children’s

creative experiences growing with Art Expo preparations. Also staff

Montessori professional development.

If you are booked at 9am your need to arrive on time, and pick up to

your booked times for staffing ratios, if you arrive or collect outside

these times, our system will charge additional fees.

Staffing - Welcome to Danielle who is working for us in the Junior and

Prep Rooms as a teacher aid. Sisco is with us Full time in the Prep school

and loving it she will start her teacher training in the New Year.

Ashleigh joins the prep Room team Full time, following on from her

student placement, she will obtain her diploma of teaching at

graduation in December. Also Millie comes back to the Tigger’s

teaching team in a reliever and support role since moving back to

Christchurch from Auckland. Millie has a diploma of teaching and

Montessori Book 1.

Sept/ Oct

2015

Ballet - Ballet has started on Wednesday afternoon with Kim

taking a small group of children into the Discovery Room. If you are

interested in your child doing ballet next term please register your interest

with Sarah or Kim to obtain a flyer with full information. During ballet

classes your child is welcome to bring ballet shoes but please remember

we do not require ballet costumes as this cuts into valuable teaching time.

Programme Planning – Under the Sea.

The children have been really busy making lots of

Art work for the Under the Sea Art Exhibition This Month. This

has been evident during mat times as the children have been

learning new songs and taking part in lots of stories about sea

creatures. The discovery room has been a busy place learning

about all the different animals that live in the sea, also what

Classroom Happening’s

News form the Kahikatea Room……We have had a very busy

few weeks in our classroom. We finished our theme on Asia and have since

moved onto Under the Sea. I think the shark is our favorite animal followed

closely by the octopus!! Oops not to mention the sea horse! We have loved

learning about the sea and its wonderful creatures. We have painted shells

and use them and the sea creatures to create a gorgeous hands on sea

scene on a mat. It’s interesting to see what each child creates and we have

noticed no scene is ever the same!!

We are focusing on phonetic sounds letters make and every day are using

the sandpaper letters in either a group or one on one activity. The children

are excited when they learn a new sound and are eager to see what words

they can think of that begin with the sound. This particular group work is not

As the weather gets warmer we will be applying sunblock for outdoor play. Please ensure that your child is sun blocked

before arriving to preschool in the morning, we will reapply after lunch. The $5.00 annual sunblock fee will be invoiced and payable on school fees. Many thanks.

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Takahe/ Prep Room

things we can eat form the sea. To the murky dark depths of

the midnight zone.

Technology

We have two new I pads in the Takahe Room to support the

children’s learning, we use these to enquire, discover and learn

alongside your child. Having ICT in early childhood can assist

with your child’s cognitive learning, language development,

mathematical thinking and literacy. The discovery room is a

tool for active exploration where your child can find out the

how, what and why of their inquisitive minds. This interactive

reciprocal learning is enabling thinking and reasoning for your

child while creating strong learning foundations

compulsory but encouraged. Some children will join in

enthusiastically, others will watch and some will choose to work on

their own individual activity. Any of these choices are respected.

We have also started on our work for the art exhibition. The

children in the Kahikatea room are producing 3 pieces of art each

and we have chosen to do our own interpretation of the paintings

of 3 famous artists- Matisse, Monet and Van Gogh.

As always any questions about our programme in this class are

very welcome and please encourage your child to bring you in for a

look around. They are very proud of their room.

Tracey R

Our classroom Happenings.

A huge welcome to our

new and transitioned children and their families, Blake,

Arianna, Zoe, Lewis, Michelle and Jason. We are glad to

see you have settled very well into the Kea Room and

becoming familiar with the routines and programme. This

is all about trying new experiences that help your to find

an area of interest and comfort in a new space.

We say good bye to Mya, Annabel and Olivia who have

now transitioned to the Takahe Room. They have settled

very well into the Takahe Room and are already gaining

lots of new skills. All the best.

We Also say good bye to one of our Junior Room teachers

Emily as she has decided to take on new challengesin her

career in real estate, part time work and study. We wish

Emily all the very best of luck in her new endeavours.

Kim is now working with the Junior Room team every day

from 9-3.30, both children and families will lover her calm

and nurturing nature.

Please be mindful that if your child is enrolled to

attend at 9am in the Junior Room that your child has

arrived five minutes early in order to be prepared for mat

time at 9am. This is important in order to ensure that all

children are engaged in mat time and ready to start the

day.

As the weather gets warmer we will be

applying sunblock for outdoor play. Please ensure that your

child is sun blocked before arriving to preschool in the morning,

we will reapply after lunch. The $5.00 annual sunblock fee will

be invoiced and payable on school fees. Many thanks.

Page 3 Kea/Junior Room

PROGRAMMING FOCUS

In the Kea room our aim is guiding the children with their

independence to complete self-help tasks such as putting

their dishes away, washing hands and faces and feeding

themselves. Once the introductory steps are mastered the

children are able and encouraged to participate in group

experiences such as art, Montessori, music and mat times.

Ensuring these skill levels are mastered, the children are

up and flying towards broader skills, that enhance

cognitive, language and a task focused mind set capable

to function with independence in the Prep Room

environment. The Kea room are building blocks or steps

to mastering lifelong learning.

This month in our topic focus we are learning and

exploring about “under the sea” We have been

implementing this theme into our daily mat times, music

and art sessions. We encourage all the children to share

their knowledge, experiences and skills during these times

to support their verbal and communication skills. The

children have compared different sea creatures and their

specific attributes with visual images and 3D objects.

Discovered where they live and the different materials

and resources that exist in their ocean and beach habitats.

This links well to our preparations of the “Art Expo”.

Policy Review Every month the Centre reviews our policies

through staff meeting and are forwarded to you

via email for comment, even if agreed we require

your feed back

Our Focuses of the month

October

Shape: Triangle Colour: Green

Number: 5 Letter: Z

Nau mai, haere

mai – We welcome our new children who have started

with us at Nursery over the past two months, Rodger,

Sophie, Edie and Levi. We say Ka Kite to our two year old

friends who are moving to the junior room, Ariana, Blake

and Zoe Cleave.

Programming Focus

Over the past month we have been exploring our body,

learning how to move, how to dance using different

actions, creating art with our hands and feet and it has

been fantastic to have parent’s home perspective

shining through in our wall displays. Many of our

younger children have been developing their gross

motor skills and it has been very exciting watching

children’s milestones being achieved such as rolling,

crawling, sitting and walking. Thank you to the families

that have also contributed to our “ celebrating

milestones” display, it has been lovely to see photos of

extended family, birthday celebrations and first steps

or sitting photos from your home environments.

WE have noticed a strong interest towards role playing

and doll play with many of our children actively

exploring the kitchen utensils, pretend food, doll

accessories and table and chairs. We have set up a

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Wax Eye / Nursery

special pretend play area that has been a hot spot for

many and it is very rewarding watching this meaningful

learning unfold.

We are still waiting for some missing

photos to complete our whanau tree. This display

supports your child’s sense of belonging within our

Nursery environment. Thanks, Laura, Arnica and Penny

Reminder:

- Please make sure all of your children’s belongings,

bottles and food containers are clearly labeled.

- Please ensure that your child has a spare change of

clothes clearly labelled packed in their bag each day.

With wet bags available to place wet and soiled clothing

- in.

As the weather gets warmer we will be applying

sunblock for outdoor play. Please ensure that your child is

sun blocked before arriving to preschool in the morning, we

will reapply after lunch. The $5.00 annual sunblock fee will

be invoiced and payable on school fees. Many thanks.

Thank you for your support, Laura Arnica and Penny

From Http://www.behindthemixer.com

Nursery News