Our classroom looks different

Today we settled back into our routine and enjoyed a regular day in Petals Class. Some of our friends went upstairs for a trial day in Flowers Class as they potentially will move up in January 2017. We were happy to see them in the park and then they came back to Petals Class for lunch and rest time. We know that we are growing and changing and our teachers can see this too. Maybe some new friends will come to Petals Class next year.

We completed all of our Christmas cards for the people in Tohoku and we pasted a message inside each card. We made a few more extra cards and will wait for them to dry before we add the final message to them. We hope that our friends in Tohoku will enjoy receiving the Christmas stockings and cards that we will send to them. Christmas is a special time of year for most people and we hope that our thoughts and gifts will make a difference and bring joy to some people, even though we don’t know them.

We are becoming prolific puzzle doers and today, our teachers added a few new ones to the ones that we could choose from. Today’s more difficult ones had 49 pieces and Barbara attempted to do a 54 piece one. We sometimes need our teachers to help start us off and then we can do them all by ourselves. Some of us can concentrate for a long time and this helps when we are being challenged; staying focused on tasks is something that we are learning all the time.

While Shelley was talking to two families, we played some fun games on the mat with Hisami and Liezel. We also noticed that our classroom is different. Yesterday our teachers changed it around because they needed a large space for the clothes for Shichigosan. They decided, instead of changing the room back to what it was, to leave it and see how we play in the “new” space. It was interesting because in the beginning, when we wanted to read books, we took the books and went to sit on the carpet with the cushions. However, after snack time, out of habit, we went to sit in the area in front of the library, even though the carpet and cushions were on the other side. During one of our circle times, Griffin was able to show us where the furniture had been and where it was today. We quite like the change and are happy if our teachers leave the class as it is for a while. They created open spaces in two areas that are diagonally opposite one another and in the other two spaces, there are carpets.

YeonJae did a drawing of her family. She pointed out each person and said who they were. She drew herself, oppa, daddy, mummy, grandpa and someone who she didn’t know. We read Alona’s Wheels of the Bus story book and we had to listen really carefully because you could hear the wheels of the bus song, really quietly. The song was inside the book. When we changed the calendar, Scarlett was able to recognize many words that start with the same “sound” as her name. She found sunny, stormy and snowy. We sang “Do, a dear” and did the scales on the piano……

Hisami also showed us a Japanese game called “Ayatori” using a piece of string. She made it into many patterns just with her hands and fingers. In fact, she made Tokyo Tower……wow, we were amazed because it really looked like Tokyo Tower.

 Thanks for a fun day in Petals Class.

All the children in Petals Class.