Rātu - Tuesday 31st August

Kia ora koutou, the last day of winter is upon us. We haven't had any visits from Jack Frost recently, perhaps he has run away in search of another winterland. Lady Spring's presence is in the air and in the gardens, we will hear more about Lady Spring tomorrow.

This morning I overheard Dotty and Atticus chatting away, Atticus was asking his older sister if it was still Covid. Dotty told him that she thought it was, they then went on to say that it felt like the longest day ever and felt like it was never going to end. They're pretty good wee mates, which is lucky, they are missing their friends dearly and I can't imagine how much more they would be feeling it if they didn't have each other.

Yesterday a parent told me that her child had a video call playdate with a classmate, we are so lucky that we live in an age where these options are available to us. Last week another parent told me of her child climbing a ladder daily to chat to the neighbour children. Remember that the social connection, and feeling connected to others is so important for our wee ones who perhaps don't fully understand why they can't see their friends. He aha te mea nui o te ao? What is the most important thing in the world? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. It is the people, it is the people, it is the people. This has always been one of my favourite whakataukī, and one that is a good reminder in this time.

A reminder that I have no expectations on what you achieve or how much work you do that I've set. These are simply ideas you can use if you need inspiration or following the lead of a child who wants some school work for routine or to engage. I'm hearing so many fantastic stories of what you are doing at home and I don't want anyone to feel the pressure to 'home school', remember a lot of our day at school is still free play. I'm not expecting any evidence of you doing the work I set, however if you manage to take some photos are have the time and head space available to send me an email, I do love hearing from you.

Literacy

How many things can you find in your home, garden, or neighbourhood that start with the same letter as your first name?

Sing the alphabet song and record the letters, focus on the letters facing the correct way. Can you sing it backwards? We have done this at school with the aid of our alphabet pictures around the wall. Can you sing it using the letter sounds instead of the letter names? Maybe if you are super fancy you could try and add the actions for each letter too?

Maths

Practice counting in 2s, 5s, 10s, how high can you count? Practice counting backwards, can you start at a higher number than when you tried last week?

Can you find items in your house to add? Maybe in your fruit bowl? 5 bananas plus 3 apples for example.

Painting

Usually on a Tuesday afternoon while half the class is at Handwork I paint with the other half of the class. Perhaps you could do some painting if you have some paints, paper and brushes.

If you don't have any paint, maybe you have the materials for this next activity...

Sun catchers

Materials:

Coloured construction paper*

Oil - any type, baby oil, cooking oil, I used rice bran oil

Cotton buds

Scissors

*I found some coloured construction paper in the garage that was mine when I was a child. If you don't happen to be staying with your mother who has been hoarding your childhood art supplies for 20 years you may not have any.... If you don't have coloured paper, plain paper coloured with pencil (not crayon as it will coat it with a waxy layer that the oil won't be able to penetrate) may work.

Method

1. Cut paper to desired shape. As I was doing this with young children I left them quite big, you could try circles as they look fantastic when finished and hung. Tip - if making a circle you can use a bowl to trace around, this takes the guess work out of forming a perfect circle.

2. Dip your cotton bud into the oil and draw on the paper with it. If doing a circle, a pattern that starts in the centre looks really nice, imagine the snow flake cut outs we made. The oil does spread and soak into the paper quite a bit, keep this in mind when making your designs.

3. Let them dry.

4. Hang your creations in the window and see the glorious light shining through.