Westminster School Highlights - October 11, 2024
Westminster Weekly Highlights & What’s Coming Up Next
Mandarin Language Learning Mastering Chinese Characters
This week, our Mandarin lessons focused on developing both vocabulary and writing skills.
The children practiced a fundamental stroke called the horizontal hook (横钩), which is used in the character 买 ("buy").
They concentrated on perfecting this stroke, which helped strengthen their fine motor skills and build confidence in writing Chinese characters.
We also introduced the character 飞 ("fly") to complement our transportation vocabulary from earlier in the week.
The children made the connection that 飞 is used in the word 飞机 ("airplane"), which they had learned previously.
By linking new characters with familiar words, the children not only practiced their writing but also expanded their language comprehension in an engaging and meaningful way.
Next week, we will continue our Mandarin journey by exploring additional transportation-related vocabulary and introducing a few more basic characters.
The children will also practice forming simple sentences, reinforcing their ability to use Mandarin in everyday conversations.
Exploring Emotions: A Visit to the Calming Corner
This week, we focused on helping the children recognize and manage their emotions using our calming corner.
This designated space is equipped with sensory toys like soft-textured items and stress balls to help the children relax and explore their feelings.
We taught them simple strategies such as deep breathing, counting to ten, and gentle movements to help them regulate their emotions.
As the week went on, we noticed the children becoming more comfortable expressing how they felt, whether they were sad, frustrated, or excited.
This practice of self-regulation is an important part of their social and emotional development, helping them build a strong emotional foundation for interacting with others.
Next week, we will introduce new strategies for handling emotions, such as using calming visuals and incorporating music to guide children through relaxation techniques.
We will also focus on building empathy by exploring how different situations can make us feel and discussing ways to support friends when they experience these emotions.
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World Homeless Day: Building Empathy through Understanding
On October 10th, we observed World Homeless Day with a meaningful discussion about homelessness.
The children learned about the challenges faced by people without homes and discussed ways to show kindness and compassion.
To further reinforce this lesson, the children participated in a creative activity where they designed houses using 2D shapes like triangles, squares, and rectangles.
This not only reinforced their understanding of shapes but also allowed them to think about ways to help others in need.
By combining math and art, the children gained a deeper appreciation for empathy and community.
Next week, we will expand on this theme by focusing on community helpers and how people like firefighters, doctors, and teachers support those in need.
The children will learn about these roles and engage in role-playing activities to better understand how they can contribute to their communities.
Mathematics & Creativity: Learning through Shapes
Throughout the week, we focused on 2D shapes as part of our math curriculum.
The children reviewed basic shapes and participated in various hands-on activities to enhance their spatial awareness and creativity.
One of the highlights was when the children built houses for homeless people using different shapes, combining art and math in a creative way.
This activity helped them practice fine motor skills and understand how shapes come together to form structures.
Next week, we will introduce 3D shapes like cubes, cones, and cylinders, exploring how they differ from 2D shapes.
The children will engage in hands-on building projects using these 3D shapes to further develop their spatial thinking and problem-solving skills.
Outdoor Adventure: Fun at Longmoore Park
On Thursday, we had an outdoor adventure at Longmoore Park.
The children enjoyed a picnic, shared snacks, and engaged in lively conversations with their friends.
They also had a blast on the swings and practiced their balancing skills on beams, which helped develop their gross motor skills and coordination.
Next week, we plan to take the children on another nature walk to explore different types of leaves and trees as part of our science exploration.
The children will collect leaves and participate in a leaf-rubbing activity to observe the different textures and patterns found in nature.
We look forward to another exciting week filled with learning, exploration, and growth! Thank you for your continued support.
Our partnership with Little Village
As an early years education and childcare institution, we put great value on helping children in need.
This is why we partnered with Little Village, an organization that helps babies and young children living in poverty all across London.
Want to help us give them the things they need? Donate to Little Village below!
Blue Dragons Weekly Newsletter
Ella Sparkle’s Session
This week, the Blue Dragons were delighted to participate in another special session led by Ella Sparkle, who visits us every week!
She engaged the children with songs, interactive storytelling, and playful activities that captured their attention and brought lots of smiles.
This week, Ella focused on a cultural theme centered around North America. She shared stories about various North American traditions and taught the children fun songs inspired by Native American culture and American folklore.
Through these activities, the children explored North America's diverse culture and learned about different customs and celebrations.
Ella’s sessions are a wonderful way to foster creativity, promote social engagement, and build an appreciation for global diversity—all while having fun!
Circle Time: Bilingual Singing
During circle time, the Blue Dragons sang “Good Morning Mr. Weatherman” in both Mandarin and English.
This activity not only helped build their bilingual language skills but also encouraged them to confidently participate in group singing.
It’s amazing to see how quickly the children are picking up new words in both languages!World
Smile Day: Counting and Creating Smiley Caterpillars
To celebrate World Smile Day, the Blue Dragons participated in a cheerful activity where they counted caterpillars with smiley faces and decorated them.
This activity reinforced their counting skills and gave them an opportunity to express their creativity.
By the end, we had a colorful collection of happy caterpillars, each uniquely decorated by the children.
Wild Animal Day: Exploring Patterns and Matching
In celebration of Wild Animal Day, the children engaged in an animal identification activity using patterns.
They observed the unique stripes and spots of different animals and then matched them with the animal figures in our classroom animal box.
This fun matching game helped develop their pattern recognition and classification skills.
Science Experiment: Sink or Float
The Blue Dragons explored basic science concepts through a hands-on experiment about sinking and floating.
Using everyday objects, the children made predictions about whether each item would sink or float, and then tested their hypotheses.
They were thrilled to see the results and learned new words like “sink” and “float” in both Mandarin and English.
This experiment encouraged curiosity and critical thinking as they explored cause and effect.
Story Time: "Why Should I?"
We wrapped up our week with a special story time featuring the book Why Should I?
This story taught the children about the importance of respect through charming characters like the squirrel (松鼠), fox (狐狸), hedgehog (刺猬), and acorns (橡果).
The story was a wonderful way to reinforce positive behavior and respect for others.
Baby Room
Halloween Preparations: Painting Pumpkins & Friendly Ghosts
This week, we got into the Halloween spirit by introducing pumpkin and ghost painting!
While the activity was lots of fun and full of giggles, it also played an important role in development.
Exploring bright colours and different textures helped the babies build sensory awareness, a foundational skill for cognitive growth.
By feeling the paint and experimenting with how it moves across the paper, the babies enhanced their fine motor skills through grasping and manipulating objects.
These early tactile experiences are crucial for developing future writing and drawing abilities.
Story Time: Peek-a-Boo Halloween
Our weekly story, Peek-a-Boo Halloween, was selected to support your child’s early language and cognitive development.
The interactive book, with its hidden surprises, kept the babies engaged and curious.
Lifting the flaps and revealing characters helped them develop fine motor skills, while also reinforcing the concept of object permanence—the understanding that things continue to exist even when they’re out of sight.
This playful approach to storytelling fosters early cognitive development and keeps story time lively and enjoyable!
Physical Play: Crawling through the Indoor Tunnel
Our indoor tunnel activity wasn’t just about fun—it was a purposeful way to support gross motor development.
Crawling is key for building muscle strength and improving coordination, both of which are vital for more complex movements they’ll master later, like walking and climbing.
The babies also improved their spatial awareness as they navigated the tunnel, learning how their bodies move through space.
Developing these foundational physical skills now will set the stage for future physical activities, from running and jumping to climbing and balancing.
North American Theme: Exploring Transportation
In line with our North American theme, we introduced the babies to different types of transportation, such as cars, trains, and airplanes.
This activity helped build early language skills as the babies began to associate sounds and movements with words like “car” and “train.”
Playing with toy vehicles also engaged their cognitive and problem-solving skills as they observed how objects move and change direction.
This hands-on play stimulates their curiosity and enhances their ability to connect words with objects and actions, which is crucial for language development and understanding basic concepts like cause and effect.
Makaton Sign of the Week: “Sitting Down”
This week, we focused on the Makaton sign for “sitting down” during circle time.
Teaching simple signs supports early communication by giving the babies a visual way to express their needs before they can speak fluently.
Using Makaton reduces frustration, encourages positive social interactions, and helps the babies feel understood.
By practicing these signs, they are also building their memory and learning the structure of daily routines—important skills that provide a sense of security and help them communicate more effectively.
Important Reminders for Parents
Halloween Party
Our Halloween party will be held on October 31st from 4:45 PM to 5:30 PM. We welcome everyone to dress up and join us for a spooktacular evening of fun!
Buggy Storage Update
Please ensure you fold your buggies to create space for others.
The church will be conducting maintenance on their site, which will require access to their premises through our garden.
The scaffolding will be installed at the back of our garden but isolated from the main playing area.
Please rest assured that the area will be secured and isolated from the children’s playground.
We have conducted a thorough risk assessment, and daily safety checks will be performed by the nursery and the church personnel. There will be no additional risks to the children during this time.