Happy Kids Newsletter 2014 October

Happy News
October 2014
Dear Parents,
A very warm welcome to another
exciting year of fun and learning
at HAPPY KIDS! The new school
year is well under way and it
seems incredible that we are
already planning our Santa and
Christmas programs!
This year we are delighted to
welcome many new faces to
Happy Kids from countries such
as Panama, Russia India and
China.
We also offer a warm welcome
to our new British teacher
Naomi Jones who is with the
Brilliant Pandas group.
Many parents have commented
on the large variety of sports
activities running at the moment
at HAPPY KIDS! Our various
sports
and
after
school
activities
include
Judo,
Bullyproof, swimming, skiing,
dance / ballet, Kindermusik
chess, art and piano. I sincerely
believe we have some of the
best instructors in Budapest
providing
an
outstanding
program for our children – of
course all in English.
Our ski-ing program starts in
December and will run each
week through to the HAPPY
KIDS Ski Week at the end of
February. The ski-ing will take
place at the Fogarasi Ski School
in X11 Költő utca. This is a
synthetic ski slope set in a
beautiful location within the
forest. Our 3 English speaking
instructors are well qualified
and very experienced with
teaching young children to ski.
Finally, we hope you enjoy
reading the individual class
activities and general news.
Please record the important
diary dates listed on the last
page.
We do look forward to a happy,
successful school year and we
greatly value your confidence in
entrusting the development of
your child to Happy Kids!
With best wishes,
Peter + Suzy Jones
Happy Hippos
Dear Parents,
Well, let me start with telling you what
great pleasure we feel seeing our Happy
Hippos spending their time happily in the
Kindergarten. They all smoothly settled in
the group and they are also on the way to
learning the daily routine. They are
practicing how to sit together and greet
each other at our Circle Time. They all
know when and where to wash hands and
brush teeth, how to get to the Music
Room and how to take their plates back
to the trolley after eating. They have
befriended the specialist teachers and
they are interested and motivated to join
the activities that we do.
Our First Unit of Inquiry ”Who Am I?”
gave us the chance to talk about
ourselves. We named our body parts and
sang the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees
and Toes". We looked at family pictures
to see who our family members are. We
discussed that we all live in houses and
we named the parts of a house. We used
flash cards and pictures on the bulletin
board to learn more about the topic. We
made many crafts related to the theme.
We painted and pasted houses, we were
matching, sorting, and counting. We
painted big cardboard boxes to make
houses and garages so the children could
play with them as small world models
using little cars and Duplo men.
We celebrated Harvest together by
baking a coconut cake and having a feast
in the garden. The Harvest Clown was not
too popular in our group but the children
were happy to run out to the garden
party instead. We also celebrated the
Swedish Cinnamon Bun Day with the help of Ottilia’s Mommy who made
some delicious buns for us with the assistance of Ottilia! Thank You!
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Seeing how nature is changing around us
with the new season we made many
enjoyable autumn arts and crafts – some
of them with Zsófi, the art teacher;
thanks for them!
We used different techniques to picture
what colours the leaves are taking during
this season and how they are falling
from the trees. The children had a
chance to paint with brushes, sponges,
rollers, stamps and even with their
fingers, and they tried to paste with
glue sticks and liquid glue.
We were very proud of our first Rolli
Polli session being extremely successful.
All the Hippos were very brave to travel
on the bus leaving Happy Kids behind and
were listening nicely to their teachers.
They loved the Rolli Polli gym, had so
much fun climbing, crawling, jumping,
running, and bouncing.
They are always excited to spend their
time in the garden bouncing on the
trampoline, playing football or swinging.
They also love to play in the Mud
Kitchen. They are filling, stirring,
pouring, transferring the mud with great
enthusiasm, they never seem to get
bored of being busy there!
And yes, we celebrate together our first
Birthday: Natália! Happy Birthday, dear
Natika!
As the Autumn break starts soon let us
wish you a relaxing holiday filled with
fun and joy and see you back after the
break!
With love
Ivett and Dóri
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Marvellous Meerkats
Dear Parents,
We had a very busy September, with lots of
fun activities!! We would like to welcome
again all our big Marvellous Meerkats!! It is
always nice to see all the children settling in
and getting used to our routines and coming
to school with a big smile on their faces.
We have attended the first school assembly
and the children were all very bravely
singing and showing the movements of ”Oats
and Beans and Barley Grow”. Harvest Day
was great fun, our class made a fruit cake
for all the children in the school and when
we went to the garden, we also ate all the
yummy treats we prepared together for all
the classes in Happy Kids.
Our art sessions with Zsófi have begun
the children made lovely pictures and
projects that are always displayed on
corridor walls. Marina entertained us all
made the children sing and dance during
music lessons.
and
art
the
and
her
During circle time activities we talked about
the weather and the changes that autumn
brings to our life. We learned about the
colour of the leaves on the trees (green,
yellow, orange, brown, gold and red) and
even learned a rhyme about those leaves
“Four Little Leaves”. We did quite a few
counting activities – counting leaves,
walnuts, our fingers and all the children who
were present at circle time.
In the mornings the children worked
individually with the teachers – they were
practicing proper pencil grip, cutting,
colouring in, painting and tracing to help
their pre-writing skills. They are all very
enthusiastic about this. Please, do keep on
coming in early so they do not miss out on
these precious morning activities!!
4
We are planning to introduce Jolly Phonics,
learning the sounds of the following letters
with the action that go with those: s, a, t.
When everybody knows it really well, they
will make their own book about the letters
and letter sounds and they will take it
home to teach all their parents how to
make the sounds of those letters properly
.
We sang many different songs during our
sessions. The most popular ones were: “The
Scarecrow”, “Row your boat”, “Everybody
Clap” and “Jelly on the Plate” songs.
The kids also love books, so we read a few
stories they really enjoyed listening to:
“Where’s my Teddy?”, “Caps for Sale”,
“Little Red Riding Hood” and “How Do
Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?”
Our field trip to the Zoo Playhouse was
also really amazing, the children were little
angels, and of course, they did not want to
leave the place!!!
As for our physical education: pony riding
is very popular among the kids and they
also enjoy Noushe’s P.E. classes on
Mondays.
We are looking forward to seeing you all on
the Parent-Teacher Conferences- so we
can tell you more about the children and
their recent achievements!!
Regards,
Kata and Juci
5
Jolly Giraffes
Dear Jolly Giraffe Parents,
Welcome to the end of the first term
here at Happy Kids! Where did the time
go? It seems that we were just getting
to know each other yesterday, and yet
here we are. So much has happened and
we’ve done so much. Making new friends,
learning and having fun together has
made the time pass so quickly.
Academically, we have been working hard
on our math folders each morning. It’s a
nice way to get into the school mood for
the day. We come into the room and sit
down with Jason or Réka and calm
ourselves with some numbers, practicing
counting, shapes and writing numbers.
Our Unit of Inquiry for this time has
been entitled All About Me and we have
covered a number of topics under this
heading. We have been focusing on the
parts of our bodies and learning rhymes
to help us remember. We practiced
different ways we can move our bodies
with special dancing and going on a bear
hunt. We tried out sounds we can make
and using our bodies to imitate animals
with a special story about the Bremen
Town Musicians. We talked about how we
grow, what we need to do to grow big and
strong, and went on a shopping trip to get
good things for us to eat. Lastly, we
talked about families: who is in our family
and who we might be in the family
someday.
Autumn came slowly but when it arrived
the weather was almost nicer than the
summer! As the seasons began to change
we celebrated the coming Harvest with
our assembly where we showed off a few songs and rhymes we learned
in class. The clown who came to entertain us was really funny and
afterward we went to the garden to share the apple pie we made with
everyone.
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The weather continued to be so nice we were
able to spend time in the garden collecting
walnuts and chestnuts until our pockets were
bursting. It was not long before we were
celebrating our first birthdays! Noémi and
Moos both turned 4 within just a few days of
each other and there was lots of cake for us
to enjoy. We so love celebrating these special
events with each other. Despite being so busy
with all of the above, we still managed to make
time for a little pony riding and our first trip
to Rolli Polli, which everyone really enjoyed.
We ended the term with our assembly
honoring autumn where we sang about
the birds that migrate and those that
stay – don’t forget to feed them! Lastly,
we enjoyed an outing together in some
super autumn weather before saying
good bye for a short break.
We all really hope that you have a nice
relaxing time away from Happy Kids and
the rest of the Jolly Giraffes. We’ll miss you but Réka and Jason will
be waiting for you when you return from your adventures to continue
learning and growing together!
Hooray for Giraffes!
Réka and Jason
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Friendly Frogs
Dear Parents,
A very warm welcome to all of you as we
start the new school year.
After
getting to know each other and the new
environment, we have settled down very
well to our new routines and are enjoying
exploring all the wonderful possibilities
our room has to offer, as well as
exploring the huge outdoor space, and
making the most of the wonderful
weather!
The Friendly Frogs have already
celebrated Arseny’s birthday; thanks
for the cake and special treats from
Russia. We had a great party!
At the start of the term we focused on
our Unit of Inquiry and areas of P.S.E
and social studies. The children came up
with different rules and responsibilities
for each area of our kindergarten life
together. They came up with several key
rules that will help us function more
effectively as a group in the classroom.
You can see them hanging up outside the
class.
In the morning when the children first
arrive, we are working on individual
development. We have been working on
pencil grip and control and jolly phonics
letter sounds. On the Math table, the
children have been looking at same and
different, numbers to ten, shapes, and
things that don’t belong to a group. We
can already see a huge improvement in
the children’s abilities.
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The children had a great time at
the zoo playhouse. It was a great
place to go for our first class
trip, and the children were
encouraged to play with children
they don’t usually play with.
Please remember to bring back
library books on Thursday, it is
very difficult for children to
understand that they can’t take a
new book home because they have
left the old one at home. Please
also remember to send in the
swimming kit on Fridays. We do
not have time to call you five
minutes before we get on the bus
to remind you.
There are quite a few virus’ being passed around the
kindergarten, please respect our policy and keep your child at
home for a couple of days if they are suffering from a bad cough
or have a runny nose. Don’t forget to send in warmer clothes for
after the break, just in case it gets cooler.
Have a wonderful Autumn break, and we look forward to seeing
you back on the 27th of October.
Alex, Anikó and Nelly
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Brilliant Pandas
Dear Parents,
Welcome to a new year in the
Brilliant Pandas class! We hope we
have a very fun filled and special
year ahead of us. So much has
happened already that we are very
excited to tell our families about.
We have welcomed some new friends
in the class; they settled in well and
have learned our routine. We have
already had quite a few birthdays;
we celebrated Hédi’s birthday with
an entertainer who played many cool
games with us. We had Mihaela’s
birthday and Chrysoula’s and Maria’s
birthday. We have many more to
come!
We started the year off by
exploring the different ways we can
communicate as is outlined in our
Unit of Inquiry. We looked at how
we can communicate effectively in
our
classroom
community
and
brainstormed
some
classroom
agreements during our center time
which will promote tolerance and
cooperation within our class. We
talked about ourselves during circle
time and shared our interests and
feelings. This is always important at
the start of the year so we can get
to know more about each other.
We have established the TRIBES
Learning Community in our classroom
this year. We are the Bamboo, Giant Pandas, Red Pandas and
Mountains groups.
The TRIBES programme creates a positive
environment in our classroom and has made learning a cultural and a
social experience. Not only has this made the children feel welcome
and accepted by their peers but also they are actively involved in their
individual learning and this has helped them develop independence and
confidence.
10
We are making very good headway
in our jolly phonics folders. Most
of the children have moved onto
learning the group two and three
letter sounds and we have started
blending on the Smart Board at
circle time. We are very pleased to
announce that most of the children
can blend three letter words and
have understood the concept fully.
Our Harvest festival was a huge success.
We made yummy
sandwiches to share with the school in the garden along with other
goodies from other classes. We had a clown come in to surprise us
with many tricks and fun entertainment. And we had the chance to
try some freshly pressed grape juice in the garden, which we loved
very much. It was certainly a relaxing morning in the garden.
Last week was our first field trip of the year. We went to Skanzen
which is a historical outdoor museum displaying the way people lived in
the 19th century. The children had the chance to explore the houses
and the artifacts that people used in those days. We went on the
train and had a lovely picnic on the grass. We were lucky with the
weather that day!
Our extra-curricular activities are going really well. The children
know what activities they do and are learning how to get ready for
them. Swimming has been a success with all the children; they love to
be in the water!
We hope you have a wonderful and relaxing autumn break.
Thank you,
Ranji, Pari & Naomi
11
Cheeky Monkeys
Dear Parents,
A very warm welcome to all our
“Cheeky Monkeys” families, especially
to our new ones. We look forward to
getting to know you and your children.
By now, we all settled in and are off to
a great start to the year. We have had
a lot of celebrations already – the
harvest assembly and Marianna’s
birthday party. Thank you Moms for
making the day special for all of us.
We had a great time preparing
cupcakes for our Harvest Festival.
Only a few weeks later we had our
Autumn Assembly which took place in
our gym. We were very proud to
present something different – a dance
with all our friends in the classroom.
On the 19th of September we went to
our first field trip to the Merkapt
Maraton Sports Centre. Our Cheeky
Monkeys were able to try out
different sports and meet famous
athletes.
We have started our TRIBES
program. The outcome of the TRIBES
process is to develop a positive
environment that promotes children’s
growth and learning. We have been
having “Community Circle” and it has
now become an essential part of our
day where we discuss concepts such as
listening attentively, being respectful
and not using put downs.
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We have also made four tribes
(Baboons, Chimpanzees, Orangutans
and Gorillas). Hopefully, this will build
better social inclusion, tolerance,
respect and cooperation within our
class.
Language
and
Arts had
been
integrated into our Unit of Inquiry
entitled “Take and Give”. The children
learned through discussions and
project work why people feel and
think differently; how this can lead to
conflict and how they can appreciate
the
perspectives
of
others.
Throughout the year they will
continue
to
deepen
their
understanding how differences can be
resolved and how bullying can be
prevented.
Thank you all for coming to our Opening
Party. Also, we hope to see you all at the
Parent Teacher Conferences.
Have a wonderful Autumn break!
Kind Regards,
Ms.Petra, Ms. Marianna and Ms. Noushe
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Diary Dates
Autumn break
20-24 October
Happy Kids will be closed!
1st day back: Monday, 27 October
Halloween Party
Friday, 31 October
Parent-Teacher Conferences
3-14 November
Please sign up for individual times!
American Thanksgiving Assembly
Thursday, 27 November
St. Nicolas Day
Friday, 5 December
Santa will visit each class!
Christmas/Hanukkah Party
Monday, 15 December
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