Christmas Party

This year the rain paid us a visit and kept us indoors for our picnic and Fairy Claire experience, but good humor and the sense of Christmas cheer truly rained down on us whilst we ate food and spent time with our families. As I moved throughout the building; hearing laughter, sharing food and talking I was reminded about our sense of family and closeness we all share and how nice it is every year when we take the opportunity to really share this sense of togetherness as whanau.

The children were delighted as we were, and it reminded me to cherish the moments we share like these, as Elizabeth Kubler Ross once said, “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” This was a day to see families shining together.
So again thanks again to all those who came and celebrated Christmas with us.
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Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone." ~ Charles Schulz (1922-2000),
American cartoonist 'Peanuts'

Save the month of Feb and March for …

Parent / Teacher Interviews (Feb/March)
Time to discuss your child’s development and progress throughout the holidays.

Parents Evening (February)
This will be a time to meet you teachers and get reacquainted with the centre and those in it.

Schooling with your afternoon tea

Yesterday our Tui room met with 3 teachers from various schools in the district, and alongside a few interested families, discussed the expectations schools have of new entrants as they arrive into their fantastic schools.
This is something that every so often we revisit as we embark into new territory of education, government and social expectations within New Zealand. We are confident that we are sharing a love for learning as our curriculum states we should be (Te Whäriki, 1996) and our passion for investigation drives many of us to encounter literacy and tenacity with challenges but it is something we feel is important enough to make a connection with every so often.
In our January newsletter we will include the information gained from the experience as we translate it into our philosophy and style of education if we have not yet already. Stay tuned and thanks again to those who attended so full of interest.

There is no use trying, said Alice; one can't believe impossible things. I dare say you haven't had much practice, said the Queen. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
Lewis Carroll

City Mission

This year we have all been very grateful for the fantastic generosity you all shared as we collected toys and food for the city mission this year. We will be giving the last of the donations on Friday 18thnd if anyone still has items to bring in. I have been overwhelmingly proud of the superb collection and would love to say that from all of us here at Bear Park and on behalf of the City Mission thank you all so very much.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
Elizabeth Kubler Ross

Spare Clothes

Many of us have been noticing that we need you to include more clothes in your child’s bags please. Between this all changing weather, water play and general daycare life we are finding there just aren’t enough changes so, could you please send more clothes in your child’s bags, especially t-shirts, shorts, skirts etc.

Our journey of ELP is now over… or more likely it has become within us.

This year we were lucky enough to again be a part of the Educational Leadership Project (Government incentive for professional development within Early Childhood New Zealand). “We often narrow our understanding of literacy to visual. How else might we promote a literacy environment within our society” was our question and this spanned over 9 months this year starting at 106 Remuera Road. All the classes took a slightly different approach based on needs and interests within the context of the class and we finally presented this Tuesday 8th Dec. Some of you may have known about this and may be interested in our findings so I thought it appropriate to share.
Discoveries were; literacy is found in more places than we ever perceived. The use of communication technologies with children and families were a huge learning for us. We lent towards discovering how to implement and use these with our children. It is them who are now living in and growing up into a digitally native lifestyle.
Large books and wall display’s became the norm and this was well received by all. Using ICT technologies became a way of transmitting information with the children and families as the parents in the Tui room soon discovered at our last parents evening (6th October) with the PowerPoint the children and teachers collated in their request for a bird house to be constructed. Trusting the children has been a finding. We all thought we were competent, however truly trusting them meant giving the children workable devices that would react to touch as they do so for us. Sharing ourselves more in a personal level was also important as we got further down to the children’s levels and spent more time preparing provocations throughout the centre. This not only inspired but also encouraged small groups to share dialogue in whatever means possible. This made it more possible for us for us to also capture and record these interactions and support them however we could. Sometimes including learning a variety of languages such as Mandarin, baby-sign, and yoga, to name but a few.
These are just a few of the ways we have grown and changed in our thinking towards literacy and we will continue to do so as stronger advocates for children’s literacy challenges. We hope also that in sharing these beliefs we too have challenged the way you look at literacy in your child’s life.

“I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a glance of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest a moment for with freedom come responsibilities and I dare not linger for my long walk is not yet ended.” Nelson Mandela.

Fantails Away

Jillian and Cherie will both be away for the last week of December, Jillian will be heading home for Christmas to be with her family. Cherie is heading to the magical Thailand for Christmas, her birthday and New Years. We wish you both a wonderful time and safe return for our first week back in January 2010.
Working in the Fantails next week will be Bridget and Abi all week long with Gemma returning for Monday, Claire Tuesday and Vanessa on Wednesday. These are all people who regularly spend time in the Fantail room so this should not pose any difficulties for the children or families involved in those 3 days.

Sign in and out

Many of you lately have been failing to sign your children in and out, this makes it a possibly dangerous situation should we have a fire or even fire drill when it is time to practice our getting out, keeping safe skills. Please try and work this into your routine in the morning and at the end of the day, as it is also a requirement from the Ministry of Education. Thanks so much for your cooperation we appreciate your efforts.

December is a great month for taking home your child’s portfolios. Please enjoy them over the Christmas period and add as many pieces of interest or photos and stories you like. We love returning and sharing all our fun adventures we’ve had over the Christmas break.

Closing and Opening Dates

As many of you have read we close over the Christmas period from Wednesday 23rd December at 12 pm and reopen for the children and families on Tuesday 12th January. During this time you will not be charged any fees. We look forward to seeing you all again next year with your safe and happy return. Merry Christmas every one.

Art Inspired Creative Recycling Centre

We have been slowly trying to get a recycling centre initiative off the ground over the past few months with a few of us from every centre getting together and working on various stages of the space and idea and our next step involves you, the parent; the conscientious person who may have some people or places we could get in contact with about collecting their ‘clean waste’ materials that are produced from their work space.
Many of you may be unsure of what type of resources you may have access to so we have added some photos of equipment and the space that we have put together that might spark some thoughts. Your teachers will be talking to you over the next month to support this endeavor so please, if you are unsure just ask, if they can’t answer your questions we will be able to find out for you.
Thanks so much to those who have already offered their support it is well appreciated.

Finally we leave you now with a quote that is particularly present for us at this time of the year and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." ~ Charles Dickens (1812-1870), English author. From 'A Christmas Carol'.

Wishing you a safe and Merry Christmas

Bear Park,
Dilworth Ave.
Centre of Learning
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