Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 24 Growing and Blossoming - Spring has come !

Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 24

Growing and Blossoming - Spring has come !

Spring has arrived with all its beauty and in Japan we are lucky to be able to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms, the Sakura, on top of all the other flowers and green that come with this season.

The warm weather in the spring holidays made for early blossoming. I just had enjoyed the Plum Tree Festival at the Kairakuen in Mito City, when 2 days later the cherry trees opened their buds, making for a pink world of various shades around us.

My trip to Mito had various reasons including research for upcoming school projects, but I was not the only one who had interesting stories to tell.

The Pre-Kindergarten children also went on many different adventures in the holidays and travelled by bicycle, car, train, Shinkansen, plane and even boat.

It was lovely to hear how much fun the children had with families and friends and how excited they were to chat about it.

The children are now able to express themselves amazingly well and it seems that after each holiday they have grown physically and mentally.

But maybe it comes with this season that the children seem to be blossoming and growing so fast.

Well, this week we also had 3 !! birthdays to celebrate, with 3 of our lovely girls turning 3 years old !

Heartfelt Congratulations to Alice, Malin and Sofia, we were so happy to celebrate this milestone with you!

And a big thank you to all the parents for providing delicious muffins, cakes, colourful decorations, yummy treats and nice souvenirs for the classmates that will nurture their creativity.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch an unsere drei Geburtstagsmädchen Alice, Malin und Sofia!

Wir haben uns sehr gefreut mich euch feiern zu können !

Bonne anniversaire et tout le meilleur pour votre avenir!

The Pre-Kindergarten children were also very welcoming on both occasions when two little boys had a trial in our class and they even shared the same birthday, also in March ! 

Happy 2.Birthday to Nicholas and Noah !

With the weather being so warm and sunny, we took the children on various adventures around Rokko Island. First we went on a discovery walk, looking for a new park where we can enjoy happy and safe play with our increasing number of children in class. We found a lovely spot and admired the beautiful Sakura trees along the way.

On another day we walked all the way from the school to the sea - yes, the children have become strong walkers thanks to Ms.Anita’s love for exploration walks and Ms.Chinatsu and the children sharing it !

We saw the ocean from the bridge, felt the sea breeze, saw a very speedy boat and found some interesting trees. The only thing missing was the sight of some fish, but remember, we still have the aquarium at school. (Please read the previous blogs to understand our quest for sighting a fish !).

The children also really loved that we took the Rokko Liner from Marine Park on the way back, something we had promised them for a long time!

Our school’s position on Rokko Island enables us to an additional visual treat, namely the Rokko Island Tulip Festival which shows a beautiful variety of colourful tulips. 

Every year the EY and Pre-Kindergarten children help plant the tulip bulbs and then follow the progress of growth on a regular base. There is much excitement when the first green sprouts show and even more when the children see the amazing field of tulips in all its beauty.

This year again we went with all our 3 Kindergarten classes together to admire the sight and we had a wonderful time.

Vielen Dank to Sofia's parents for taking many wonderful pictures on the day !

Spring awakens all our senses and it is a time of new beginnings and often increased movement. 

As our new unit subjects are “Body and Family”, please stay tuned for our activities regarding body, exercise and adventures with family. 

Enjoy the Sakura trees in bloom and if you have a chance please visit Oji Zoo at night with the Yozakura lit up which creates a unique and beautiful atmosphere. 

La vie en rose…..have a lovely weekend, 

Yours, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher 

Playgroup / EY German 

Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 23 ABCD - ART, BOOKS & CULTURE@DSKI

Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 23

ABCD - ART, BOOKS & CULTURE@DSKI

What a busy and exciting week we had at Pre-Kindergarten and DSKI !

We began the week with Masahiro’s 3rd birthday and the whole Pre-Kindergarten class was so happy to celebrate this special occasion with him! 

Heartfelt Congratulations, Masahiro !

And thank you to Masahiro’s parents for the delicious cake, the beautiful balloons and the nice gifts that will nurture the children’s creativity even further.

Which brings me to the topic of ART: The Pre-Kindergarten children did a fantastic job creating a great variety of art pieces during the current unit which focuses on Food and Animals. They had just experienced using different media in their previous unit of “Colours & Shapes“ and it showed that they had learnt one technique or another.

Whether it was free drawing (My Favourite Food), choosing favourite colours and moving a marble / Kugel (Kugelbild ), gluing shapes (Collage with triangles and squares related to Silk Road Carpet Museum visit / My Rainbow Fish / Our Fish Sculpture Touch & Feel Box), colouring (Sea Animal Magnet game), stringing (Noodle & Beads necklaces) or pasting beautiful cloth and positioning jewels (Cloth Collage), the children showed good concentration, great interest and had quite the artistic eye.

The results were stunning and ever so beautiful. 

Together with K1 and K2, the whole of EY hosted an art exhibition and there were so many amazing pieces of art to see and experience. 

A big thank you to the children and also to the visiting families, teachers and students. We are very grateful for your interest and your positive feedback and encouragement.

As our exhibition was held during the DSKI BOOK & Culture Week, we also had a look at the Book exhibition in the library, took a group picture at the Instagram booth with a book background, read many books including some sent in by the parents and had a mum reading a lovely book in our class. 

Thank you all for your contributions!

And then there was all the wonderful displays by the parents in our hallway, from national costumes, food, toys, animals to a whole world map of kites. 

Every day there was something new to discover and we had the wonderful opportunity on one of the mornings to experience traditional Japanese toys and games. 

Thank you very much to the charming team of Japanese DSKI mothers for all their kind attention to the Pre-Kindergarten children. We had such a good time !

On Friday then, the Pre-Kindergarten went with the whole school community on a parade around Rokko Island in their national costumes. We were greeted by beautiful sunshine, lots of cheering spectators and had a fabulous time chatting with families and children.

Back at school, Ms. Azusa led the DSKI school choir in an energetic drum presentation and a stunning dance performance to the German song "Feuerwerk".

To round off a super exciting and fun week at DSKI, the school community enjoyed very delicious onigiri burgers with juicy Kobe beef, kindly provided and sponsored by one of our previous Pre-Kindergarten fathers, Mr.Sawada. Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs.Sawada. Gochisousama deshita!

We now got al the necessary stamina and lots of inspiration through ART, BOOKS and CULTURE to cruise into our well deserved spring break.

Ganz herzlichen Dank noch einmal an alle Familien für ihre grosse Hilfe und Unterstützung in der Kulturwoche und für den Besuch bei unserer Kindergarten Kunstaustellung ! 

Wir haben uns sehr gefreut und wünschen allen erholsame und sonnige Frühlingsferien.

Have a sunny and restful spring break !

Yours, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher 

Playgroup / EY German