Pre-KG 2024 / 25 Blog 28 Movement

Pre-KG 2024 / 25 Blog 28

Movement

Spring is here ! We are moving into a new season and the sunshine calls us to be more active again outdoors. 

What a perfect time to start our new unit on „Body and Family“ with lots of movement, activities and explorations ! We talked to the children about how we can use our body and its parts for different movements, so they are ready for new adventures. 

As spring is also a time of growth and new beginnings the Pre–Kindergarten children are very happy to welcome a new friend into class and show her our beautiful surroundings.

A big welcome to dear little Kiki and her family into our Pre–Kindergarten class, we are so happy to have you with us! 

The warmer weather invited us for a walk to the tulip field (where the children had planted the bulbs in autumn) to check on the growth of the tulips. 

On the way there the children discovered beautiful spring flowers, sweet on the eyes and on the nose. 

The tulips on the other hand are taking their time this year and only stems and green leaves could be found. 

But much to the delight of the children there was a bushel of early bloomers in the corner with pretty pink tulip flowers.

As with humans, everyone at their own pace.

The children were ready to use their legs a little more and a cheerful race started around the Rokko Liner pillars with the children trying to catch each other. A great opportunity for lots of movement! 

At school Ms.Azusa introduced a spring themed dance called „Schmetterling, du kleines Ding“ and the children enjoyed being a butterfly and inviting a partner to dance along to the tune.

As our school year goes along, our children tend to become more of social butterflies, mingling with the children of the other EY classes more confidently and expressing themselves more freely.

This week our girls discovered the joy of dressing up with lots of accessories and princess dresses and they looked very regal. One of them went out on an adventure, riding into the world. Horseback riding was one of my favorite pastimes in my childhood in Germany and you can enjoy it with your child at Shiawase no Mura in Kobe. 

The Pre–Kindergarten children have been practicing the dances for their upcoming assembly and this week they had the great opportunity to paint some of the stage props with K1. The weather was brilliant, the collaboration was brilliant and the hand to eye coordination of the children while using paint brushes was brilliant, too. 

What a fun and collaborative engagement! Great job, everyone! 

On Thursday then we had the great pleasure of attending the Pre–School assembly where 3 of the Pre–Kindergarten children have a sibling in class. Attentively the children watched the lovely performance of the Pre–school class showing their imagination and dreams. It was emotional for me to see many of the previous Pre–KG children so grown and confident on stage. What a fantastic job, everyone! 

More practice was on the agenda for Sports  Day as well which is coming up next Friday ! The children used their whole body running, throwing, catching and especially needed good coordination for the body board race ! We will be cheering you on next Friday.

After so much fun using the body, it was time for a little preliminary assessment. I used a cute worksheet depicting Dora the Explorer to ask the children about various body parts in English and German. They have become very knowledgeable, even mentioning parts like chin and neck! Colouring Dora was a fun activity which all enjoyed.

Building up on their knowledge we ended the week with two more connected activities, dancing along to „Head, shoulders, knees and toes“, led by Mr.Derek and a short Yoga session, led by Ms.Priyanka.

The first mentioned song is very well known around the world and children tend to participate with quirky movements that often make adults laugh. In order to monitor understanding, please make sure your child points to the right body part and please dance along.

Yoga has become an immensely popular pastime for adults integrating it into their hectic life style for stress relief and better posture. My mother was a yoga teacher back then and it brought back memories watching Ms.Priyanka guide the children through gentle stretching exercises.

We will surely integrate more of them into our daily routines and link some details.

Lastly, movement includes moving and this week we had to say goodbye to little Ada who moves back to Germany. Ada was a member of the K1 class and only joined us for 3 months, but she touched everyone with her kindness and she was a frequent visitor to our Pre–Kindergarten classroom and a very patient friend to our little ones.

We will all miss you, dear Ada and wish you and your family a good time back home. All the best also to your kind brothers who attended DSKI as well and thank you for the beautiful spring flowers ! 

The cherry blossoms are in bloom, so here is to wish you all a beautiful, sunny and active weekend! 

With kind regards, Mit herzlichen Grüßen, 

Anita Ursula Mönch 

DSKI Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher Playgroup / EY Deutsch & German     

German Saturday School homeroom teacher

Pre-KG 2024 / 25 Blog 27 Kunst und Kultur / Art and Culture

 Pre-KG 2024 / 25 Blog 27

Kunst und Kultur / Art and Culture

Kunst ist immer ein fester Bestandteil in meinem Pre–Kindergarten Curriculum und die Kinder lieben es mit verschiedenen Materialien und Farben zu experimentieren und eigene Kunstwerke herzustellen. Doch auch ein Besuch im Kunstmuseum steht seit Jahren auf dem Plan und es hat sich gezeigt, dass die Kinder trotz ihres jungen Alters immer fasziniert sind und auf die Ausstellungen gut ansprechen.

Art has always been a firm part of my Pre–Kindergarten Curriculum and the children love to experiment with different materials and colours to create their own art pieces. A visit to the nearby Art museum has been on the agenda for years as well and experience has shown that the children are fascinated by the exhibitions in spite of their young age and respond well to the visits there. 

Grund genug die Nitten Kunst Ausstellung auf Rokko Island zu besuchen, die die Werke der besten Künstler Japans zeigt. 

Reason enough to visit the NITTEN exhibition on Rokko Island which features artwork of Japans best artists. 

Am Tag vor dem Besuch machten wir einen kleinen Probespaziergang und übten dann auch gleich ein bisschen Tanzen für unsere Assembly auf der Freiluftbühne. 

The day before the visit we practiced walking as well as one of our dances for the upcoming assembly.

Da wir in unserer Unit Tiere besprechen, hatte ich bei einem früheren Besuch Fotos der großen Tiermalereien gemacht und den Kindern aufgegeben diese zu suchen. So wird ein Museumsbesuch spannend und auch für 2–und 3– Jährige zugänglich.

Because we are talking about animals in our current unit, I had taken photos of the animal paintings on a previous visit and ask the children to find the originals. This way a visit to the museum is exciting even for 2– and 3 years olds. 

Wir waren also bereit für das Museum und es gab dann viel Staunen und große Freude beim Finden der Tier Gemälde und Ansehen der Skulpturen.

We were ready for the museum and there was lots of amazement and joy when the children found the animals and looked at sculptures.

Die Ausstellung sowie die Neugierde und Konzentration der Pre–Kindergarten Kinder waren wirklich beeindruckend, ein voller Erfolg ! 

The Exhibition and the concentration of the Pre–Kindergarten children both were awesome and the visit was a full success! 

Am nächsten Tag schaute ich ob die Kinder meine Fotos auf den Broschüren des Museums finden konnten was wunderbar klappte. 

The next day I checked whether the children would recognize the photos / paintings on the museum pamphlets and they could make the connection well. Bravo ! 

When teaching children, it is very important for them to make sense of the world around them and connections foster understanding and therefore learning. 

With this in mind the rest of the week, our DSKI Culture Week offered plenty of opportunities to gain knowledge and make new discoveries. 

Before the children put their photo on the world map in the entrance, I showed the children a world map featuring countries in their flag colours and they were very attentive and interested.

In the hallway we shared the activity with grade 5/6 and it was nice to see the older students role modeling what to do. 

The next day many exciting booths awaited the DSKI children such as crafting a Swedish horse, making Easter baskets and STEM room challenges with different type of legos. 

We are grateful to all our fabulous parents and teachers for providing such fun and stimulating activities which the children enjoyed very much and for the fantastic display in the hallway depicting different festivals around the world and signposts to the countries we come from. 

On Thursday then many members of our school community came in their countries costumes and there was a festive atmosphere when we started the parade from the school to the picnic ground. Ms.Priyanka looked elegant and the epitome of spring in her delicate pink saree. 

Other beautiful and colourful costumes shone in the sun and laughter and happiness was in the air when we walked to the green space to enjoy our picnic.

Sienna‘s mother, Ms.Theona had baked some traditional goodies from her home country, South Africa which Sienna kindly shared proudly wearing her beautiful dress. Thank you so much for the delicious treat! 

Many animated conversations later, the parents said goodbye to their children who rode the school bus back to school for lunch, a nap and the afternoon sessions. 

In the afternoon there was another showcase of cultural diversity with performances by a French guitar player with a soothing voice, animated Indian dances by 2 graceful ladies and a lovely performance by the dancers of the Korean School. Everyone was mesmerized and time just flew by. I was watching the action on stage with the children and had no opportunity to take photos, hopefully you can see plenty on our schools social media account.

The Culture Week highlighted the harmony of the different nationalities and cultures in our DSKI community and I would like to thank once again the Organizing team and all helpers for their fabulous contributions. 

May everyone get inspired to discover new countries and experience other cultures! 

Mögen Sie alle von unserer Kulturwoche inspiriert werden um neue Länder und Kulturen kennenzulernen! 

My own children were fortunate to make friends of many nationalities at DSKI and in Japan and my daughter visited Egypt while we were holding our Culture Week! 

Meine eigenen Kinder hatten das große Glück Freunde verschiedener Nationalitäten an der DSKI und in Japan zu finden und meine Tochter besuchte Ägypten während unserer Kulturwoche! 

Wishing you all a good spring break with many new adventures! 

With kind regards, Mit herzlichen Grüßen, 

Anita Ursula Mönch 

DSKI Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher Playgroup / EY Deutsch & German     

German Saturday School homeroom teacher