Pre-KG 2024 / 25 Blog 38 Student Led Conferences (SLC) and Father‘s Day

 Pre-KG 2024 / 25 Blog 38

Student Led Conferences (SLC) and Father‘s Day

This week the Pre–Kindergarten children concentrated on the subject of „Family“ , no wonder with both, the SLC and Father‘s Day coming up.

Every day the children revisited the four stations which they would present to their families showcasing their learning journey throughout the kindergarten year.

On Tuesday we had the wonderful opportunity to witness the final rehearsal of the Grand Concert by grades 3 to 6 and the school choir.

Organized by Ms.Azusa and their homeroom teachers, the UP students rendered beautiful performances singing and playing a variety of instruments. The Pre–Kindergarten children were so mesmerized that they sat through the whole hour the concert lasted and one of our little boys was closely watching his brother on stage. With many other siblings attending, this truly was a family affair of the DSKI community.

Bravo, everyone, we really enjoyed ourselves! 

Two other Pre–Kindergarten children helped their siblings from Pre–School with their SLC Displays and they did an amazing job. We also loved the informational displays of Pre–school and the other classes as well as the stunning art in the hallway. What a fantastic achievement. 

For Father‘s Day, the Pre–Kindergarten children were on a secret mission to make a very special present. They chose their favourite bottle caps from a selection to create a flower like coaster ( with the help of Ms.Anita and gluesticks) which their dads could use to put their cool drink on this summer. What a thoughtful and colourful present ! The children are sure you will love it ! 

Then on Wednesday and Thursday morning, it was time for the SLC! 

Whether it was dressing the dolls, cooking a nice meal, matching pictures to shapes, showing how to make a stunning Kugelbild ( marble painting) or explaining about our visit to the museum and the collages with the fashionable clothes – the Pre–Kindergarten children‘s inquisitiveness, brightness and knowledge shone through all these sessions with their parents and grandparents! It was a joy to watch the children’s enthusiasm and confidence! 

What an excellent job, Pre– Kindergarten children – you can be very proud of yourselves ! 

Thank you very much to all the families who have joined us for the SLC, it was heartwarming to see the interaction between you and your child ! 

Due to popular demand the children also made Playdough families again and they are starting to be able to tell stories about what they are creating. „This is a head and I can make papa. This is a baby and the baby is small. This is a snake and I like snakes…“

The children have also made great progress in their language development as you will be able to read in their reports ! And next school year as I am the EY German teacher I will also have the joy of teaching the children more German ! 

Wishing you a joyful weekend and a very happy Father‘s Day ! The presents will be given on Monday ! 👍🤗

Kind regards, mit herzlichen Grüßen, 

Anita Ursula Mönch 

Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher                  Playgroup / EY Deutsch & GFL

German Saturday School homeroom teacher

Pre-KG 2024 / 25 Blog 37 Family and Friends

 Pre-KG 2024 / 25 Blog 37

Family and Friends 

The last subjects of the Pre–Kindergarten school year revolve around Body and Family and it is always wonderful to see how much the children have grown physically, mentally and socially.

Strangers at the beginning, the children have become good friends and for many of them their friends have become extended family with whom they love to discover, learn and play.

The term Kindergarten is German and means  „children’s garden“. The concept and name of Kindergarten is accredited to Friedrich Fröbel, a German educator who had an amazing vision for the well-being of children and their education through playbased learning. Many of his tools / toys are still used in Kindergarten around the world.

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Friedrich Fröbel

As learning through play is the most important concept for young children we incorporate a lot of time for playing and the current subject gives again wonderful opportunities for role play.

During the whole week which was very busy with many visitors and two trials in class, the Pre–Kindergarten children used dolls, the kitchen area, legos, train sets and much more to express themselves and play with their friends.

On Monday we had visitors from Germany, classes of Highschool students with their teachers, one of whom used to be the sports teacher at DSKI. Welcome back, Mr. Seiffert! 

Two of his kind students, Charlotte and Friederike, played with the Pre–KG children and talked about their families and everyone was proud to present their family members. 

We had a good time together and the children said a proper thank you with two beautiful handmade cards ! Hopefully you will visit us again in the future ! 

Making Lego families proved to be very popular and they became bigger and bigger including neighbors and lots of animals ! We could see that our children are very fond of farm animals especially.

We have some great engineers in class with lots of ideas on construction and again, the children worked together so well and so gently.

On Wednesday we also had the joy of welcoming one of our family members into class for a birthday celebration. 

Leo turned 3 years old and his mother was present for the party ! 

Heartfelt congratulations, dear Leo and thank you to his family for all the delicious fruits and presents. Your friends and teachers were so happy to celebrate together! 

Playing family was a favorite this week and the children took turns living in the house ( recycled from the assembly) with their babies. 

One of my fondest childhood memories is playing house and other scenarios, so please give your child some cardboard boxes to make a house, a restaurant, a farm or wherever their imagination takes them! 

It is really heartwarming to see how kind the children were to each other and how knowledgeable they have become in the care of babies. They always make sure they are fed properly, displaying great responsibility and good observation skills as they must have seen some of the scenarios in the world around them.

As art is always a part of our learning, the children did two different projects. One was colouring their family members with wooden colour pencils and then naming them which was also an assessment.

The second art session was with Mr.Lubin where the children used water colours and a brush colouring different images of families. 

The children had a lot of fun and have become more adapt at handling brushes and the right amount of water. Thank you Mr.Lubin for your inspiring art lessons! 

What would a beautiful summer week full of discoveries be without a bit of water play! 

I had set up the turtle pool and some fun fishing for Playgroup who truly enjoyed the experience and touching the cool water. The Pre–Kindergarten children were very considerate and let their little friends play first and then joined in the fun. And here again, you could see their growth, not only by them waiting patiently, but by the speed and skill with which they scooped out the fish with the little nets. 

The Pre–Kindergarten got really into this activity,  so they fished two days in a row, got wet and laughed a lot! Kindly replace all the clothes we sent home, dear parents and please make sure your child wears sunscreen and mosquito patches ! 

We were planning for more water fun and splashing next week, but alas the weather report shows that the rainy season has started! 

Well, we will have two days of SLC‘s , so the children are really looking forward to this opportunity to show you their learning! 

Wishing you bright days and lots of opportunities to discover with your family ! 

Kind regards, 

Anita Ursula Mönch 

Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher                  Playgroup / EY Deutsch & GFL

German Saturday School homeroom teacher