Pre-KG 2023/ 24 Blog 4 It’s Circle Time !

Pre-KG 2023/ 24 Blog 4

It’s Circle Time !

A circle is the one shape that feels a bit cozy and familiar because of the many things we like (e.g. tummies, apples, the sun, wheels ) and maybe also because it is just so well rounded (pun intended).

Have you ever realized how often the word circle (Kreis) is used in language with sayings like: we came full circle, my inner circle of friends or in German: etwas zieht seinen Kreis, der Kreis schliesst sich, sich im Kreis bewegen…..etc.

Or just think of the iconic symbol for the Olympics: 5 circles in different colours.

In Kindergarten education the circle is also the preferred form of getting together and every morning we have circle time where everyone can see everyone well.

While we hold our Pre-Kindergarten circle on the carpet, Ms.Azusa in her music lesson always does a Stuhlkreis (circle on chairs) and the children sing and try out various instruments one after another. Additionally they learnt “driving” slow and fast with a pretend steering wheel.

During P.E. Ms.Miho also incorporated fun activities with circles where the children threw colourful balls onto a screen or walked inside a sequence of hoops.

For the Pre-Kindergarten children cars and trains are very exciting and they all have wheels which are circles.

Being clever observers, the children noticed that the train tracks which they are building by using various materials also make a circle.

Recently the ABC song is very popular in our classroom and I have found a charming version where the teacher initiates a writing activity on round paper plates which then form a 

caterpillar. 

The ABC Song

The children loved the Caterpillar very much, so they painted some paper plates green with big brushes.

Once dried, they had another wonderful printing session using little plastic bottles and colours of their choice to make circles. The teachers  were very impressed with the children’s good grip which showed that practice makes perfect.

Ms. Elisabeth helped with the painting of the head and then we put the finished caterpillar on the wall much to the delight of the children.

This week we also welcomed a new friend into our Pre-Kindergarten circle.

Little Tsudoi is our first girl in the class and she got along very well with all her new classmates. She also really loved crafting and painting with everyone !

A big welcome to Tsudoi and the Iwasaki family, we are so happy to have you with us in Pre-Kindergarten !

Bitte geniesst / geniessen Sie alle ein gutes, langes Wochenende im Kreis eurer / Ihrer Familien.

Yours, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher 

Playgroup / EY German 

Pre-KG 2023/ 24 Blog 3 Learning through Cool Play

Pre-KG 2023/ 24 Blog 3

Learning through Cool Play

I was born in Germany and can well remember summer having less than 25 degrees, that is why my parents often vacationed in more southern countries.

If there were 30 degrees in the shade, school was cancelled. Hitzefrei war eines der beliebtesten Wörter in unserer Schulzeit und alle warteten bis das Thermometer auf die magischen 30 Grad kletterte.

With this background, I am still amazed after many years in Japan, about how hot it gets here in summer and for how long. Germany had 12 degrees last week, while we were sveltering in 35 degrees and above in Kobe.

So to keep our little Pre-Kindergarten children cool during their play and learning, we resort to a variety of locations and ideas. 

On Monday we had full house and took the opportunity to practice another emergency drill. Like the week before the boys did a fantastic job, climbed properly and sat in a nice line once on the upper level. 

We then went for discovery time to the Kobecco Land which boasts a huge ball bath, tunnels, slides, cars, climbing walls and a good variety of wooden toys which the children can use for role play.

Everyone listened attentively to the rules and then enjoyed a wonderful play time in the cool room.

Die Pre-Kindergarten hatten sehr viel Spass in dem tollen und kühlen Spieleraum.

We returned to school with happy children just in time for lunch.

One of the items you really need in Japan to wave away the heat is a (handheld) fan. Long before the electrical ones, Japan used two different types, a foldable one called sensu and a flat one called uchiwa.

You can buy them in many shops and department stores and they come in beautiful and intricate designs.

I found a website with some good explanations, so please have a look.

Uciwa and Sensu - Japanese fans

Uchiwa are also used at summer festivals and a familiar sight for the children, so they were delighted to make their own Uchiwa throughout the week. 

They decorated one side with images of recycled posters (yes, from the Fashion Museum which always has the best exhibitions) and the other side with their favourite color and lots of colourful triangles that looked like fireworks. 

The individual uchiwa were really little pieces of art and the children tried them out right away to cool down their friends.

We also used the area behind K1 for some shaded outdoor play riding different vehicles, digging for treasures and playing pirates on the ship.

To deepen the understanding of their subjects the Pre-Kindergarten children also traced various shapes, first on the new magnetic pads, then outside at the drawing table.

We drew several shapes with our new chalk (kindly donated by Ms.Gregory) and then used ice cubes on sticks to trace them.

The children showed great interest and wonder at the melting ice cubes, this really was the perfect activity on a hot day.

If you would like to do this at home, please fill water in an ice tray, freeze for 1 hour, then insert the sticks and freeze again. You may add food colour to the water, but this may stain the surface you are using.

Please enjoy and stay cool !

Viel Spass mit dem Eiswürfel Malen !

Yours, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher 

Playgroup / EY German 

Pre-KG 2023/ 24 Blog 2 Geometric Shapes - Construction & Art

Pre-KG 2023/ 24 Blog 2

Geometric Shapes - Construction & Art

In the second week back at school (and the first full week), the Pre-Kindergarten class amazed us by taking to their subjects like the proverbial ducks to water.

At present we still have an all boys class, so building with a variety of mag formers, foam and wooden blocks and interesting plastic construction pieces is really something that appeals to them as they came up with a variety of creations and they played really well together.

Some children can already name some of the geometric shapes and we started to expand the vocabulary from flat shapes to solid shapes which was challenging, but proved successful as everyone learnt the word “cube”. Yes, like in ice cube, that’s right.

We used three solid shapes in three colours to make experiences with printing, first using only water.

The children learnt to hold onto their shape tightly, get some water and then apply sufficient pressure in order to see a shape on the mat. These magic mats belonged to my own children and still are fantastic for discoveries.

On another day the children built on their previous knowledge and this time printed using the same shapes,but paint. This paint is often for art with fingers, but some children are reluctant to get their hands dirty, so our approach was to let them have a tool first. 

Everyone was happy and there were no complaints with the fingers getting just a bit dirty. 

The prints looked very individual and the children proudly displayed them on our classroom board.

This week we also did our first emergency drill with Pre-Kindergarten, something I take very seriously as our class consists of the youngest children at school and it is important for them to know the routine which involves climbing up a long flight of stairs.

The Pre-Kindergarten children did a great job and even sat properly in a line once up the top. 

On Friday then, Elias, Haruki, Matias, Nicholas, Noah, Santiago and Yushiro welcomed their new friend Sora into the class and he had a good time playing with everyone.

A heartfelt welcome to Sora-kun and the Nakamura family, we are so happy to have you with us in Pre-Kindergarten !

This week the children also loved learning a new shape song and finding all the different shapes in the pictures, so please have a look on the weekend and enjoy the search together !

The Shape Song

Yours, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher 

Playgroup / EY German