Pre-KG 2023 / 24 Blog 20 The ART of Connecting

Pre-KG 2023 / 24 Blog 20

The ART of CONNECTING

People who know me, know that I am a big fan of ART.

Art can be defined in many ways, it can be shown in many ways and it can be interpreted in just as many.

Children, even the smallest ones, are always exploring through play, they are finding new ways to express themselves, they like to tinker and they love to create. 

And it doesn't matter whether they fit into anybody's established thinking of art, children are usually very proud of their creations and rightly so. The results stem from their imagination and their efforts. 

As with my own children, I have found in my many years of teaching that most children are also very interested in the creations of others and very receptive to art and beauty.

We therefore took another trip to the fabulous Fashion Museum on Rokko Island which this time featured works by the 7 Japanese muses of paper cutting art, many of them depicting animals which was the perfect connection to our current unit.

And what a fantastic exhibition it was !

The teachers and children alike were stunned by the enchanting paper art ! We were only allowed to take a picture of the entrance display, but we could take back many shiny pamphlets. 

Back in class, the Pre-Kindergarten children were eager to use the beautiful pamphlet to create their own artistic collage.

They each received a canvas and had a choice of wavy paper and origami paper. Then they cut out their favourite images, glued them on, decorated them with sparkly diamonds…..

and voila.….with lots of joy a piece of stunning art was created which will certainly take a favourite spot in your house.

Bravo, ihr habt wirklich ein wunderschönes Collage kreiert, liebe Pre–Kindergarten Kinder!

The children also showed that they had learnt a lot about different shapes and colours in their first unit when they created a variety of towers and structures with giant lego blocks, colourful cones and rings as well as a spiky caterpillar with their friends from K1 and K2.

The children additionally connected very well with a new friend in class and included her in all their play and discoveries.

A heartfelt welcome again to little Fiona and the Liu / Zhao family, we are so happy to have you with us in Pre-Kindergarten and in our DSKI school community! 

We always strive to make connections to the wider community and events outside of school.

When the children had planted the tulip bulbs, we promised to check on their progress and we were delighted to find out that the tulips have started to show green sprouts even though it is still winter. What a growth spurt !

Of course our Pre-Kindergarten children are growing as well and we were so thrilled to celebrate Sora's 3rd birthday with him this week.

Hearfelt congratulations, dear Sora and a big thank you to his mum and the Nakamura family for the cute and delicious homemade cupcakes and other treats.

I am looking forward to many more connections, art and fun projects !

P.S. And yes, the pun was intended. Art also means skill or to be good at something!

With kind regards, 

Mit herzlichen Grüßen, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher

Playgroup / EY German 

German Saturday School homeroom teacher

Pre–KG 2023 / 24 Blog 19 The ASSEMBLY

Pre-KG 2023 / 24 Blog 19

The ASSEMBLY

So in this week there would be the big day for the Pre-Kindergarten children : 

Their very own assembly, together with K1, showcasing some of their learning in the big MPR in front of the whole school community !

As everyone will admit, this is quite a daunting task, even for adults, but the Pre-Kindergarten children showed great excitement to be soon on the stage. 

We had chosen 3 songs together for their performance, 2 of them in German, one in English. 

The German greeting song is made up by myself and it helps the children learn the German greetings for each time of the day quite easily. 

Guten Morgen (x2) , Guten Tag (x2) , Guten Abend (x2), Gute Nacht (x2) ! 

It is very popular among all EY grades and shows the children's open-mindedness and risk-taking, which are both Learner Profiles of the PYP.

The other German song which we chose is called "Körperteilblues" and it is a wonderful song for movement and learning a lot of body related German vocabulary. The EY children love it and it promotes not only language, but self-expression and social skills in a fun and engaging way.

Our 3rd song was in English and is related to the current Pre-Kindergarten unit with the subjects of "Animals" and "Food". 

"Old McDonald has a farm" is a time proof, catchy song featuring a farmer and his animals as well as the sounds they are making.

Old Mac Donald

K1 also contributed a song depicting their feelings with another classic, called "I love you" which they accompanied with sign language which Ms.Miho had taught them.

As we wanted to decorate the stage a little and give spectators a visual clue of the program, the children decorated big boxes with the images of the songs. They were very keen to make their assembly tower and patiently helped each other gluing. It looked great and really stood out on the day.

The Pre-Kindergarten children then wanted to "make" the animal they had chosen for the assembly, so they crafted each one with a paper plate and the result was very unique and endearing. 

In the days before the performance the Pre-Kindergarten children again showed their very caring side by welcoming a trial friend and several friends from K1 and K2 for a creative construction and play session in the Pre-KG classroom. 

It was fantastic to see their kind interaction and many different conversations could be heard. 

On Thursday then, it was showtime !

( Photo of final practice! 👍) 

The Pre-Kindergarten children had come to school with lots of family members, so the morning started a bit teary for some, but then the joy took over. The children marched confidently and happily in train fashion into the packed MPR and onto the stage.

And how well they did performing all their songs plus handing over the spotlight to their friends from K1! 

The audience was enchanted and then everyone rocked the hall with their participation to an encore of the "Körperteilblues."

There was a real spirit of community and the happiness was palpable.

Great job, Pre-Kindergarten and K1 children! 

Thank you so much to all the DSKI classes, families and colleagues for joining and participating - this assembly was one to remember and truly a delight!

As I was leading some of the performances, I was not able to take pictures or a video, so kindly share the good moments among yourselves.

We do have this fantastic photo as a memento though ! 

It was kindly taken by my colleague Jean–Philippe. Merci beaucoup! 

Vielen Dank an alle Klassen, Familien und Kollegen, die zur Vorführung der Pre-Kindergarten und K1 Assembly kamen. 

Wir haben uns sehr über eure Teilnahme gefreut und ihr habt die Halle zum Tanzen gebracht!

Viel Spass auch zu Hause beim Mittanzen und Bewegen ! Dance along, have fun and learn something new !

Der Körperteil Blues

With kind regards, 

Mit herzlichen Grüßen, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher

Playgroup / EY German 

German Saturday School homeroom teacher

Pre–KG 2023 / 24 Blog 18 The Farm Animals / Bauernhoftiere

Pre-KG 2023 / 24 Blog 18

Farm Animals/ Bauernhoftiere

The Pre–Kindergarten children started the week with talking about the assembly and what they would like to perform.

They all love the German greetings song and they can sing it really well, so we will include it.

As the farm animal puzzles have been very popular with the children and our current subjects are „Animals and Food“ , we decided to sing and perform „Old McDonalds had a farm“.

We have many puppets and stuffed animals in the classroom, so the children discussed what animal they would like to represent on stage. 

They were very quick and firm in their choices and started right away to sing and dance with lots of joy. 

Beside improving language skills, it is always good for the children to practice fine motor skills, so the image of the cow was chosen to use their fingers, colourful triangles, glue sticks and their imagination for a collage, all of which decorate our classroom wall now. 

Übung macht den Meister und die Pre–Kindergarten Kinder können immer besser die kleinen Papier Dreiecke und den Klebestift halten um damit bunte Collagen zu gestalten.

Animals including farm animals / Bauernhoftiere often inspire imaginary play, so throughout the week, we saw lots of different farms created by the children and they often had access to their own railway system, how cool is that ! 

We did get our bodies moving as well and practiced twice for the assembly on the big stage in the MPR, together with our friends and teachers from K1. 

It was a lot of fun and the children really seemed to take to the stage and performing. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that with a big crowd, they will be just as relaxed. 👍

The children have become really comfortable in their knowledge about farm animals, so we thought they are ready for a little work sheet – coloring and naming the farm animals. 

And we were not disappointed, all of them have become very knowledgeable, even naming the animals in different languages.

Please find herewith a little German workshop for the parents, so you can also catch up and help your child‘s language skills. 

Andrea Thionville TIERE

What a great week learning about a beloved group of animals, you are ready for more, dear Pre–Kindergarten children! 

With kind regards, 

Mit herzlichen Grüßen, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher

Playgroup / EY German 

German Saturday School homeroom teacher

Pre–KG 2023 / 24 Blog 17 Happy New Year of the Dragon !

Pre-KG 2023 / 24 Blog 17 

Happy New Year of the Dragon! 

Happy New Year to all of you, may you and your families be blessed with lots of good luck, happiness, prosperity and especially health in 2024, the year of the dragon ! 🐉

Thank you again for your support and kindness during last year !  

It was lovely to see everybody back at school , safe and sound, especially in wake of the earthquake.

As you know I take the safety of the children very seriously and we always do our best to have our little Pre–Kindergarten children prepared for an earthquake including regular walks along the escape route with that high flight of stairs at the Fashion Museum where we need to assemble at the top after an earthquake and tsunami alert as this is identified as the highest point for our school. 

I also hold an initial emergency walk with new families whether Pre–Kindergarten or Playgroup. 

When the children came back into class after the holidays, it was heartwarming to see how happy they were to be reunited with their classmates and teachers ! 

We had many exciting conversations and also talked about the fact that this year is the year of the dragon in Japan. The children thought we might find some on the island, so we went on a quest, combining our walk with the emergency drill. 

It was good to see that the children had not forgotten the routine and walked up the stairs orderly and calmly. Good job, Pre– KG ! 

So, where were the dragons ? Nowhere to find, but we spotted a big group of dog figurines in a shop window which really attracted the attention of our Pre–Kindergarten children. All the interest will come handy for our current unit on animals.

Back at school, the children were happy to discover that we indeed do have some dragons or maybe the closest thing we can find: toy dinosaurs in our own backyard.

The children wanted to have some panorama, so the happy dinosaurs got some grass , lakes and mountains drawn with chalk onto the table.

During the week, we decided that we should decorate the entrance of the Early Years area with some dragons, so the children drew a dragon or a friend for him and we hung the paintings up to greet everyone and welcome the New Year ! 

As all the children have gotten very interested in puzzles , we chose some animal themed ones together. After completing them , the Pre–

Kindergarten children took their animal figurines and started to match them to the pictures on the puzzles. They showed some good preliminary knowledge and vocabulary skills! 

The Pre–KG class also joined K1 in a fun dance, imitating a variety of animals along the way ! 

What a great start into the year of the dragon with lots of smiles, friendly play and tuning into the new unit with fun activities ! 

Btw, regarding the dragon, did you know that the dragon represents the only mythical creature of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. 

The year of the dragon is considered special and the dragon symbolizes strength, good fortune, dignity and honor. 

May this be a good year for all of us ! 

Ein gutes, neues Jahr 2024! Möge das Jahr des Drachen uns allen viel Glück, Zufriedenheit und vor allem Gesundheit bringen ! 

With kind regards, 

Mit herzlichen Grüßen, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher

Playgroup / EY German 

German Saturday School homeroom teacher