Chinese New Year Activities

LEARNING ABOUT CHINESE NEW YEAR

Chinese New Year is one of the significant event in Malaysia and we did a special topic on this event so that the children could understand the Chinese culture and traditions. The children learnt that : - Chinese all over the world celebrate this event, the legend behind this celebration, the animals in the Chinese calendar, the lion dance, the costumes, the decorations, ang-pow, etc. We had a lot of fun learning this topic and enjoyed the activities carried out. We hope a REAL lion dance troupe will drop by our school next week.

Thank you to all our parents for contributing the decorative items for the class display, for the oranges, for dressing up your children in Chinese costumes and in bright coloured clothings, for the noodles and most of all ~ for your support in making this topic a success.

The classrooms were decorated with Chinese lanterns and words for good fortune, prosperity and everything good !

The classroom with lanterns and the 'RABBIT' .

Chinese New Year greetings and rabbits made from angpow packets.

The children learned that this new year is the 'Year of The Rabbit' - the children pasted the ears, eyes, nose & drew the mouth , then attached the head to the angpow packet.

The lion head and angpow packet.

Another version of the lion head attached to the angpow packet.

The rabbit ears head bands signified the 'Year of the Rabbit'.

We had a special assembly to watch the 'Lion Dance' performed by the children and also learned to sing a Chinese new year song.

We watched a video of 'Lion Dance' show and also learned how the Chinese prepare their homes for the celebration.

Beautiful basket of oranges.

The traditional way of bringing oranges when visiting friends houses during Chinese New Year.

For break time, we asked parents to pack noodles and chopsticks. Here's one way to eat with chopsticks! Parents packed spoons & forks too so that the children won't go hungry on that day.

We also asked parents to pack a Chinese orange for break time. The children learned the shape and colour, how to peel the oranges and discovered that there were sour and sweet oranges.

We wore bright coloured clothings and Chinese costumes. Class photo of the four years old and Reception class.

Junior 2

Junior 3

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year Greetings

from

teachers of Tadika Astana

Cooking Projects

WHAT'S COOKING?

Most children love cooking and baking. Most of the time the class teachers will come up with cooking projects to enhance the learning activities in a theme. But sometimes cooking classes were simply carried out because we love cooking or baking with the children. It is very rewarding to see the joy and pride in the children faces once they have completed their work. They enjoyed these activities very much and nothing can beat the taste of one's creation!

Two of the cooking projects were related to the theme 'Myself'. We had fun watching the children and some needed some help along the way. All the children were very proud of their 'master piece' and couldn't wait to show their parents what they have done. We hope that you will invite your child to join you whenever you are cooking or baking because this is a great way to learn ~ science, maths, vocabulary and to have a wonderful time with your child.

FACE SANDWICH

The 4 years old in Junior 1 made a 'FACE' sandwich with peanut butter, some black currants for the eyes, biscuits for the nose, red sprinkles for the mouth and chocolate rice for the hair. Of cos, some of the stuff went into the young chef's mouth ~ yummy!

Here's Hanis making her sandwich and the 'hair' is almost covering the 'eyes'. The children learnt parts of the face and where the parts should be.

Hanis's face sandwich.

Putting the 'eyes' and next the 'hair'.

Another version of the 'face' sandwich; no matter what ~ it tasted great!

Trying to figure out ~ Is the mouth here? How many sprinkles should I put? Think ! Think! Think!

EGG ROLLS

The 5 years olds in Junior 2 made EGG ROLLS ! The eggs were hard-boiled then mashed up with some mayonaise, a dash of salt and pepper. The bread slices were flatten, then spread with the egg mixture and rolled-up. Viola! That's how egg rolls were done and they tasted GOOD!

The girls mashing up the eggs. Mashing up the eggs can be a very tiring work !

They flattened the bread slices with rolling pins , two at one time.

Then spread the mashed eggs on the bread slices.

And rolled the bread up!

Here's my two egg rolls. Can't wait to eat them!

'FACE' CUPCAKES

Cupcakes were made by Junior 3, the 6 years old. The tops of the cup cakes were covered with white icing. Every child wanted a happy smile on the cup cakes ~ reflecting their joy in making this project. The eyes were made with 2 chocolate chips and red nose with a red sprinkle. The hairs and mouth were piped onto the cake.

Most children needed teacher's help to pipe the icing for the mouth and hairs on to the cup cake.

Piping the 'hairs' with teacher's help!

After putting the 'eyes', 'mouth', 'nose' and 'hair'.

Look! This is my 'Face Cupcake' !

This is a sample of 'Face' cupcake done by the teacher for the children to follow.

Thank you to our parents who have contributed an assortment of decorative sprinkles and other items for these projects.

Theme : Myself and My Body

CHILDREN'S WORK ON 'MYSELF' and 'MY BODY' THEME

Some of the topics covered in the theme 'MYSELF' included 'My Family', 'Feelings', 'Birthday', 'My Body' and 'Body Hygiene'. The children learned their names, to recognise their names and their body parts. The photos below show some of their work.

'My Name' wall display.

The balloons and names done by 4 years old.

Names of parts of the body in English and Arabic.

The four-year olds learned parts of the face in doing this 'clown face' apart from colours, shapes and their fine motor skills development.

Beautifully written and drawn flap books by 6 years old children.

A simple chart to sort out the boys and girls in a family.

Members in a family.

About myself.

A topic on 'Birthdays' ~ these are gifts for the birthday child.

'Mirror, mirror on the wall' - can you see me in the mirror?

Cognitive development ~ size and height. The total was not recorded.

'My Name'

A special book on 'Myself'.

'My Face' by the 5 years old children.

'Feelings' masks.

Starting School 2011

STARTING SCHOOL 2011

School started on the 3rd January 2011 ~ an exciting day for all the children, parents and teachers. We were excited to meet our new children and to catch up with the returning children. Most of the new children settled down easily to the school routines and made friends by the end of the first week. The new younger ones required more time and the most 'harrowing part' was parting with their parents ~ there were lots of tears and hugging! Some withdraw to a corner and refused to participate in the class activities ~ but eyes were watching and following everything that went on in the class. But after a while, they soon got involved in the class activities and starting making friends.

Lessons are going into full throttle this week and the children will find that time passes so quickly ~ before you know it, it's time to go home ! The following photos show some of the scenes in these 2 weeks.

Still apprehensive about school, so insisted Mum to bring her into the class.

A very confident boy coming to school, and he's new!

Ms Batrisya welcoming a new girl.

He's really looking forward to school even though a first timer!

Mum sending in her girl.

Here's Zaid taking off his shoes before entering the class.

Here's Mutashim with his father .

Our new boy, wouldn't let go of Mum and the farewell is still very tearful affair.

Ms Intan consoling our new girl!

Still very sad after parting with mum!

Crying softly in a corner after parting with his mum, but half an hour later he's following the class activities.

Ms Ayu, Junior 1 ~ circle time with the four years olds. Almost all of them are abled to follow the class activites.

Ms Ann, Junior 3 class ~ writing down the day and dates in circle time.

Ms Rajiah, Junior 2 ~ circle time.

Welcome Parents

To our new parents ~

WELCOME TO TADIKA ASTANA!

To our returning parents ~ WELCOME BACK !

We look forward to your participation, support and cooperation in our school activities and in your child's learning adventure, discoveries and journey at Tadika Astana. You play an important role in supporting your child.

The first few days or weeks will be filled with anxiety, apprehension or excitement (or both) for the new child in school. Providing a strong support and encouragement to your child will help ease these feelings slowly ~ and once your child has overcome her/his anxieties, school will be an exciting place and fun! The first few days will be an orientation period for all of us ~ to get to know your child, to get to know school routines, facilities in the school and to make friends. It's also a time to revise back the basics for the returning older children and to get to know their new teachers and friends.

Let us work together to make your child's time at Tadika Astana a memorable one ~ fill with love, fun and laughter. Let us always pray to Allah SWT that we will be patient, steadfast, and ask for guidance in bringing up our children and educating them. Please feel free to contact me or the class teachers if you have any concerns or questions.

Thank you.

Kak June
Headmistress