It was a delight to see your children in kindergarten. The children spend many happy hours with their friends and teachers.The children enjoy their time outside where it is nice that they can enjoy nature,sand,water and good play ground equipment.The classroom is very nicely decorated and taken care of by the teachers and the new cook .
The teachers and friends of the kindergarten have made new toys for the kindergarten which the children are enjoying playing with.The children seem very content to have Panjing teach in the morning and Wangfen teach in the afternoon. The kindergarten is going very smoothly with the children, behaving well,eating and sleeping well. They enjoyed the traditional Chinese story for the festival.Everyone is looking forward to the new assistants who will help them.
Kindergarten is a time for social working together of children and teachers. There are areas where parents can be supportive to this process.Children are most happy to play with others and accept the guidance of the teachers when the children are healthy,have had enough sleep, and have had a good breakfast. Children will need to go to bed in the evening early enough so that they can get up in time to have a good breakfast without being in a hurry. Children benefit from having a warm breakfast that does not include overly sweet things.In the evening when the children return home,they need a quiet time in order to process their busy day that has been filled with many interactions.The children do best with time to do as they wish rather than be over scheduled.
Children enjoy time with their parents,but parents should keep in mind that children shouldn't command them to do things. Television watching does not benefit children even though a great amount of knowledge can be gained through watching it. Waldorf education see the early years as a time when children are learning best through doing. Children working along side adults is the very best. The kindergarten teacher are finding it necessary to limit the children's t.v play so that the children are a more socially harmonious group.
I wish you all a pleasant and cooler autumn. Thank you for making me feel so welcome.
It was a great joy to see the children. I felt that the children had grown up so much since the last time that I saw them. The children looked so well and healthy.I believe they must be receiving much love and a good education.
As the winter months are here,it is sometimes hard to keep good health.
There are a number of ways to keep well:dressing warm,hot breakfast,enough liquids,and plenty of sleep.It is best for the adults to decide how many layers the children should wear in the cold.Children do not have enough life experience to know what is necessary and are not always aware of their bodies. An area to pay special concern to is where their shirts meet their pants. At times there can be a gap,thus exposing skin to the air . Longer shirts and sweaters will help this problem greatly.Clothes made of natural materials (cotton,wool,silk)are best as the air can pass through the material and the children will not overheat and sweat.
The activities in the kindergarten are going very well. It was a delight to see the children so engaged in all that was taking place: circle games,cooking activities,wood work,pigeon feeding,and helping the teacher. The children have matured greatly.
One area that is of special concern is the drop off and pick up of the children. In general the children play together better if the children arrive and leave at about the same time. This makes for more secure children,and better rested children.An eight hour day is very long for the children.
As the group increases in size this will create a learning situation that will benefit all the children as the varied ages provide situations where younger and older children can work together and learn from each other.
When I return in the Spring I would like to talk about what the third year of kindergarten can provide children. I believe it is possible that if the group wished that you could look at a grade school for your children in the fall of 2008.