K2 Gecko Class

Dear Gecko Class Families,  Last week in the Gecko Class, the children focused on the theme of kindness. We explored the questions, "What does it mean to be kind?" and "How can we show kindness in our classroom?" The children engaged with the concept of kindness by looking at photographs of themselves and their peers demonstrating kindness, while also reading the story "What Does It Mean to Be Kind?" by Rana DiOrio, which reinforced their understanding and encouraged meaningful discussions. As the children began to understand what it means to be kind, our class snail, Sophie, came with a special message inside her shell: The children who were spotted by Sophie showing acts of kindness were celebrated with their classmates and received a special heart. You may have seen your child come home with one. Please ask your child what they did to show kindness in the classroom and encourage them to continue being kind to others 💜 In addition to these activities, w...

Dear Gecko Class Families,  I hope you are all doing well and had a great time celebrating the mid-autumn festival last week. Unfortunatly we did miss our Library Day as the holiday fell on Wednesday. The Geckos will be pleased to know that we will have Library and P.E class this Wednesday 25 September!  Thank you to all the Gecko Class parents for sharing their family photos! The children enjoyed discussing their favorite activities with their families and comparing their experiences. We have created a Family Book, which will be kept in the book basket for the children to access and enjoy.  **Some snapshots from the small group can be found here: AM / PM ** Mindfulness and Exploring Sensory Tools  Learning about our feelings and emotions has been at the forefront of our learning the past couple of weeks. We have been thinking about what different emotions look and feel like. The children have had a lot of fun playing 'Emotion Charades' during a small group activity...

Dear Parents and Caregivers, I hope you enjoyed a wonderful celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival and had a relaxing holiday. Over the past two weeks, we have explored traditional activities related to this special festival, focusing on customs, lanterns, and mooncake-making through the stories "中秋节" (Mid-Autumn Festival) and "晶晶做月饼" (Jingjing's Mooncake). During open play and small group activities, the children engaged in making both traditional baked and snowy mooncakes, as well as creating lanterns and bunny origami. A special thank you to our parent volunteers who supported the children during these activities; your help is greatly appreciated! To further immerse the children in the cultural atmosphere, we held a Mid-Autumn Festival dress-down day last week, and the kids loved sharing their lanterns with everyone! To wrap up our festivities, the children learned about the historical legends behind the festival through the story "嫦娥奔月" (Chang'...

  Dear Gecko Class Families,  I hope you are all staying safe and dry on this rainy, typhoon day! It has been a busy week in the Gecko Class as we explore our new space and become more familiar with our classroom routines. The children have been learning to take responsibility for their belongings and complete their "jobs," such as putting away their school bags and tidying up after snack time. These activities help them practice essential self-help skills. It has been wonderful to see some of the children problem-solve by asking their peers for help, as well as the resilience they demonstrate as they try their best to complete tasks independently - well done Geckos!  Going into next week kindly be mindful of the following: Snack Time  - Pack a  nut-free and healthy   snack for your child.  - Make sure your child can open and close their snacks - if it is in a plastic wrapper we ask children to use scissors to open it by themselves. At snack time we en...

.    Dear Parents and Caregivers, It’s wonderful to see how well the children are settling into the classroom! Over the past two weeks, they have been busy learning new hello songs, practicing listening skills, and reading dates and days in Chinese. In our first unit of inquiry, "Who We Are" (我们是谁), we’ve focused on asking and answering each other's names using the story “你叫什么名字？” (What’s Your Name?). The kids have really enjoyed practicing with the recorder microphones, and you can find these resources in our learning slide . As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, we will begin discussing related foods, activities, and songs. To celebrate, we will have a dress-down day on Friday, September 13th. Children are encouraged to bring their lanterns or make one to share. Thank you for your ongoing support! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at yammi.cheng@hillside.edu.hk. Chinese Albums: Gecko AM                 Gecko PM...

Hello parents and carers ☺  My name is Brenda, and I'm the PYP curriculum coordinator here at Hillside. Welcome back to all our returning families, and a very warm welcome to all our new K2 families! Be sure to check in with the class blog throughout the year to learn more about how your child is accessing the curriculum. Ammie will be posting regularly, while I and our Chinese teacher, Yammi Lao Shi will guest post to share other relevant information about the children’s learning. Unit of Inquiry: Who We Are The K2 children have started tuning into the unit Who We Are by settling into school routines and exploring a variety of learning experiences both within their own classroom and during the daily Open Play hour. All activities are purposefully planned and set up to develop different skills and understandings relevant to the Unit of Inquiry.  To learn more about the current Unit of Inquiry, here is a 3 minute video explaining the key curriculum information relating to thi...