K2 Gecko Class

Dear Parents and Caregivers, I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families during the Lunar New Year celebration and the term break. We are excited to welcome the children back to school and hear their holiday stories. As we returned, we celebrated the Lantern Festival, learning about its history through the story “Lantern Festival” (元宵节的故事) and making Tangyuan (sweet dumplings) with glutinous rice flour and brown sugar. During our Chinese Assembly time, we read “A Family Photo” (一张全家福) and explored how families celebrate the Lantern Festival together. In our Unit of Inquiry “Sharing the Planet,” we examined animals in both zoos and the wild, discussing their habits and survival skills through story book “野生动物” （Wild Animals）.  . We also matched wild animals to their habitats, deepening our understanding of their environments. Additionally, the children enjoyed singing "Hakuna Matata" (哈库那玛塔塔), which features various wild animals such as elephants, flamingos, buffa...

Dear Gecko Class Families, What an exciting few weeks we've had! After the Lunar New Year break, we kicked off our new unit of inquiry, “Sharing the Planet” , which is all about learning how to be responsible for our local environment. To get things started, we took a nature walk along Bowen Road! The kids had so much fun observing the world around them, collecting data about what makes up our environment.  We found some rubbish that didn’t belong, picked up some colorful leaves, and even spotted a super long, wiggly worm! A big thank you to the parents who helped us out during the walk—you’re amazing! Exploring Our Creative Side! After our adventure, we've been very creative! Using the treasures we picked up from our Bowen Road walk, the children have been making beautiful artwork. You might have seen your child bring home their amazing creation—such talented little artists! Learning About Living and Non-Living Things We also had a great reflection session where we talked ab...

  The K2 children have begun tuning into their new Unit of Inquiry  Sharing the Planet  where they will continue building on their research and thinking skills to inquire into their local environments. Throughout the unit, they will be encouraged to think deeply about their actions and work towards a better understanding of their environment, which will spur opportunities for reflection and responsible action. If you would like to learn more along with some concrete examples of what the learning might look like for your child, feel free to hear Brenda walk through the unit in finer detail. It's a 3-min video and you may press the full screen button for a clearer view. I am a researcher! A main focus of this unit is children developing their research skills by learning about and selecting sources of information. When we think of sources, while our minds might automatically jump to books, videos, and other types of media, the K2 children themselves will also be a source of ...