My New Job
Today was also the beginning of my new job. This week is Summer School so my hours are 9am - 12pm, Mon - Fri. Next week is school holidays (again) and then in September the kids go back for the new school year. Summer School is apparently a bit more laid back than regular kindy and I really really enjoyed myself this morning. There were 19 kids and 8 adults directly involved with them the whole time. There were also a couple of others who help out when needed. Amazing! The day started off pretty relaxed - free play with big blocks and beach balls for the first 30 minutes. Basically about half of the assistant teachers were just getting to know the kids and hoping to remember their names. At the end of free play the Clean Up song came on ... nice to know some things really are the same everywhere :)
Next was circle time. We all sat in a circle (fancy that!) and sang Good Morning and read 5 Little Ducks. Since there are two Head Teachers, they seem to do most of the directing the kids stuff and the assistants just sing along and keep the kids attention focussed on the teacher reading the book or whatever. Some of the children are pretty young but they were all really friendly and were dancing and clapping with me by the time we got to singing "A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea." Very very sweet.
The highlight (for me anyway!) was definitely the next part of the morning. The kids were separated into two smaller groups and while one went off for some painting the group I was with got to play in the Nature Room. The Nature Room has 3 glass walls and a lino'd floor. Earlier in the morning one of the head teachers put damp sand over the floor and filled up two troughs with water. When the kids came in we also added seaweed to one of the water troughs. The kids loved it! They even got stuck into a water fight - a change of clothes might be much more necessary here than it was at LHK! Even when the kids swapped activities and the younger kids had a turn they majority of them were happy to squish sand beneath their toes and throw water at one another. Made me want to go and find a real beach this weekend!
Apparently on Wednesday we're going to the pool. The younger kids won't be going but they will be playing in the paddling pool back at the kindergarten. Lucky we're not going to an onsen!
Next was circle time. We all sat in a circle (fancy that!) and sang Good Morning and read 5 Little Ducks. Since there are two Head Teachers, they seem to do most of the directing the kids stuff and the assistants just sing along and keep the kids attention focussed on the teacher reading the book or whatever. Some of the children are pretty young but they were all really friendly and were dancing and clapping with me by the time we got to singing "A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea." Very very sweet.
The highlight (for me anyway!) was definitely the next part of the morning. The kids were separated into two smaller groups and while one went off for some painting the group I was with got to play in the Nature Room. The Nature Room has 3 glass walls and a lino'd floor. Earlier in the morning one of the head teachers put damp sand over the floor and filled up two troughs with water. When the kids came in we also added seaweed to one of the water troughs. The kids loved it! They even got stuck into a water fight - a change of clothes might be much more necessary here than it was at LHK! Even when the kids swapped activities and the younger kids had a turn they majority of them were happy to squish sand beneath their toes and throw water at one another. Made me want to go and find a real beach this weekend!
Apparently on Wednesday we're going to the pool. The younger kids won't be going but they will be playing in the paddling pool back at the kindergarten. Lucky we're not going to an onsen!
posted by Sarah and Mike at 7:10 pm
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