Cool Cats

Cool Cats at mat time is one of the favourite songs of the tamariki. They get to take turns at sharing their cool and sometimes tricky moves that everyone has to copy. For some of our children this is a huge experience particulary at having to perform infront of their peers. As their confidence grows so does their participation. It is lots of fun!!!

Striving to reach our goals and Sharing Success

Today I was in a rather wet Whakatane watching my son, Marek compete in the BOP/Waikato Cross Country Champs. He ran a fantastic race and finished third. He informed Jason and I that he could hear us down the home straight...hard to restrain yourself as a parent sometimes. LOL!

The reason I am sharing this piece of news with you, aside from being a very proud parent, is that during the holidays Abby, Ally and I attended an interesting course on learning dispositions. It outlined 16 critical learning habits that children need to develop in order to thrive as successful life time learners. These 'Habits of the Mind' (developed by Art Costa) are skills that help our children continue to adapt, access and acquire new learning and ways of thinking in a world of constant and accelerating change.

Seeing Marek run today reminded me of this because I know that he has shown incredible persistence, determination, and flexibility. He has also taken risks, problem solved and used gathered information to find ways to improve his performances. Karen Boyes, our presenter, referred to these attributes as she recalled to us a conversation she had had with Corey Hutchins about what attributes he had needed to become such a successful athlete.

If you are interested in learning more about 'The Habits of Mind' ask the staff or see the web link listed on the side bar. Go to Foster the Habits of Mind in Your Children link. The article link has a fuller description for anyone wanting further reading.

End Of Term 2 Newsletter

Another busy term we have had, looking forward to a bit of a break.
A big thank you to our families for all your support this term. Have a safe and happy term break and we will see you all again on Monday 21st July.

Ally, Jo, Abby and Helen.

Loud and FUN!!!

The poi experience

K9 Sense: Dog Visit

Steph and her friends from K9 Sense came to visit us at Kindy on Thursday. She brought her dogs Skye the lab, Zea the Retriever and two guide dogs Nelson the black puppy and Yadon an older puppy, unfortunatly their policy does not allow us to show you the guide pups. The children really enjoyed the dogs and learnt a few simple steps to be safe with and around dogs, hopefully they will be back to visit us again soon.

Trapeeze Work

Chrysler has been practising her circus act for a while now. Here is a video of her skills and abilities in action!