Today's Mt St John Adventure

Over the last few weeks we have been learning about shapes. 

Today during our walk up Mt St John we decided to go on a hunt for 

shapes that we might see in the outdoors. 

As we walked up the road, Féline saw a rectangle fire hydrant and then Isabella spotted the triangle on the road, pointing it out to us. Halle found a red oval leaf and Scarlett found a little round lady bug which Mariana took time to admire while it crawled on Scarlett's Thumb.

As we continued around the mountain many other things caught our attention. 

We came across a tree covered in cicada shells. Some of the girls held them in their hands while other girls were not so sure and decided to stand back. 

 The girls then decided to continue their journey around the mountain to the Fairy Grotto. Where they climbed the trees and pretended they were riding Roller Coasters. Mika found a little "Grasshopper" that everyone gazed at in amazement. 

Welcoming Grandparents

Over the last few days we have had the pleasure of welcoming 

some of the girls grandparents into the classroom. First Dakota's and then Féline and Tess'

Dakota welcomed Carol and Robert and we were lucky to have them visit

before they left for America today. We are looking forward to

catching up with them through our blog.

Féline has had her Aunty, Uncle and cousins over from the Netherlands

as well as her Oma and Opa. We said farewell to Oma and Opa 

today as they are returning home tomorrow. 

Tess has also had lots of family staying. 

What a wonderful welcome she gave her Oma and Opa yesterday when they

arrived in the classroom fresh off the plane from the Netherlands. 

The wonderful welcome was SO touching and some of us 

shed a few tears. 

Both Tess and Féline haven't seen 

their grandparents for about 6 months and it was so lovely to see the joy

they showed in having them visit our classroom.

"Grandparents hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts for ever".

 

A Miracle Happens!

 A Miracle Happens!

At morning meeting we were discussing the butterflies that had hatched out of their Chrysalis’ over the weekend, when wonder of wonders, another butterfly began to hatch in front of our eyes.

The girls were intrigued with how the butterflies wings were all scrunched up and in no time at all, they had unfolded

We took the butterfly outside to the tree and it stayed very still. Miss Lambert
asked the girls;

“Why do you think the butterfly is staying so still on the tree?”

“It is still growing and it is too windy and it is waiting for the wind to stop”.
Mika

“Maybe their wings are a little too dry to fly?”
Zara

Monday is Library Day

Today was the first time this term that we visited

the library together. The girls enjoyed choosing a book

and we read them during the day and at rest time.

Creating Music

Tuesdays are the time we have music with Mrs Robinson and the girls

really enjoyed going to the music studio this morning.

Mrs Robinson has asked the girls to think about their favourite song and draw a picture

for her to put up in the music room. We will work on this during the week.

Lily's favourite is Lorde's Royals and Féline's is Slaap Kindje Slaap (sleep children, sleep) which she

enthusiastically sang to everyone.

Today in the classroom we continued music and used the instruments to play 

along with some of our other 'favourite' songs.

We concentrated on getting the beat right, stopping when the music stopped and 

having rests during the music.

We are also working on clapping out the syllables of names and words. Joining sounds together is helpful for later reading.

The girls' attention span during our group work is quite remarkable!

Settling In

It has been a pleasure to watch the girls as they have settled into the new year at school. Our old girls are looking after our new girls so well and helping them to learn the routines. There is such a lot to learn that I'm sure they are finding it quite overwhelming at times. 

Here are a few photos of the girls at work!

Our First Morning of 2014

29th January 2013

Today during morning meeting Mrs Bayes told us a story about two little caterpillars that had eaten all their leaves in the Dio garden over the Christmas holidays. Mrs Bayes bought some new Swan Plants for the caterpillars and showed the girls these plants.  

“The poor little caterpillars have nothing more to eat and they are lost somewhere in the gardens of Diocesan School for Girls! 

We need to go on a caterpillar hunt around the school to find these little creatures!” 

Mrs Bayes suggested.

During our walk the girls used the ipads to take photos of their journey through the school. They  investigated the flowers, leaves and plants in the gardens and asked each time 
as they stopped at a plant “Are there any caterpillars here?”. 
On our way past the old school house we saw our Principal Mrs McRae talking on the telephone in her office. We waved to her through the window and then she came out of her office to talk to us. We told her about the caterpillars and how important it was that we carry on and find them. 

After searching through the Senior School gardens we came across the I.C.T department and went in to meet all the people that look after our computers in the school. 
We took a quick photo of us all together and then continued our journey. 

Lily noticed that on some of the plants there were tiny holes.

“The caterpillars must have been here!” Lily exclaimed excitedly  

as she pointed at tiny holes in the leaves.

As the girls moved through the school they noticed that there were many holes on lots of the plants in the gardens. These holes seemed to be getting bigger.

The girls thought it was because we were getting closer to the caterpillars.

Our walk took us past the garden in the Junior School where we found the remainders of an old Swan Plant with no leaves on it.

“Perhaps we could look around the garden and see if the caterpillars have moved somewhere else?” suggested Mrs Bayes.

The girls continued to search and soon enough they began spotting black and yellow caterpillars.

Mika held a very dead plant with a caterpillar on it and gazed at it in wonder.

The girls collected 4 caterpillars and spotted 1 hanging on the wall of a school building.

“What is it doing?” asked Mrs Bayes

“Maybe it is exercising?” suggested Halle

“I think it is going into a cocoon!” shared Zara.

The girls carefully carried the caterpillars back on leaves to the Swan Plants 
in the Foundation Class. These little caterpillars are now on our lush green
Swan Plants and have plenty of leaves to eat.
We look forward to seeing how these creatures transform over the next few
weeks and wonder what discoveries the girls will make.