Last Library Borrowing for the Year

Dear Parents,
Please note: Week Six is the last week for Library borrowing for 2007. Please ensure that all borrowed Library books are returned next week. Thank you for your support during the year and happy reading during the holidays. I look forward to seeing your sons again in 2008.
Thank you
Jenny Gilchrist
Preparatory School Librarian

Pick up After our Nativity

Dear Parents,
Our Little Princes Nativity by Numbers is only a few days away. To avoid confusion I thought I would just remind parents of how the day progresses. Please drop your child off at 8.45am as usual if they are participating in the Nativity. Please join us in the Chapel at 11.00am. Do not come to the Kindergarten, we will meet you inside the chapel. The children will not be available to be photographed before the Nativity but you may take photographs during our performance. We will gather the children in groups outside the chapel after the performance so that parents may take photos. All children will return to the Kindergarten with staff after photos. Parents will not be allowed into the Kindergarten whilst children are changing out of their costumes as we do not have room and it gets very crowded and some children can become distressed by the frenetic activity, particularly if their parent is not there. Children who are leaving after Nativity because they are half day or because they are going to have a special lunch with their Nativity guests will be delivered to the Rose Garden outside the Kindergarten with their packed bag by a staff member after they have been changed. We thank you for your understanding about this request.
We can't wait to see you at the chapel on Wednesday....and remember, you're welcome to sing along with us!!!
Mel Bishop

2007 December Flinders Room Graduation

Dear Parents of Flinders Room students,
your son's will be graduating from Little Princes on Thursday the 6th of December. Boys have completed two invitations and these are going home through the boys lockers this week. You will also receive a form to be completed for an end of year DVD. If you wish to purchase one please fill out the form and pass it with your money directly to Ms Rees or Mrs Bishop ASAP. You will also note that there is information from the Junior Primary Staff about moving up day on Tuesday the 4th and a parent gathering on Wednesday the 5th. Please let me know via e-mail if you have not received this letter
Thank you
Mel Bishop

Kindergarten Christmas Celebration

Date : Saturday December 1, 2007
Venue : Top Oval (near the playground area)
Time : 10am - 12 pm
Food : BBQ

Dear Parents,
The P&F Kindergarten representatives have organised a family Christmas picnic. We would ask each family to donate $10 towards sausages, bread and sauce and also ask that each family buy and wrap a present (under $10 dollars in value) for children to receive from Santa (who might make a surprise visit!!) Please look for information regarding this event in your child’s pigeon hole.
Your P&F representatives

Christmas is Coming!!

Guess what we fund in the playground today?... our first sign from nature that Christmas is indeed on it's way. We discovered a Christmas beetle in the sandpit. The boys were completely fascinated by it and captured it in a plastic container. Close observation followed as the boys jostled for the best view point.

"His back is really shiny" said Fletcher
"He is a bit big, we don' have beetles that big at our house" said Oliver
"He can fly!" said Charlie excitedly
"How do you know that?" asked the teacher
"Because some wings came out when we shaked him" said Sam
"I can't see any wings" said the teacher
"It's under the hard bits on the top, like on a ladybug" said Alex
"Why does he have those?" asked the teacher
"So things can't get him and break them, like a lizard or a bird" said Alex

We will release our Christmas beetle tomorrow and look forward to him returning to us closer to Christmas with a dark green shiny back like a Christmas tree!

Book Covering

Dear Parents,
we would like to thank all the parents who assisted us, covering books with contact, earlier in the year. We now have a large stack of recently purchased children's literature that we require some help with. If you are able to assist us covering books please let your sons teacher know and collect a roll of contact and a small stack of books.
Thanking you in anticipation
Kindergarten Staff

Keep them coming in!!!

Thank you to all families who have brought tins and jars in for children's Christmas craft. Please keep them coming in so that all students may begin their projects.
Thank you
Kindergarten Staff

The Year Seven Fair

Dear Parents,
this Friday our Year Seven students will be holding their annual fundraising Year Seven Fair. It is held on the tennis court and is a series of activities and competitions for the boys to participate in.
It will be a casual clothes day for the rest of the Preparatory School but not for Kindergarten students. We would like Friday boys to attend in their Kindergarten uniform.
The Year Seven Fair is:

• only for boys who normally attend of Fridays
• requires a gold coin donation for entry
• requires Kindergarten uniform including a hat (it will be hot!)
• the place where half day boys can be collected on this day

The Kindergarten attends with a communal approach. We pool our donations for one Kindergarten payment and Year Seven students give teachers a basket of tickets for all boys to use. Boys who successfully complete tasks are rewarded with lollies and these are collected in a bowl for all boys to share at the end.

Kindergarten Classes for Next Year

Dear Parents,
We are currently arranging Flinders and Pirie classes for 2008. If your child is born between the first of April 2003 and the first of October 2003 you hopefully will have received notification from the school registrar that your son will be beginning in the Flinders Room in January 2008. If you have not received this notification can you please e-mail Mel Bishop at mbishop@pac.edu.au for further action. If you have received this notification and feel that you would prefer your son to consolidate in the Pirie Room for a further six months please feel free to make an appointment to discuss this further with Mrs Susan Lock or Mrs Mel Bishop, you can also direct this inquiry to the e-mail address above. As is usual, some children do benefit from a further six months in Pirie Room and staff will be approaching parents of these children in the coming weeks for a chat about development and progress to decide on the best course of action for 2008.
Thankyou
Mel Bishop

Image of the Self!

The following is a short snippet of a lengthy conversation had in the kindergarten this week...don't you love the way boys think about the world!

Boy: "Why can't we see ourselves the same way we see other people?"
Teacher: "What do you mean by that?"
Boy: "Why can't we look at the all of our selves, I can only see a little bit of me, I can see the all of Max now"
Teacher: "That's a good question. Why do you think we can't see all of ourselves?"
Boy: "It's because our eyes are up here (points to his face), I think it would be really good if we could have really long eyes so they can go out and turn around and look at the all of me"

It makes you wonder what he is anticipating seeing!

Christmas Craft - Pirie

Dear Pirie Room Parents,
Pirie Room children will require the following for their christmas craft activity. Please send both in a named ziplock bag and pass it directly to your son's teacher:

• a small clear clean glass jar with a lid (we suggest a baby food jar or somthing of a similar size)
• A small toy (to fit easily inside the jar) possibly a Kinder Surpise toy etc...

Thankyou
Susan, Sarah and Karen

Melbourne Cup Day

Dear Parents,
it is usual that many of our parents attend functions across Adelaide on Melbourne Cup Day. As a result this is usually our busiest day of the year in Out of School Hours Care. If you require care after 3.00pm for your child this Tuesday it is imperative that you ring OSHC or Mrs Irma Landi in the front Prep office to make a booking as soon as possible. You will also need to complete a registration form, that can be collected at the front office, if your child has not joined us in Out of School Hours Care before. To maintain safe student/staff ratios we have limited places so get in fast!
Thankyou
OSHC staff

Top Tales in time for Christmas

T'was the night before Christmas,
when all through the house,
not a creature was stirring,
not even a mouse....

Do you remember this familiar poem from your childhood? We have a beautifully illustrated version for sale through Top Tales just in time for Christmas. Check out our new arrivals at the sign in desk

Sports Day Photos

Dear Parents,
spots day photos are now available to be viewed at the Festival Photos website. There are some great action shots as well as house team photos.

School Fee Lottery

Have you entered our school fee lottery?
Reds in the BlackFirst Prize is $15,000 credited to your PAC account to be redeemed by December 2010 or a $15,000 Travel Package credited at Travel on Topham Mall to be booked by December 2008.
There are only 500 tickets at $100 per ticket.To order your tickets please contact Mrs Marg Giddings or download a booking form on www.pac.edu.au
HURRY – Tickets are strictly limited drawn at Prince Alfred College Friday 23 November 2007 at 10.00am. Results published in The Advertiser on Wednesday, 28 November, 2007.
Lottery conducted by Prince Alfred College Foundation Inc.in aid of PAC development projects.
Licence No. M11560
t. 8334 1200 e. mgiddings@pac.edu.au w. www.pac.edu.au

What is a celebration?

“It’s when you put stuff up” said Oliver G
“You celebrate with the whole world” said Alex
“You might put a Christmas tree up” said Charlie
“It’s kinda like a party” said Fletcher
“ …or like a birthday” said Max
“You are really happy” said James B



Dear Parents,
As part of our ongoing unit called “Celebrations across the Nations” we will be looking at two final celebrations. Of course Christmas will be one of those and we will look at why and how people celebrate this joyous season.
The other celebration that we have begun to investigate is Halloween. Halloween is not a traditionally Australian celebration and can be a worrying celebration because of the perceived “scary” nature of it. Therefore we would like to explain to parents how we have begun to introduce it to the children and some of the activities we plan to involve the children in.

• Halloween is a harvest festival. We will be teaching the children about what “harvest” means and looking at how farmers provide us with food. We hope that the children will gain an understanding that Halloween is to say thank you to the earth for giving us such wonderful food.
• We will focus on pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns but will not be giving any undue attention to things such as witches and vampires etc…
• We will be cooking with pumpkins and using their seeds in mathematics activities
• We will be holding a dress up day in week three and will be allowing the children to trick-or-treat at other classrooms. Children will receive 4 treats (3 lollies and a fruit bar) and will be able to choose 1 to eat during class time but the rest will be taken home for parents to supervise.
• We will bob for apples (in only enough water so that the apple can be pushed against the bottom of the tub and still be poking out the top of the water. This activity will be extremely closely supervised) and corn cob printing as part of the investigation into traditional harvest festival games…that should be fun!
• We will be reading lots of Halloween books that will include traditional Halloween characters but that are not scary in content. These include:

Maisy’s Halloween (a focus on dressups)

Ten Little Witches (a counting book)

Mog’s Vegies (a focus on healthy eating and harvest)

The Big Pumpkin (a focus on working together)

Halloween Dress Up Day

Wednesday the 31st of October is dress up day for Wednesday boys. We welcome all creatures except super heroes. Children can come in their costumes ready for a trick or treat! If your child’s costume is a bit difficult to move about in they may like a change of clothes to change into later in the day.

See You Later Mrs Taylor

The time is approaching for Sarah Taylor to leave us to take maternity leave. Sarah’s last day is Friday the 9th of November and we hope to farewell her in style (please check your son’s pigeon hole for more details). Sarah has been an outstanding member of staff whose cheery and fresh approach has been a great asset to the Kindergarten. Sarah has been typified by loyalty, professionalism and a genuine desire and ability to understand and meet all the needs of the students in her charge. Sarah will be greatly missed but we look forward to her continued contact and involvement with Little Princes but above all, wish her all the best for the safe delivery of her first child.
Good luck Sarah, we will miss you.

Kindy Craft – Flinders Room

Dear Flinders Room parents,

• As part of our investigation into harvesting food we plan to make cress heads. If you have any old stockings or glass jars we would love to use them for this activity.
• As part of our Christmas craft Flinders Room boys will require a large Milo or coffee tin (the type with the metal lid that is pressed close). Please pass your son’s named tin directly to a teacher.
  

Thankyou
Mel and Amanda

Parking

Dear Parents,
You will notice that on some days some parking outside the front of the school has been cordoned off to allow trucks access to the school for the building of the new gymnasium. These works have received approval from the council but will mean that on infrequent days fewer car parking spaces are available at the front entrance to the school. This will only happen a number of times in the next term but are all in an effort to have our gym completed for student use as soon as possible. We thank you greatly during this time for your understanding and suggest that if you are having any difficulties finding a park that there are more parking spaces behind the school using the back gate entrance.
Thank you again for your patience

Flinders Room Drop Off

Dear Flinders Room parents,
Please ensure that a kindergarten staff member is present at 8.30 before you leave you child in the morning.
Thank you
Mel and Amanda

Asimo the Robot

ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility), the Honda Humanoid is coming to Adelaide on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of November. Come and see ASIMO the robot at Rymill Park. A wonderful "boy centred" experience.
Where: Rymill Park (Corner of East Terrace and Rundle Rd)
Saturday Times: 10.30am, 12.30pm. 2.30pm, 4.30pm, 6.30pm
Sunday Times: 9.00am, 11.00am, 1.00pm. 3.00pm, 5.00pm
Tickets: Are free (the tent is limited to 350 seats) and available for allocation one hour before the first show each day and then two hours before each of the remaining shows and can be picked up from the Merchandise truck.

Welcome Back!!

Wooo Hooo! One more sleep! We hope your are all as excited about the start of term four as we are. We hope you all had fabulous holidays and your children are ready and raring to come back to Kindergarten. We are certainly looking forward to seeing them... see you tomorrow!
The Kindergarten Staff

Preparing for our 2007 Christmas Nativity

Dear Parents,
We have begun preparation for our Christmas Nativity that we are presenting in week six this term. This week you will receive an attendance form in your child's pocket or locker. Whilst all Little Princes students are invited to join us for the morning, due to flexible attendance patterns it is important for us to ascertain exactly which children will be attending on the day of our Nativity. Please complete your child's attendance form and return it to your son's teacher as soon as possible. Children will be assigned roles only after their form has been returned. We will be informing all parents of their child's role in the Nativity and any small costume requests.
We are also looking for some mums, dads, grans or grandpas who are a whizz on the sewing machine. We need to sew 25 small white shifts with a bit of elastic in the neck before the end of week four for our stars, angels and candles. (They are very straight forward, we promise!). Please come and see a staff member if you are able to give us a hand. Material will be available from next Monday (unless anybody has a big bolt of white cotton collecting dust in a corner of the sewing room!)... I know it's only November but we are starting to get the tinsel tingles already!! :)

Boys' Education Forum

Dr Michael Thompson is acknowledged as a world expert on boys' education and he is also the author of "Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys". Members of the school community are invited to attend the Boys' Education Forum, featuring Dr Thompson tomorrow (Tuesday the 16th of October) in the School Assembly Hall. Please RSVP to the school receptionist on 83341200 if you would like to attend. A gold coin donation would be appreciated.

2008 Reception Class Requests

Dear Flinders Room parents,
As the year draws to a close I am preparing class lists for students moving onto reception. Many different factors are taken into account when preparing these lists and it is helpful for me to know if parents have any specific requests. I take into account all written requests and do my best to accommodate them however may not be able to meet each of them. Please let me know in writing as soon as possible if you have any points for consideration.
Thank you
Mel Bishop

"The First Five Years" Sessions

Dear Parents,
Our sessions entitled "The First Five Years" begin in week two this term. We had many requests for some form of parent education course to be offered at school and this one comes highly recommended by other PAC parents. The information sessions are over six weeks and cost $75 per person. Whilst we had an overwhelming verbal response from interested parents this has not turned into formal registrations. We require 16 people to run the sessions. If you know that you want to attend the evening sessions please let your son's classroom teacher know as soon as possible as we would prefer not to have to cancel the sessions.
Thank you
Kindergarten Staff

Happy Holidays

Dear Little Princes Families,

We hope you have a happy and relaxing holiday filled with lots of (safe!) fun. We have had a busy term and are also looking forward to a little relaxation but already miss the boys and will be thrilled to see them back at school with lots of holiday adventures to share on Tuesday the 16th of October.

From Mel, Sarah, Susan, Amanda, Karen, Janet and Marie

Sports Day

Thank you to all the parents who supported our Little Princes students on sports day. We were very proud of the effort, participation and sportsmanship of all our budding Olympic heroes! A special mention must go to Thomas who successfully completed the entire day in a leg cast (with a little help from Mrs Ricks). We were thrilled to see how enthusiastic all our parents were to compete in the parent races, it was a very special moment for all of our boys.
Taylor House was the winning house this year with Watsford coming in second, Waterhouse and Cotton in third and fourth place respectively.
Thank you also for supporting the Junior Primary P&F representatives fundraising for charity through the sports day sausage sizzle. Unfortunately not everybody was able to get their orders and money in prior to the day. We were pleased that we had some extra sausages for those who needed them. If you were lucky enough to grab one of those snags please pass your sausage sizzle money to Kindergarten staff at the start of next term and we will add it to the JP P&F fundraising account.
(Please watch this space for a sports day photo slide show at the end of the holidays)

Farewell Chickadees

Our ten fluffy babies departed for their new home on a farm (complete with a mother hen waiting to take care of them, she will go to bed with ten babies and wake with twenty!! That will be a shock!). We would like to thank Tommy's Grandpa Dolek for offering a home. We look forward to seeing our little babies first eggs after Christmas.
Cluck Cluck

Sports Day Details

Sports Day in nearly upon us and below are details for parents. We hope you can join us for an enjoyable morning. (Get your running shoes on!)

• Our day starts at 9.00am on the tennis court


• Children may wear a shirt in their house colour. House shirts are available at Princes Parade (ask Margie, she has a list and knows what house your son is in) and are particularly recommended for boys in the Flinders Room as they will require a house shirt in Reception in 2008 anyway.


• Please return your Sausage Sizzle form ASAP if you would like your son to have a sausage for lunch. Please Note: Sausages may not be ready immediately at the conclusion of our morning.


• Children will return to Kindergarten half way through the morning for a toilet stop and snack. We ask that parents do not join us in the Kindergarten but instead wait for us in the Rose Garden.


• Children will be able to have an ice block at the end of sports day. Please let your son’s teacher know if your child has an allergy.


• Our Day will run as follows
  *8.40 – 9.00 – Tea and Coffee for parents in the Rose Garden
  *9.00 – 9.15 – A welcome by Mr Andary and Health Hustle on the Tennis Court
  *9.15 – 10.45 – Running Races and Duck Duck Goose circles
  *10.45 – 11.15 – Toilet and snack break
  *11.15 – 11.45 – Sports Circuit activities
  *11.45 – Close of the mornings events and medal, ice block presentation
  *12.00 – Sausage Sizzle and lunch
  *12.00 – Option of early dismissal – Please let your son’s teacher know if you are taking him home before you leave.

Weather Update:
Please note that rain is predicted for Thursday. We will make every reasonable effort to continue with sports day to avoid disappointment.

Welcome Mrs Janet Ricks

We would like to warmly welcome Mrs Janet Ricks who will work with us in the Pirie Room every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as a Kindergarten Assistant. Janet is a very experienced and well qualified addition to our staff and has already shown us her calm and patient manner and friendly and caring personality. Janet is undoubtedly an advocate for young children and early childhood education and we look forward to all her assistance, experienced insight and positive influence on our Kindergarten programme.

Continuing our quest to reduce, reuse and recycle with Tupperware

Thankyou for your fantastic support of our efforts to reduce waste at eating times. The children are now very proactive in recycling plastic spoons and zip lock bags and this already has made a significant impact on waste levels. It’s wonderful to see those bags returning to school day after day.
We are now ready to take our next step in our reduce, reuse, recycle plan. Susan Lock has negotiated with Peter Wooldridge from Tupperware who has provided us with some catalogues and examples of small storage containers for children’s lunches at sale prices. For those who would like to do away with zip lock bags and convenience packaging all together (…go on, we dare you!!) visit our waste display in class and pick up a catalogue.
Sarah Taylor is now investigating Kindergarten composting in preparation for our third step to environmentally friendly snack and lunch times in our centre.

Holiday Ideas

• Thomas the Tank Engine Musical Show – Tickets on sale at the Festival Theatre now, don’t miss out!
• South Australian Museum Holiday Program – Butterflies and Bugs, From Tuesday the 2nd to Friday the 12th of October at 11.00am to 3.00pm on week days. For children aged 4 and over.
• Oz Asia Lantern Festival – lots of family friendly experiences down by the Torrens River including a spectacular night lantern walk.

Sports day Sausage Sizzle

Dear Parents,
Yellow Sports Day Sausage Sizzle order forms are in children's pigeon holes now. Please return them as soon as possible. Please note that if your child is a half day boy on sports day you may need to wait for your son's sausage to arive as we cannot predict exactly when the JP parents will have them ready.
Thankyou
Kindergarten Staff

Our Philosophy has made it to Fountain Lakes

For those of you who were watching “Kath and Kim” that aired on channel seven last week you may have picked up a humorous reference to our centers guiding philosophy. In last weeks episode Kim was looking for a suitable Kindergarten for her daughter Eponee-Rae. She was quite excited about a centre that “had that Reggiana Parmigiana!”
Kimmy was, of course, referring to the world renowned approach to early childhood development from the Italian province of Reggio Emilia.
At Little Princes our philosophy about how children learn is heavily influenced by this ground breaking approach. We believe:
- children are unique individuals who are competent learners
- the environment plays a pivotal part in the facilitation of child development
- that Teachers are facilitators on the journey of investigation
- children can find beauty and inspiration in the natural world
- that we are developing competent citizens as well as educated beings
Overall we believe that children are not vessels that we need to fill but that we are, in fact, drawing from their existing knowledge and scaffolding this into a greater understanding.
It's nioce, it’s different, it’s unusual, yeah, it’s noice!

From the Mouth of Babes

Some wise words from our students this week:
“I like Fruit Salad Cottage”. Sam states his preference for “Prince Alfred College”!
“You had a chicken!!” Willem looks incredulously from Sarah Taylor’s baby bump to the new chickens in our brooding box, what other explanation could there be!

New Top Tales Arrivals

Dear Parents,
A new box of Top Tales children's literature has arrived and is available to be viewed at the sign in desk at Kindergarten. Orders from the last box are in children's lockers now. There are many wonderful titles in the new box. Staff recommendations include:

• The ABC kids Party Book - A great one for parents who are out of ideas for party themes
• Harry and the Dinosaurs at the Museum - A favourite with the boys
• Fred Stays with Me - a beautifully illustrated book that whimsically looks at a separated family
• Hippo has a Hat - A rhyming book for very young children 3 years and under

Happy Reading

A Message for Expectant Mothers

Please Note: We have had two incidents of chicken pox in families who come to Kindergarten. None of our students have experienced any symptoms. We are not concerned that any of our students are at risk but would like to inform any expectant mothers.

An Exciting Announcment

Dear Parents,
As you are already aware, Mrs Sarah Taylor is expecting her first baby and will be leaving us at the end of week 4 next term to go on maternity leave.
We are now excited to announce that Mrs Susan Lock is also expecting another addition to her family, a brother or sister for her son Bailey. We will be fare welling her at the end of Term Four.
For those who can’t wait that long for an arrival, make sure you keep a sharp eye out over our brooding box in the kindy, you may spot some fluffy yellow babies!

Sarah Taylor and Susan Lock

Parent Teacher Interviews

The Kindergarten will be holding Parent Teacher Interviews for all Flinders Room boys and all new students in the Pirie Room in week 9 on the Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th of September. We ask parents of other students in the Pirie Room who are interested in an interview to speak to a Pirie Room teacher to coordinate an appointment.

Helping Children Understand Death

Dear Parents,
This week in the playground we discovered a dead sparrow. This prompted a lot of discussion and some negotiation about what we should do with it.
The children decided that the bird had not been killed by a hunter or a cat because there was no blood. They thought he looked like he was asleep and that perhaps we should pop him up on the fence so that he could fly away when he woke up. Some children felt that because he didn’t move when he was poked with the spade that he was dead and wouldn’t wake up.
One child suggested that the bird should be put in the bin by the teacher but most children agreed that dead things didn’t go in the bin, instead they should be flushed down the toilet like a fish. The Teacher asked if the bird was a fish, and if not, what should we do with it instead? Finally it was decided that the boys would dig a big hole in the garden and that we should bury the bird. This was a big process with lots of boys wanting to participate in the digging of a little hole! Finally the bird was gently nudged into the hole and covered up with a vigorous pat. One child felt that we should put something special there so that people would not forget the bird. So he colored in a picture of a chicken and taped a pop stick to the back of the paper to make a sign. He asked the teacher to write the following words “The children buried it because it was dead. The bird was nice looking, It was lovely”
We followed this experience up the following day with a book by Mem Fox called “Tough Boris” about a pirate who feels sad when his parrot dies. The children were eager to talk about some aspects of death and parents may find that some children have questions or want to discuss the concept of death at home. This is never an easy discussion and some parents feel a little uncomfortable or get upset by their own past experiences. Below we have given some tips that may help you in dealing with your child’s questions if they have any. We hope they help.

*Be matter-of-fact: don’t make death more airy fairy than it is.
*Answer your child’s questions: You don’t need to tell them everything you know, just answer their questions, if they have others they will let you know. Don’t be afraid to tell your child that you don’t know the answers to all the questions.
*Be honest: The truth is that we don’t know what happens when we die. Telling children that a pet who has passed away has gone to live on the farm simply strings out the child’s desire to see their pet because there is hope. It also passes up a wonderful opportunity to begin to deal with death before it becomes a more confronting issue.
*Help allay children’s fears: Children can get anxious and feel under prepared as they begin to worry that it might happen to them. Reinforce that people only die for three reasons:
-when they get really, really, really, really, really, really, really old,
-really, really, really, really, really, really, really sick
-or their body gets really, really, really, really, really, really, really broken (Specialist in the area recommend that you use at least 7 “reallys” so that children understand that you don’t die because you have a cold, because you are over twenty or because you broke your arm!) It can help children’s understanding to explain that when one of these three things happens that your body is not a nice place to live anymore so you leave it behind.
*Help children understand deaths place in their world: Talk about people they know or people that were important to you, how it made you feel and what happened after. Eg: “I felt sad for a while after my Nanny died but now I just think about her every now and then and remember some happy things about her. The blue teapot in our kitchen came from my Nanny’s house and reminds me of her, it’s very special to me”
*Help children understand the permanency of death: Reinforce that once people die they never come back to life. We get to remember them in special ways instead.
*Encourage children to express their growing understanding and communicate their ideas: Let them talk and draw pictures, you will find that this lets you know what’s going on in your child’s head.
*Encourage children to express their feelings: Sometimes when people die it’s Okay to feel a little bit lonely or sad and it’s definitely Okay to cry.

Hatching Chickens

Dear Parents,
You will notice that we have some fertilized eggs in an incubator in our classroom at the moment. We have sourced these from a company called “Living Eggs” to ensure that they are free of any infections or abnormalities. Living Eggs supply us with all we need to make sure the chickens, after they hatch, are safe and well fed. In the coming days we have asked the children to move slowly and carefully around the incubator table to give our embryos the greatest chance of living, hopefully we will be welcoming up to ten chicks by the end of the week and next week the chicks will be hardy enough to be handled by the children.
The incubator and brooding box will leave us at the end of next week. If you or grandparents etc… would like to offer some chicks a home so that your children can see them grow into a hen or a rooster please let a staff member know. You must take a minimum of two chicks at a time but we would be happy for all of them to go to one home if someone has the space. We can also give you some information on rearing chicks at home.
Flinders Boys will be making fluffy chickens in the next two weeks. If you have any yellowy colored wool at home that you are no longer using we would be most appreciative of a donation.
Thank you
Kindergarten Staff

How a Father is Made

Dear Dads,
Please enjoy the following quote. I think it speaks volumes about how Mums and Dads parent in different but equally important ways.
Enjoy
Mel Bishop

When God was creating fathers, He started with a tall frame. An angel nearby said, "What kind of father is that? If you’re going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put fathers up so high? He won’t be able to shoot marbles without kneeling, tuck a child in bed without bending, or even kiss a child without a lot of stooping." God smiled, "Yes, but if I make him child size, who would children have to look up to?" When God made a father’s hands, they were large and sinewy. The angel shook her head sadly and said, "Do You know what You’re doing? Large hands are clumsy. They can’t manage diaper pins, small buttons, or rubber bands on pony tails." God smiled, "I know, but they’re large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets at the end of a day…yet small enough to cup a child’s face." Then God molded long legs and broad shoulders. The angel nearby said "Do You realize You just made a father without a lap? How will he pull a child close to him without the kid falling between his legs?" God smiled, "A mother needs a lap. A father needs strong shoulders to pull a sled, balance a boy on a bicycle or hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus." God was in the middle of creating two of the largest feet anyone had ever seen when the angel could contain herself no longer. "Do You honestly think those large boats are going to dig out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries? Or walk through a small birthday party without crushing at least three of the guests?" God smiled, "They’ll support a small child who wants to "ride a horse to Banbury Cross" or scare off mice at the summer cabin, or display shoes that will be a challenge to fill." God worked through the night, giving the father few words but a firm authoritative voice; eyes that see everything, but remain calm and tolerant. Finally, He added tears, then turned to the angel, "Now are you satisfied that he can love as much as a mother?" The angel was silent.
-Anon

A Grandies Day Thank You

Grandies Day was a huge hit this year. Thank you to all the Grandies and relatives that visited us in our classroom. Your messages of love were wonderful.

A Khmer Thankyou

Thank you to those who donated for Samnang, our Cambodian visitor. The Flinders boys enjoyed the concert immensely and particularly liked the monkey dance. Samnang enjoyed his time in the Kindergarten with us and particularly enjoyed playing on the scooter, the likes of which he had never seen before…he mastered it very quickly. We will begin to fundraise next term to purchase some scooters and bikes for the orphanage in Cambodia so that all of Samnangs brothers and sisters can enjoy them too.

Quick Reminders Week 7 Term 3

1. Please let us know if you intend to come to our dinner at the Strathmore
2. Flinders Room boys have health checks this week

Book Week Dress Ups

Wow, fantastic characters came to school for Book Week . It was wonderful how the boys insisted on staying in character all day! Check out just a few in our slide show below:

KESAB Paper Making in the Kindergarten

Dear Parents,
This week we will be excited to welcome Margaret from KESAB (Keep South Australia Beautiful) to our Kindergarten on Wednesday morning. Margret will be holding an paper making morning for all Wednesday boys, bringing with her lots of lovely coloured paper pulp, deckles, squeegees and other paper making paraphernalia! It sounds as though it's going to be lots of fun. Children will require an A4 sized piece of cotton cloth to dry their paper on. Old sheets or dad's old cotton shirts that have worn out collars are a wonderful recyclable resource to pinch your cotton from! We apologise for the late notice but KESAB programs are in such demand we were lucky to be informed that we were receiving a visit late on Friday. If you have a large cotton sheet that would contribute more than one A4 sized piece of cloth we would love it if you could cut more than one piece so that your child can share some with a friend or visit the pulp trays more regularly.
Thanks

Half Day Pick Up Times

Dear Parents of Half Day boys,
Our half days finish at 12.30pm. Thank you to all the parents who regularly arrive at 12.25pm or before, ready to collect their son, we appreciate your support. Unfortunately we are experiencing some habitually late parents and this is impacting on our staffing arrangements between 12.30pm and 1.00pm. For parents who are experiencing difficulty with pick up times please feel free to contact our registrar, Carolyn Roney if it would help to enrol your son for afternoon sessions on the days that pick up is problematic. Carolyn can be e-mailed directly on croney@pac.edu.au.
Thank you
Mel Bishop

Grandies Day this Thursday

Dear Parents,
This Thursday we are holding our annual Grandies Day at PAC Preparatory School. Hopefully Grandies have received their invites and we will see them on Thursday. Please remind Grandies to meet us at the Assembly Hall, not at Kindergarten. Also, we would ask that Grandies bring their special message hearts on the day to add to our display board. Festival Photographers will be present on the day to take photos and will be available to be purchased via their website in week 8.

Science and Water Absorption in Week Six

This week we had fun at the science table looking at how different types of paper absorb liquid. Children quickly concluded that "hard paper wont let the water in, it says 'stop'" and that "soft floppy paper lets it come in but soon it gets too full and the water has to stay on the outside". This experience encouraged children to recognise that paper comes in different forms and can be used for different uses. One child even decided to fetch some toilet paper to see what would happen. Students also enjoyed colour mixing with the dyes and creating patterns on the more absorbent paper. Check out our photos.

Photos from the Big Boys Breakfast

Dear Dads, Uncles, Godfathers and Grandads,
Thank you so much for attending our Big Boys Breakfast, you all looked wonderful in your handmade ties! The boys enjoyed the event and continued to talk about it all day, it was very special for them to welcome you into their school life in a small way.
Dwayne from Festival Photographers took some wonderful photos on the day. These are now available to be purchased on their website. Some of the photos are stunning and would make a wonderful keepsake or gift for paternal grandparents with Christmas a few short months away. We can guarantee that the quality of Festivals photos are outstanding. To view the proofs simply go to:
http://www.festival-photo.com.au/
after the site has appeared click on View Events and then scroll down to Prince Alfred College 2007 and click on Fathers Day Breakfast. The site will ask you for an event date, type in 30/08/2007 and push enter. Simply follow the directions if you wish to purchase a photo. We hope to have some printed proofs in the Kindergarten in the coming week for those whose eyes need a larger image!!!

Up coming Parent Workshops.

Over the last couple of months the Kindergarten staff have had a number of parents asking for advice on particular topics and wanting to know some strategies to help in their situations. Fear not, unsuprisingly the questions that have been asked have been very similar to those of other families. The Kindergarten staff have contacted Centacare to come in and give short talks and share in experiences that relate to your concerns.
We have asked Brian from Centacare to come and present workshops on the First 4 Years -Growing Happy and Confident Children. We are hoping to gauge your interest and book Brian for a 6 week course of sessions running from 7pm till 9pm on Monday or Tuesday nights.
The topics for the workshops are as follows:

• Children and Play.
• What's happening for your child at this age.
• Building connection in your family.
• How to include Rituals, Celebrations and outings in your family.
• Learning your child's language.
• Sharing the ups and downs with others parents.
  

Other parents have attended these workshops outside of School and the feedback was very positive. Please contact your son's teacher to show your interest.
More information to you soon.

Parents Social Dinner - The Strathmore

Dear Parents,
Trina B. has organised a wonderful dinner get-together for Little Princes parents and staff.
It will be held on Friday 14th of September (put it in your diary now!) at 7.00pm. Trina and her staff have put together a set of truly scrumptious options as a three course meal all for $33pp that is payable at Kindergarten before the evening. As this site is a public site, the location of our dinner is on a newsletter in your son's pigeon hole along with all those yummy food choices and a reply slip. You may also RSVP through this blog site. We hope you can all make it as it promises to be a fun evening.
Thanks
Kindergarten Staff

Paper Chase - Hand Beaters Wanted

Dear Parents,

we are beginning to make paper pulp this week. We are looking for any old fashioned hand beaters that the boys could use to make their pulp with. If you have any hand beaters at home that we could you for a week or two we would be very appreciative.

Thanks

Kindergarten Staff

A Cake Stall for Sunrise

Dear Parents,
thankyou so much for your support of Samnang, our visitor from Cambodia. Thanks to your genorosity he will be warm and well fed during his visit here. We are all looking forward to hearing him and his friends in concert.
Boys from Year Three have decided to hold a cake stall all this week to raise money to send back to Cambodia with the sunrise children. We would like to support this and on Wednesday the 29th of August we will be taking Kindergarten children who would like to buy a cake to the stall. If your son would like to visit the stall please ensure that you put a gold coin donation in the cake stall jar and tick off your son's name. Due to specialist classes and timetable clashes we will only be visiting the stall once.
For those who are iterested to learn more about how Samnang lives and the wonderful work of Sunrise in Cambodia you can find information at the following address :
http://www.sunrisechildrensvillage.com/

Samnang at home

Songs from Week 5 Term 3

Here are words to one of the songs that the children have been singing in class.

Where are the Bees?
Here is the beehive,
But where are the bees,
Hiding away where nobody sees,
Watch them come creeping out of their hive,
One, Two, Three, Four Five,
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzz,
Back in the Beehive.

The House of the Bears.
When Goldilocks went to the house of the bears
Oh what did her blue eyes see?
A bowl that was big, a bowl that was small,
a bowl that was tiny and that was all.
She counted them 1, 2, 3

When Goldilocks went to the house of the bears
Oh what did her blue eyes see?
A chair that was big, a chair that was small,
a chair that was tiny and that was all.
She counted them 1, 2, 3

When Goldilocks went to the house of the bears
Oh what did her blue eyes see?
A bed that was big, a bed that was small,
a bed that was tiny and that was all.
She counted them 1, 2, 3

When Goldilocks went to the house of the bears
Oh what did her blue eyes see?
A bear that was big GRRRRR, a bear that was small grrr,
a bear that was tiny gr, and that was all.
She counted them 1, 2, Eeeeee!!!!!!!

Big Boys Breakfast

A friendly reminder that on Thursday 30th August 2007 it's the Big Boys Breakfast and yes it's at 7.30am in the morning. The Kindergarten staff will meet the dads and their son's at the Assembly Hall near the Senior school. In the mean time could you please make sure that you fill out the R.S.V.P slip and survey with a photo and return it to your son's teacher before Thursday . Thank you for your co operation.

Does this ring true with you?

A parent sent me the following e-mail, she thought I would appreciate it as one who works with boys and who knows how very special they are. I hope you read the following with a knowing smile and a shared belief that we wouldn't want them any other way!
Enjoy
Mel Bishop

Things I've learned from my boys (honest and not kidding)
A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.
If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
A 3-year old boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 15 kilo boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
You should not throw cricket balls up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a cricket ball a long way!
The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a cricket ball hit by a ceiling fan.
When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.
Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
A six-year old boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year-old man says they can only do it in the movies.
Certain Legos will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old boy.
Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
Super glue is forever.
No matter how many jelly crystals you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
Pool filters do not like jelly crystals.
VCR's do not eject vegimite and cheese sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
Marbles in petrol tanks make lots of noise when driving.
The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
It will, however, make cats dizzy.
Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
80% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid!

Book Week

We are celebrating Book Week this week. We will be participating in activities based on the books short listed by the Australian Book Council including:

• Grandpa, Thomas and the Green Umbrella - Pamela Allen
• Eight
• Ella Kazzoo will not Brush her Hair - Lee Fox
• Water Witcher - Jan Omerod
• Chatterbox - Margaret Wild

Feel free to stop and share one of these stories with your child this week

We will finish the week with our annual Kindergarten and Junior Primary book week dress up day and parade. Children may dress up as a character from a familiar or favourite book on Friday. Please do not allow your child to come as a superhero. For parents who would like to watch our parade, after our initial group time, we will join the Junior Primary boys on the tennis court, feel free to wait for us there (with cameras at the ready!)

Bridging the Gap - Parent Evening

What better way to spend a blustery, chilly evening than with a glass of wine, a little cheese and a lot of good company! Thankyou to the parents who joined us for an evening presentation last Thursday. We hope that you found it informative and enjoyable. For those of you who were inspired to view the slide show that we played at the beginning you can find it on youtube using the following link.

We were thrilled to see such enthusiastic participation in our bridge building extravaganza. The boys really enjoyed checking the bridges out on Friday morning and keenly spotted the bridge climbers, cars, boats and water that you created to grace your structures!!







For those who were unable to make it:

• Please pass your e-mail address to your son's teacher so that we may alert you to new information on this blog site


• We are discussing and investigating paper and creating a paper book, please encourage your son to bring different example of paper that we use to Kindergarten to add to our book


• We are encouraging boys to recycle zip lock bags and so they will be bringing them back home after use at snack and lunch times for you to refill for the next day

Thanks again to all those who attended, hope to see you over a glass of red at our next parent function at the Strathmore Hotel (watch this space for further details and dates)

Welcome to our Online Information Blog

Dear Parents,

Welcome to our online blog site.
We hope you are all aware that your son's have begun to investigate what books are made of and where paper comes from. The boys shared the following statements when we began to discuss what books are made of:
* "Books are made up of paper bits"
* "But ya have to stick them together in the middle first"
* "If you tried to draw the pictures on plastic it wont work"
* "Paper is made of trees, I know because Alex told me"
* "Yeah, I think you get the leaf bits and squash them together"
* "Can we make paper? Have we got an axe at Kindy 'cause we'll have to chop the tree down"
The staff of Little Princes have been inspired by the students to look at how much paper we use in our communication with parents and if there is a way to minimise this whilst also improving our lines of communication. We hope this will allow parents top have the infomation they need at their fingertips.
Our blog spot is in it's experimental infancy but we have already created some boundaries for it's development. We will not post any information that will identify the address or location of the centre (you, the intended recipients, already know where we are!). We also will not identify your child by name. We are interested to hear your suggestions or ideas about other boundarys we may need to consider. Please feel free to post your ideas.
We plan to let parents know of new postings via an e-mail alert system. If you would like to support us and recieve a flag for new information posted on this blog please make sure you pass your e-mail address to your son's teacher. E-mail addresses will not be directly connected to this site and so will not be accessable to any other user.
Happy Blogging
Little Princes Staff

Our Week 3 Term 3 Newsletter

Calling all Volunteers
We are looking after some keen volunteers to help with book covering and sewing.
In term 4 we have our Kindy nativity performance. We have decided to create some new costumes, just the right size for our little people! We also have a basket of new books which require covering before we share them with the children. If you are able to assist please let a staff member know!
Many hands make light work.
Top Tales
Another wonderful selection of books has arrived from Top Tales. This term the basket of books is located on the sign in table. Please take the time to look at the books and complete the forms as required. Remember each book purchased goes towards bonus books for the Kindergarten. The orders usually take two weeks to arrive and are placed in your child’s locker. Thank you for your continued support.
Portfolios
As part of our ongoing assessment and recording procedures each child has a Portfolio. The Portfolio contains a collection of work samples, photo’s and investigations from our PYP units.
The Porfolio’s are sent home throughout the year for your children to share and talk about their Kindergarten experiences with you.
For those children who were in the Kindy last term please return your child’s Portfolio as soon as possible so we can begin to add new samples of work.
We hope you enjoyed sharing the wonderful examples of work and hearing all about your child’s adeventures!
OHSC Bookings
Please note that families requiring OHSC need to make a booking directly with OSHC as the numbers each night are strictly limited and there is a high demand at this time of year. This can either be a permanent booking used each week or a casual booking made the Prep School office by 12 noon of the required day. OSHC also have their own enrolment form which must be completed prior to care. These are available from the front office. When a booking is confirmed we ask that parents indicate on our signing in/out sheets. Unfortunately Kindy staff are not able to confirm bookings in OSHC this must be done directly with the OSHC staff.
Bedding Washing- Pirie
As we have a higher number of children attending full days this term we will be sending bedding home each fortnight for it to be laundered. It is however important that the bedding is returned to Kindy the following week. Bedding will be placed in lockers on a Friday of Week 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10. (If you child is not in on a Friday you may take it home earlier in the week.)
Lunch boxes - Pirie
All children in the Pirie Room have been placed in a group and are asked to place their lunch boxes in the appropriate box each morning. In this way we are keeping all foods to one area and this allows for ease of movement out to snack and lunch time. At Kindy we do aim to encourage healthy eating and packing healthy snacks help the staff emphasise the importance of healthy food in our diet.

Donations for Roth Samnang

Donations have begun to arrive for our visitor from Cambodia
1 jumper - thankyou to the Cook Family
1 polar fleece windcheater - thankyou to the Motteram Family
1 warm hat - thankyou to the Chapman Family
3 pairs of warm socks - the Chapman and Groughan Families
1 bath towel -thankyou to the Searls and Cerchez Families
Shampoo (new) -thankyou to the Searls Family
Soap (new) -thankyou to the Searls Famliy
Toothpaste (new) -thankyou to the Searls and Cerchez Families
Nail brush (new) - thankyou to the Jenkin Family
1 pillow - thankyou to the Gasparin Family
1 pillow case- thankyou to the Cerchez Family
10kg of rice - thankyou to the Carolan amd Jenkin Family
Backpack - thankyou to the Searls Family

Samnang also needs to borrow
1 warm jacket - thankyou to the Knight Family
Scarf
Gloves
Sleeping bag -thankyou to the Knight Family