The Week Ahead 20180112

Welcome Back! The calendar new year is here, and we welcome 2018 with a sense of eager anticipation and excitement. 2018 is a year of momentous events for team Bilingual as we plan for the move to our forever home. You will notice around the current setting that the immediate landscape has changed over the winter break and we are a little more alone with our neighbours gone. This is a clear indication of the changes ahead and the remarkable development in the local area. To be a part of it is truly exciting. It is said that ‘sometimes in the winds of change, we find our true direction’ and this is indeed true of our continued journey.   A warm reminder about uniform

It is chilly outside, to say the least and it is important that the children are wearing the right clothing to allow them to stay warm and comfortable throughout the day. The indoor environment is set to an appropriate temperature and every child should have their winter coat and hat for outdoor play. I appreciate the desire of carers to make sure their loved ones are warm and toasty, but I do ask that children do not come to the setting with ‘hidden’ layers. Adding layers underneath underwear (for example a feather gilet) can result in children overheating and presenting with symptoms of being unwell. Our children are active, they run around and to this end, we provide a suitable indoor environment for this to take place without adverse effect. Please support us in keeping the children healthy.   An interesting read... A 19-year study ‘Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness’ published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the skills that predict future success had little to do with early reading and writing ability. Instead, it identified a child’s social and emotional skills are what determined how likely a child is to go to college (twice as likely, apparently). The study followed children from kindergarten to young adulthood, collecting data on various domains of human development and adult outcomes, finding a correlation between early social competence on the outcomes. Outcomes included education, employment, crime, mental health and substance use. The study concluded that, ‘for predicting future success in the workplace, levels of cognitive ability measured through IQ or test scores alone are less predictive than measures of educational attainment, which require not just cognitive ability but also non-cognitive characteristics such as self-discipline, academic motivation and interpersonal skills (for example co-operating, listening, conflict-resolution).   Funky Fridays continue in January!

• Friday 12^th is crazy hair day
• Friday 19^th is cosy scarf day
• Friday 26^th is superhero day

  We need your support: If you have any old tent you don’t use at home, please bring it to the setting. Feel free to drop it in big paper box at the Reception.   The Wellington community grows Our team here at Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai continues to grow and thrive. To this end, we are delighted to welcome Faye Li (Senior Facility and Operations Manager) to the team.   Classroom News for week beginning Monday 15^th January 2018 EY1 – Erica Ni writes about the theme Dear Zoo This week, we are going to ask EY1 children to be little zoo keepers and take care of the animals they like. We will talk about animals’ food and their skin and patterns. Through this activity, children will have opportunity to develop their interests in playing with small-world models and abilities to notice simple shapes and patterns in pictures. We will talk about Wellington Values----kindness, responsibility, respect, integrity and courage in children’s daily life. For example we will encourage children to show their respect by listening to the others while they are talking. To be responsible of toys and books after they finish playing. In order to promote Chinese culture in EY1, we will use clay or playdough to make Chinese food and Chinese cultural crafts with children. We are reading: 《亲爱的动物园》、《要是你给老鼠吃饼干》《大卫不可以》、Dear Zoo We are singing: 《新年好》、《健康歌》、《春雨沙沙》、《我有一头小毛驴》、《幸福拍手歌》、How’s the weather, Wheels on the bus, If you are happy and you know it, Pat your Head Special date: 19^th January Scarf Day   EY2 – Vivian He writes about the theme We’re Going on a Bear Hunt This week, we will learn about different kinds of bears such as grizzly bears and polar bears. We will talk about how these bears look, where the live as well as any special fun facts about these animals. We will review prepositional language this week as there are a lot of prepositional words in the story, “We’re going on a bear hunt” such as in, on and through. We will make and experiment with animal footprints and learn to identify animals by their footprints. In addition, we will focus on story sequencing, thinking about the beginning, middle and end of stories. We are reading: 两只笨狗熊、我们一起去捉熊、快出来快出来、Take Ted Instead、The Lion who always said No、 We’re going on a bear hunt We are singing: 三只小熊、我们一起去捉熊、10 in the bed and the little one said、Going on a lion hunt、One elephant、One little finger Special date: Cozy scarf day on Friday A note from the EY2 team: We would like to ask children to bring their animal books or toys for their show and tell.   EY3 – Nicole writes about the theme Blast Off into Space “The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” Brian Herbert This week we will continue to learn about our planet-The Earth. We will discuss where we live making special note about the features of our planet. We will look at what is inside and outside of the Earth and discuss what we can do to protect our planet. They will role play the story “the way back home”. The children will use different materials like space clay and traditional painting colours to make their “Earth” and they will do sorting and maths games themed on the Earth Day. We are reading: 《一团青菜成了精》、《地球妈妈哭了》、he Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers We are singing: 《地球是我的家》、Turning up for Outer Space A note from the EY3 team: Jan 19^th (Friday) is our Cozy Scarf Day   EY4 – Emily Gu writes about the theme We Are the Explorer of the World Back from the joyful Christmas holiday, EY4 children will start their new adventure in the 2018. We will start our new theme We are the explorer of the world. In this theme we will learn about one of the greatest explorer in the world Zheng He. Children will learn their stories about those great people by introducing who they are, what difficulty they encountered, what achievement they made. Children will make some craft about the ships, etc. We will also read a range of story books discussing who was exploring, what they found, where they went and how they got there. We are reading: 《郑和》、Stella Star of the Sea、The way back home、Who pooped in the park? We are singing: Hickory Dickory Dock、Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall、Phonics songs A note from EY4 team: Jan 19^th (Friday) is our Cozy Scarf Day   Music and Movement – PeiHua and Sarah write about life in the music space EY1 – Welcome back! This week our EY1 children will express themselves through new songs, dance and instrument play-alongs connected to the new theme story Dear Zoo. Musical games full of animal movements will also be a highlight. EY2 – Welcome back! This week we’ll sing begin to sing the book Going on a Bear Hunt. We’ll also listen to three different pieces of music called Rabbit and Bear, then play a game with the piece. The children will also start to appreciate some classical music and learn about classical instruments through a Chinese musical story called Animal Concerts. Counting down from ten to one with the traditional English nursery rhyme Ten in the Bed will also be a highlight. EY3 – Welcome back! Space, the final frontier! As the children begin this exciting new topic we’ll fly off into the sky with the exciting and active song Soaring, and begin to learn the new song Blue White Planet, by Raffi, which is all about Earth. As the cold weather is still cold, we’ll listen to a musical story and after that children will start to use some instruments to express the pictures from the story. We will also do rhythm game with parachute. EY4 – Welcome back to the Music Room. Adventures await as we begin the new theme We Are Explorers. The children will explore many different ways to move their bodies with the song Zoom-e-Oh, and discover how a familiar song can sound different through a jazz rendition of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. We will start to try and create a soundtrack to match an adventure video. We will continue learning the song 礼貌歌. We are reading: EY 2 – Going on a Bear Hunt，《动物音乐会》 EY 3 – 《雪地里的玛丽》 We are singing: EY1 – Going to the Zoo，动物园 EY2 – Ten in the Bed EY3 – Soaring, Big White Planet EY4 – Zoom-eh-Oh，礼貌歌（二） Special notes: Are you a musician, dancer, or creative performer? WCCBS needs you! Our children are an enthusiastic and appreciative audience, and we would love to share your talents with them as we learn about music. Grandparents, family friends, and community members are welcome too! If you have a talent you would like to share, please e-mail peihua.wang@wellingtoncollege.cn or sarah.peel@wellingtoncollege.cn to discuss how we may be able to include you in our upcoming activities.