Manaia Kindergarten

The Year that Was - 2011

2011-12-21T16:31:00.001-08:00

What a year of learning and growing. Manaia children coped with big changes this year. There were fantastic community highs, and real 'light bulb' moments for children. Learning together, helping eachother through difficult times, learning to learn alongside others who may be different from ourselves, finding firm friendships - soul mates. The teaching team changed but the passion for providing children with quality learning opportunities continued. We hope you all have fantastic and safe holiday adventures. We look forward to seeing you back at the end of January 2012 for another brilliant year of learning, growing and working together."May the children of the future find a way to grow knowing love and hope - We will help you through, Forever Strong that's what we want for you....." With kind permission from Monquie Rhodes

Celebrating our children who are leaving

2011-12-15T18:57:00.001-08:00

Drumming

Monkeybar Challenge

iPad leader

Poi Dancers

Our Big Walk to Smugglers Cove

2011-11-23T18:57:00.001-08:00

Listen to the children tell the story of our recent trip.

"Library bus, library bus, we're all going on the library bus..."

2011-11-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

Glen and the Whangarei Library Bus have been a part of Kindergarten life for many years. One morning every month the big red bus trundles down our driveway and parks outside the kindergarten door. Children stop what they are doing and run from all corners of the playground to have the first turn on the library bus. What excitement! Children choose their own books to read and share at Kindergarten. We find the books with the most inviting covers, then carefully open them on the world map rug in the library bus. Children page through the books before deciding if this is the book for them.

Today those children waiting for their turn began to chant. So together with Anne and Glenn a song was create - "The Library Bus" - sung by Glen and the children of Manaia Kindergarten on the library bus.

Silk Painting

2011-10-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

Justine and Francis are working with the children to explore Silk Painting. The aim is to create illustrations for our new book. In 2008 Manaia Kindergarten published its own book - Our Mountains and the Kiwi - you can see that book in our kindergarten library, illustrated by children's oil paintings. This year we have decided to publish another book about the sea. We will be using the medium of silk painting. We began by just exploring how the silk paint moves, spreads and blends on the silk. It was a soothing, peaceful start to our work with silk. We had no object in mind - but to explore...

We will also share our preparation drawings for our silk paintings.

Performing Arts

2011-10-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

This week the Manaia Kindergarten children attended the Parua Bay School production. They sat entranced for an hour and a half while their brothers, sisters and friends entertained them with wonderfully vibrant singing, dancing and acting.
Back at the kindergarten, after the show, the children were still buzzing with the excitement of it all. A bit of music and some ribbons and leis soon had them putting on a outdoor performance of their own. The next day a big box from the playground became a stage in the mat area. The following video shows vignettes of some of the children’s experimenting with performance. Watch how they cooperate and collaborate to use the small stage space. See their confidence, coordination and artistic improvisation as they find the beat and rhythm in the music and move their bodies, ribbons, and pois to entertain each other and their audience. Super learning and great fun!

Manaia Kindergartens 10th Party

2011-10-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

On the 29th September 2011 over 100 people from past and present families and the community celebrated Manaia Kindergarten's 10th anniversary with a big, amazing, fun-filled party.

Kaedyn's school visit

2011-09-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

Kaedyn took Wags home for a sleepover and then on his school visit the next day.

Ellinor's school visit

2011-09-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks Ellinor for showing me how to create a blog on Manaia Kindergarten's site. You were a great teacher.Sally

Spring is here, Summer is on its way

2011-09-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

The sun has been shining and the children have noticed and are thoroughly enjoying the warmer weather. Today Dylan and Kyla spontaneously created sunshine with their own individual interpretations.

Creative Hands

2011-08-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

Jorja, Jayde and Brianna share the art of hand painting.

Chloe's Guinea Pigs visit

2011-08-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks Chloe and Mum Stacey for bringing in your gorgeous guinea pigs for us all to enjoy a cuddle with today.What lovely pets they are.Sally

Greta shares her Fiji holiday story

2011-08-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

She's DONE it!!

2011-08-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

Watch Jessica conquer her Monkeybar challenge!!

Check out Jessica's determination as she persists in learning the monkeybars in Monkeybar Madness

Term 3 Week 1 - What fun!

2011-08-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of changes happening at Manaia Kindergarten. Through it all, children are going from strength to strength. Our age ranges have extended and we have almost 5 year olds helping new 3 year olds. What amazing peer tutoring that is happening. We also have two new teachers whom we will introduce via the blog in a couple of weeks time. Its all happening here, and the children are loving it.

Greta horseriding

2011-06-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

A wee while ago Greta watched as her friend Luka created a photo story. Shortly after that Greta began heading off for horseriding lessons with her Mum and photos and video were bought into Kindergarten. I'm sorry it has taken this long but it was great working alongside you to create this movie Greta. Well done. You certainly show great confidence and balance on Goldie the horse. Next we will create a movie with the videos your Mum bought in.

A Message from Quinn

2011-06-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Mum,
Today at Kindergarten I am going to read a book... I'm going to read Auntie Elsie - AGAIN.
This is a picture for you.
Love from Quinn
We will see you in two hours.

Monkey Bar Madness and Determination

2011-06-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

What a goal! What determination! Watch the video below - can you SEE the learning taking place, see the determination, see the exhilaration.

10 Learning Outcomes Young children accomplish when conquering the Monkey Bars

First - Goal Setting
Monkey bars are an instant goal. Many children set their own time frame when the WILL be able to conquer the Monkey Bars

Second - Risk and Trust.
Children being prepared to take a risk. Children have to trust the first time that when they plummet from the box, they WILL be able to hold their body weight and not plunge to the ground.

Third - Patience.
Waiting until their muscles are strong. They hang from the first bar until their muscles are strong enough to move forward.

Forth - Belief in themselves
Believing that they have the knowledge, skills and desire to actually eventually cross all the monkey bars - just as the children before them have been able to do.

Fifth - Determination, Perseverance
Practicing again and again and again and again. You can SEE this on their faces.

Sixth - Overcoming barriers
Callouses form, blisters burst, muscles ache - but each time they dig deeper and move forward.

Seventh - Knowledge of how their bodies move
Learning to control their bodies. Strength to hold them up, Co-ordination to hold on for dear life AND move one hand off the bar and forward to grab the next bar.

Eighth - Overcoming 'failure'
When children fall (and they do - over and over again), getting back up and trying again.

Ninth - Overcoming all the odds
In their determination, children's bodies sometimes don't react the way they hope and as they grip, determined not to fall, their bodies swing, twist, wriggle, mutate - but with a clear head, and belief in themselves, they hold on tight and gain control to continue the journey across the monkey bar challenge.

Tenth - Celebrating successes and supporting others' achievements.
What inner satisfaction, they feel and celebrate when at last they reach the other side.

You GOTTA watch this!!

Lachlan's trip to Australia

2011-05-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

It was great to work alongside Lachlan with his first photostory. It was obviously a great family holiday with lots of family fun together. Lachlan talked to me in great detail about the first 12 or so photos but unfortunatley when the computer shut down suddenly none of these descriptive detailed accounts were saved. Lachlan really enjoyed viewing each photo and recording twice before we moved on to more recording. Lachlan proudly showed his story to his Mum and Dad at Kindergarten and I know Nana, Grandad, cousins and other family and friends will enjoy finding out about Lachlan's wonderful family holiday .

Ella's School Visit

2011-05-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

Ella had her last day at Kindergarten yesterday and was very proud to create a slide show with Robyn of her recent school visit . Using Kidpix and Photobooth to create a movie slide show is a new programme that the Teachers are starting to use. Ella did an amazing job at telling her story about Whangarei Heads School the new school she has started today! Well done Ella.
We hope your first day at school was fabulous! We know that you will absorb lots of new learning and that you will continue to challenge and extend yourself.

coming soon

I'm sure your new school teacher will enjoy watching this Ella, we hope you share it with your class too.

Pa-rua Bay + Whangarei Heads Trip

2011-05-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

At Manaia Kindergarten we have been learning about the history and cultural significance of our area. To deepen our knowledge and understandings we visited Motukiore Island - A Maori pa site just off Manganese Point. We have recently discovered that Parua Bay was given its name because it is the Bay of two (rua) Pa. The children and families climbed to the top of this site - which once was a fortified Maori village, fascinating as the terraces and ditches are clearly visible. From this vantage point we could view Whangarei Heads and Harbour - the children were very impressed at seeing Maunga Manaia - Mount Manaia. We then traveled to McGregors Bay in Taiharuru to explore the wonderful natural environment at our doorstep. Together we found all sorts of treasures and sea creatures hiding in the rock pools, delighting in our discoveries. A wonderful outing was had by all. Thank you to all the families for supporting us and joining us on our learning journey.

Isis the dance teacher

2011-05-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

This is a wonderful movie of Isis being a tap dance teacher to all of her friends at Kindergarten. Isis they were all enthralled by your fantastic show and the sound that your shoes made. You were kind enough to provide individual lessons and share your new tap shoes with your friends. You did a really impressive job at displaying your tap dance skills and talents especially as you have yet to have your own first lesson in this genre of dance. You already are a great dancer Isis we look forward to watching your dance future unfold.

Jorja's Story

2011-04-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

It has been great to observe and support Jorja's interest in ICT since she started, and today it was exciting to work alongside Jorja as she created her first photostory. She is very excited to have have her story on the blog. Jorja knows her Mum and Dad and her Uncle Bob (who lives overseas) will be able to look at her story too.

Jorja's picture for Mummy

2011-03-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Mummy, I would like you to come back. I'm looking forward to you coming back. I have done a picture for you - its a picture of you and me and Gama and Daddy. I would like you to put it on the fridge.
Lots of love to Mummy. From Jorja

2011-03-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Daniel is a very keen photographer at Kindergarten and he has recently taken a camera home to take photos of things that are important to him at home. Daniel lives right beside the water and he (and his dad) have taken so many great photos. It was fun working with you to make your photostory Daniel and great to learn more about what you enjoy doing when you are at home. I know you have family in America who will also enjoy seeing and hearing about what you enjoy doing when you are at home.

Hunter's Photostory of Amy's Wedding

2011-03-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hunter was very proud of himself as he was the page boy at his Aunty Amy's wedding. He told me that his job was to... "hold the rings". Watch and listen to his account of his wedding experience. He looked very handsome and smart, as did the whole bridal party look stunning, of course as it also included his sister and Mum! Hunter's confidence gained momentum as he became familiar with speaking and his story grew louder and clearer. They also visited Tane Mahuta so you can learn about this important tree too! Fantastic work Hunter.

Ella J takes her Aunties to the Airport!

2011-03-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Take a look at Ella's photostory. Hear about her journey with her family to Warkworth and Auckland airport. Ella has been observing her friends make their photostories and was keen to have a go herself. What a great job Ella, you have such wonderful photographic and storytelling abilities.

Ella's 12345678910 book

2011-03-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

Ella loves to write stories and today she set herself a goal to create her own book about counting up to 10 in Te Reo Maori. After completing her book Ella read it to everyone at mat time. The following day she took photos of each page and created a photo story of her book. Unfortunatley her Dad just missed hearing her read her book at mat time but Ella was excited (and amazed) to think that because her book is on our blog her Mum, Dad and her family in Auckland would be able to see her book and hear her read it. I hope you family and friends enjoy looking and listening to your book Ella.

Isis' Movie

2011-03-10T16:43:00.000-08:00

Recently Isis bought her dancing dvd's to Kindergarten which a number of children enjoyed. Last week her Grandma (from Christchurch) took a Kindergarten camera along to Isis's 'hard core' dance lesson and this wonderful photostory is the result. Isis was very proud to show this to the rest of us at Kindergarten on the big screen at mat time. Her Grandma and Great Grandma from Alaska are arriving today and Isis is keen for them to take a camera to her ballet dancing lessons so she can create another photostory to go on our blog.

Ellinor Swimming

2011-03-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

A number of children have been interested in creating their own Photostories and Ellinor is one of them. Ellinor's Mum took a Kindergarten camera to her swimming lesson and this wonderful story is the result. Ellinor is excited at having this story on the blog as she knows her Grandma and Grandad (who are on holiday in Australia) will be able to see her swimming in her movie.

Christchurch Earthquake - Christchurch Angels

2011-03-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

Christchurch Earthquake - Christchurch Angels
After the Christchurch earthquake, teachers at Manaia asked Isis about her Cantabrian Grandparents. She had much to say, as did all the other children at the kai table. At the next mat time, we gave all children a chance to just talk about this catastrophic disaster.

Rochelle began with a simple statement:

"Some of you may have heard about the sad things that have happened in Christchurch...."

She could go no further, as children began to talk, shared stories, and spoke with empathy.

Christchurch Angels.

We considered ways to help. Beverly showed images of her polymer clay (Du-Kit) angels. Children wanted to make them too. What amazing skills. Angels created while talking about Christchurch.

The Christchurch Angels are sold for $5 each. Funds will go to the Canterbury Kindergarten Association (as will those raised at Kindergartens around Northland). So far Manaia can not keep up with demands for angels from parents. This will be a long term project- excess angels will hopefully be sold from a Charity shop in Whangarei for Christchurch.

Angels created by Manaia Kindergarten children for the children of Christchurch. This movie will take 4min - see the angels, consider children's words -in silence, remember the people of Christchurch and their rescuers - the real Christchurch Angels.

We remembered with the nation on a Red and Black Friday. Parua Bay Education facilities - Parua Bay School, PB Childcare Centre, PB Playcentre and ourselves raised money that day for the Red Cross helping in Christchurch.

The Fairy Ballet - created by Luka

2011-02-24T16:54:00.000-08:00

Lots of children at Kindergarten love to dance and we have a number of children who are going to dance lessons in their spare time. Isis bought in her 'Hard Core' dance dvd to dance to and a group of our ballerinas danced for us at mat time today. Luka has created a photostory so we can see what she does when she goes to her ballet class. With our enthusiastic ukulele players and our tallented dancers Kindergarten is a very exciting place to be:)

Ukelele Jams

2011-02-24T11:08:00.000-08:00

It is always great having Gill at Manaia Kindergarten. As a Northland Kindergarten Association Itinerant teacher, Gill helps relieve us from our work on the 'floor' so taht we can complete all that paperwork!! Gill comes and shares her knowledge and interest with the children and teachers. She particularly enhances our programme through story-telling and music.

Today, Gill dusted down our new ukuleles and encouraged children and teachers alike to explore their musical abilities. Gill worked particularly intensively with Daniel, our professional musician, to help him share his self composed song.

It was wonderful to hear the children's playing and see their pride as they shared their talents.

Fun in the Summer Sun

2011-02-23T17:34:00.000-08:00

When it is hot at Manaia Kindergarten, it is time to get cool. We have pools in the sandpit, spray eachother with the hose, jump over sprinklers or create the fantastic water slide. What a wonderful experience for our new children. If you can think of other ways to cool down in our hot summers, please leave a comment, by clicking on the word comment at the end of this post, and share your thoughts.

Tamati's Screen Printing

2011-02-13T18:31:00.001-08:00

2011 Animals at Kindergarten - building a home

2011-02-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

Wow What alot has happened this year already at Kindergarten. We have FISH in an aquarium, Tadpoles and Frogs in a tank, and a Bantam Chook in our chook house. What a way to start the year.

We have been learning lots about what animals need and how to set up new homes for them. We let the fish swim and watch them through the glass. We have learnt that tadpoles don't survive in tapwater (that was a hard lesson when a whole lot of our tadpoles died). We have found flies for our frogs. Together we built a house for a chicken. We learnt about its nesting house, a ramp for it to get to the grass.

We also all helped to BUILD the chicken house. Its a big house for a Bantam!! We had plans and pictures/diagrams to follow to fit all the shapes together. Sometimes it was tricky - but in the end it looks like a chook house!! Yippeeee. We used power tools to screw in the screws. NOW we have a CHICKEN in our chicken house and SHEs sitting on a clutch of eggs. In 21days, we will have baby chicks to look after... Watch this space!!

Here is a movie showing all the hard work - working together to build the chicken house.

Building relationships

2011-02-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful place to meet and get to know each other - in the sandpit with a shared goal. The job was to "stop the water" in the volcano. The other job was to get to know each other as some here are new, and to know who is good at doing what. Who was going to be the leader? Who knew the most effective way to get the job done? Who was going to set the challenge? Who was going to work with the team and share the same goal.
The was much hilarity. There were times the team didn't work so well. But you all tried to work as a team and figure out how to work with each other, while still stopping the water. Great team building experience.

Thanksgiving Celebrations 2010

2010-12-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

Have a look at Manaia Kindergarten's Thanksgiving experience movie. We were extremely privileged to have Jack and his family - Dad Paul and especially Mum Lynda teach us about the meaning behind Thanksgiving, and to prepare for us a traditional Thanksgiving feast. What a special event that allowed us to learn about a day celebrated by some of our friends and their families, in a real and meaningful way. It is great for us to gain some understanding and insight into cultural events that are important to others from different countries and why.

Whanau Day and Hangi

2010-11-30T17:39:00.000-08:00

A fantastic day was had by all who attended our Whanau Day on Saturday 13th November. Whanau is the maori word for family and it was great to have families working together with their tamariki on the Friday, preparing for our Hangi on Saturday.
Whanau day began with speeches from Local tangatawhenua and Beverly. Wonderful workshops were offered in Harakeke (flax weaving), Titi torea (Maori stick games), Poi, Paki Waitara (Maori story telling), and Mau rakau (traditional Maori movement skills). Then it was time to celebrate by sharing the hangi together.

Our stage performance at Show day.

2010-11-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

On Saturday a number of Manaia Kindergarten children got up on stage at the Parua Bay Primary school Show Day and performed a poi song called Rere Atu and a Maori dance called Kori kori to tinana. They had been practising all week and did a fantastic performance up on stage. Tino Pai tamariki.

Monkey Bar Madness

2010-11-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining and the challenges keep coming. It is still a goal at Manaia Kindergarten to CONQUER the Monkey Bars before going to school. Some of our children even conqer the monkey bars BEFORE beginning Kindergarten. Look at the intense concentration as they use every muscle in their bodies to hold on, and all their co-ordination to move from one bar to another. What awesome persistance!! What persistent learning!!

Children's holiday stories.

2010-10-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the wonderful holiday stories some of the children have created. See, read and hear about the fun and exciting things they have been doing these holidays.

Trip to Quarry and Native Bird Recovery Centre

2010-10-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

Term 3 - 21st September 2010
We had an action packed day out, and ventured to both The Quarry and the Native Bird Recovery Centre. The clay class gave all children an opportunity to have a hands on experience of touching and working with clay, to see inside a kiln, and have their own creations fired. Along with viewing the gardens, the tranquil environment, the interesting buildings and variety of impressive clay sculptures.
We then went to the Bird Recovery Centre to observe birds and wildlife, and visit the injured birds that are being cared for there as they are now unable to survive in the wild. We were presented with a lot of information about birds and animals, incuding the albatross and the kiwi. Also some of the threats to our wildlife, such as traps and other animals. What an exciting and eventful day!

50,000 on the Blog

2010-09-17T14:18:00.001-07:00

Wow - with so many children engaged in the blog, sharing their experiences and skills, we have gained many views on the blog. Many of our friends around the world are watching and learning from our talented children and leaving comments of encouragement and prompting further learning. Now we have reached 50,000 visitors on our visitors counter.
50,000 people globally have visited the Manaia Kindergarten Blog.
What an emense amount of collaborative learning is taking place with the use of technology.

Thank you to our viewers and collaborators. Keep visiting, keep learning, keep sharing. Thank you to the children and families who have contributed so much towards the kindergarten program and being so open to share their talents.

Party on Friday! Come back and visit to see a record of the real life party posted on the blog.

A talented Musician

2010-09-15T22:50:00.000-07:00

Today at Manaia Kindergarten, with the support of our fantastic musical itinerant teacher, Gill, we discovered a STAR in our midst. What awesome skills Shyla has developed as a result of watching her sister at Ukulele lessons. There is a lot of inbuilt talent here.

Shyla, your singing at Mat times has been admired, and today you were able to put into practice your awesome skills and knowledge - strumming guitar, using your knowledge of chords and playing the G chord, and singing wonderful tunes - all at the same time!!

Watch this star in action!!!

A Flower for Dee

2010-09-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

"It's for Dee a pink flower. There's all the petals and there's the green bits. The green bits were the inside petals. That part is the dirt and the stalk. I'm deciding to put it on the office computer instead. Cos Beverly had my other two pictures on there. I need a camera to take a photo of it so I can do it. We don't want the string (hand strap) in the photo otherwise Dee will think it's a picture of string!"
Ella you pay such attention to detail and have not only created a beautiful flower from our orchid display but have also mastered taking a photo so that you have a record of your work. As well you have developed the understanding that these can be shared with others via the computer, which has sparked your curiosity and has become an interest that is growing each day!

Another picture for Dee

2010-09-12T16:50:00.001-07:00

Dee this is another picture for you from Ella J - check out her words and see what she has drawn for you.

Ella's picture for Dee

2010-09-12T14:16:00.001-07:00

Dear Dee, This is another picture for you. This is a picture with Reindeer footprints, cause I saw some Reindeer. The Bear and the Elephant just walked on my paper!! And the Bear walked on my paper too.
What are you doing Dee? I want you to show me something you like doing at Kindergarten and then I will show you what I like doing at Kindergarten. I want to show you something that I want to be a superhero when I grow up - a super hero that can fly and that can rescue people. Thats what I really want to be. I might do another bit of art for you today." Love from Ella J. PS - I took the photo too.

Constructing Dee's appartment

2010-09-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

An amazing construction has been created in the block corner over the past 2 days.
William you and Dominik began the construction on Wednesday and on Thursday Maxwell, Tai and Zane worked with you as you continued to create Dee's appartment.
You chose to use a variety of different equipment to use on Dee's appartment including dancing ribbons, animals, insects, dinosaurs, cars and trucks. At the bottom of the appartment was an under water cave you told me about William where you and Dominik had carefully placed starfish, shells and kina.
The appartment took up alot of space and there were other things on the mat too, I was impressed to see the spacial awareness knowledge and non-verbal communication skills you used to ensure you were able to move past each other and over and around this huge impressive appartment.
Dee has showed us around her school and appartment in Jakarta, Indonesia when we have skyped her. She certainly lives in a very flash apartment, but I bet she would love to live in an apartment like the one you boys chose to design and build at Kindergarten for her.
Well done, what a great team of tallented designers and builders you are. I look forward to seeing and hearing about the next construction you choose to create.

William said: It's Dee's appartment, it's got a water bit for sea snails, fish and sea animals. It's 20 metres. Zane and Maxwell and Dominik helped me, and it has massive towers, and Jo (Holehan) knocked it over a bit. This bit (pointing to the far end) stops people going that way. It's a zoo as well. It has lots of slopes and shells in the moat. It's from my imagination.

Zane said: That's me, that's for Dee and she will very like it and she will very look at it and think it is very good.

Dominik said: We put the starfish and the shells and then we put the building on for Dee.

Maxwell said: Do you know that's me cos that's my tee-shirt. That's zane and that's me. Guess what, look I have the same trousers what I had last time.

Tai said: That's me the other day I think but I remember it. I put some animals on it and then I put some blocks on it.

For Dee in Jakarta - From Ella

2010-09-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

Dee the children have been enjoying skyping you. We love hearing about your adventures in Jakarta. There are a few blog posts that will be put up over the next couple of weeks just for you. We hope you enjoy. Ella J brought these pictures in for you today. I will add her words tomorrow to this blog post.
"I just decided something that I might have wanted to do - at home I wanted to draw another picture for Dee. Maybe Dee can put them on the wall. AAAAaaannd I just thought of sometime I might draw at home. I might like to draw more pictures for Dee." - Ella

Finger Puppets

2010-09-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

At Manaia Kindergarten we always appreciate our relievers. Eleanor is a regular - helping out the teachers when we are sick or unable to be at Kindergarten. Today Eleanor was with us once again. Eleanor had already created prototype finger puppets out of felt that had been kindly donated to Kindergarten some months ago. She worked with the children developing charactors for the puppets. What awesome creativity. Children were patient and persistent when they began to create. Have a look at the many different charactors created by Manaia Kindergarten children. We hope that sometime soon we will be able to put on a puppet play with our new puppet friends. Puppets continue to be a huge interest at Manaia Kindergarten and we will endeavour to show you more of the puppetry skills the children are developing.
William developed his own puppet design, creating a hand puppet out of paper. He worked with the other resources available adapting them to the larger model. Always thinking outside the square. Go William!!

Spring Begins - Daffodils bloom all around!

2010-09-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

First day of Spring and what an absolutely gorgeous day to start this new season off. Tamati presented us with the most beautiful bunch of daffodils that his Nana grew. What a fantastic opportunity to take the time to appreciate their beauty, observe their shape and form, be creative and draw and paint them. Many children were drawn to partake in this experience and have created their own interpretations of the daffodil flowers. What wonderful artists we have at Manaia Kindergarten. Thank you Tamati and your whanau for bringing us this special gift.

Wyatt's Skiing Holiday

2010-08-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

Wyatt, it was wonderful working with you in creating your skiing holiday story. You obviously had a fun family holiday. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to work out how to get your story posted onto the Kindergarten blog.
I hope your family overseas enjoy seeing your exciting skiing photos and listening to you describe each one. Well done.

Ayla's Holiday Story

2010-07-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

We have been sharing our stories about our holidays. Ayla brought some photos into Kindergarten and today taught our new teacher Robyn how to make a Manaia Kindergarten movie using PhotoStory3. What a great teacher you were Ayla! Check out Ayla's story about her holidays and come back for more as other children bring in their photos to share their holiday stories with you. Please leave comments, questions, or words of encouragement for our children who love to share their stories with their extended families and the world.

Ayla teaching Robyn how to use PhotoStory3 - what concentration from them both.

Flynn inspires Williams work.

2010-06-30T19:07:00.001-07:00

I love this piece of work William, you told me that you had seen Flynn's shark on the Blog and that it inspired you to create "Faline the Deer". You said..."It's just a reindeer Dee!"

Well I think it is a fantastic reindeer. You've used a large piece of cardboard, that must have been quite difficult to cut, and painted it really well. I love the way you got inspired by Flynn's idea and followed through with perseverance to make your own work using your own original idea! It is magic to me when children learn from each other.

Saoirse's Picture of Wags.

2010-06-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

Saoirse arrived at Kindergarten today after having taken Wags home for the night. She had drawn a very detailed and highly intricate picture of Wags, Ekko, and Poi reading their portfolio books. What fantastic drawing talents you have Saoirse!

Obviously using the puppets who have their own individual blog sites and portfolio books for the children to look at and revisit is valued and important to the children making meaningful links between the Kindergarten and home.

Flynn's Great White Shark

2010-06-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

What a spectacular shark! Made by a spectacular artist!

Flynn you continue to impress me with your ideas, plans, and how you have the determination, patience and persistance to carry out the tasks that you set yourself. You are a goal setter and a goal winner, who completes your work until you are really happy with it and have a sense of personal satisfaction. To be able to evaluate and assess your own work is a very important inner stength that you have. Making this gigantic great white shark involved many processes and skills including planning, gathering materials, drawing it, going over the outline, cutting it out, choosing colours and painting it. You needed a break in between but you came back to finish it off and it is AWESOME!

I loved the way that you used your imagination and thought of a way to hang the shark in your bedroom making it look like it had been really caught. You said...

"I'm gonna put my boat on the roof and bend my fishing rod, and put a hole in the roof, and put the line down, and then it will be like - oooh I caught a SHARK!"

Flynn's shark interest and fascination is continually expressed through a variety of creative media. A year ago Flynn drew an amazing shark and ocean picture telling the story of his family fishing experiences with his Dad and Grand Dad, which was posted on the blog. Look at the growth in the amount of detail and effort he has put into this Great White Shark creation!

Matariki

2010-06-22T18:42:00.002-07:00

On Thursday 17th June we celebrated Matariki, Maori New Year. We got busy in the kitchen and made a boil-up and Maori Bread. Arvay, our Maori Advisor came to help us make the bread - thanks Arvay. We learned a lot about keeping our dough just right to cook. Next we planted a Pohutukawa tree in memory of our friend and Professional Practice Manager Megan. Caitlin sang a special Pohutukawa tree song for us and Amy was quite moved by the song, tino pai to mahi (Nice work) tamariki ma. We then performed Kotahitanga for our families - it was great and lots of our new tamariki picked up the actions and danced very well. Next up was kai time, we shared our feast with our families which was delicious. What a busy Matariki celebration.

Pyjama Party

2010-06-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

What started as a tumultuous stormy day turned into a fabulous evening! It was wonderful to combine our astronony and star gazing experience with our masterchef culinary delights - sausages! A really sucessful event which was supported amazingly well by the children and families. Great to see most of us got into the spirit of the night and wore our pyjamas! Much fun and excitement followed playing games, having stories, showing families around the Kindergarten, and eating all the delicious food! Getting spectacular views of the moon through the telescope topped off the night. Thanks to all the families who were involved and assisted in making this such a success.
Check out the movie.

The Salon revisited

2010-05-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

Ayla brought is some bright yellow nail polish today and everyone wanted to decorate their fingernails. Luckily we found more nail polish at Kindergarten and we could explore different colours. It was tricky painting our own nails - you had to have a very steady hand, and wipe the brush on the side of the bottle so the nail polish didn't pool on your nail. THEN we found the hair spray and gel. What fun we had with that. The single bottle at Kindergarten didn't go far, so THANKS to FourSquare for having more bright orange and yellow hair spray in stock. Mohawks were the order of the day - it didn't matter how long your hair was. We explored colours and designs to go with our nails. There was lots of laughter and practicing some of the skills we have seen some of our Mums try at home. Enjoy what looks like a very wacky day of nails and hair....

Making Sausages

2010-05-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

On Thursady 20th May we made Sausages at Kindergarten. We have been doing a bit of cooking lately and Saoirse wants to be in the master chef competion! We talked about what was on the master chef programme and making sausages was one thing that Saoirse had seen. It just so happens that Saoirse's Grandfather makes sausages and he agreed to come and make some sausages with us - fantastic! Thankyou so much Ian for sharing sausage making with us .We had a great time mixing everything together and watching how the meat gets into the casing. We learned about what goes into sausages - onions, garlic, pork mince, lemongrass, salt and pepper. It was great fun and we learned a lot. I am really looking forward to trying our sausages out tonight.!

Worm farming and composting

2010-05-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

It has been a hard summer for our garden. A drought, water restrictions, and copious amounts of sunshine the veges bolted for the sky. There will be many seeds in the soil for next spring!!! Despite the disappointing vege growing there has still been a huge amount of learning recently about recycling our food, composting, and worms - We have also discovered that some things DID grow in our garden and we enjoyed exploring to find hidden vegetables.

Friendship

2010-05-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

This is something a little different. Thanks to Luca and his family for sharing. here is a story about true freindship. Maybe we can all learn something about what it is to be a friend from the Orangutan and Hound Dog

Adverts are not endorsed by Manaia Kindergarten.

Ukulele Jam

2010-05-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

Ukulele is big in Whangarei and Manaia Kindergarten has joined in the fun. Today, Rochelle, Arla and Maddie brought along their own Ukuleles and as we began our song others collected instruments and joined in the JAM. We are learning the Aussie song - kookaburra sits on the old gum tree. There are some cool new verses we hadn't known before and heaps of fun to sing along to.

Flynn is David Attenborough

2010-05-12T22:54:00.000-07:00

Flynn noted something of interest. He worked with Dee to find a way to record it. The digital camera is a tool that is familiar to Flynn though the movie function is relatively new to him. He was however able to create a movie documenting his interest in nature. Flynn's Mum stands next to him supporting explorations and learning alongside him.

Sharks versus All Blacks

2010-05-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

Today rugby world cup fever started at Manaia Kindergarten! It was a wet stormy day and in a fine break the children decided to play rugby. Of course good Kiwi rugby matches begin with the haka! The haka is a Maori traditional dance often performed before rugby matches. Our haka needs some developing but you can see that the strength of the dance is inspiring and we will learn the words - Keep following our blog as the season develops. We were impressed to see an understanding of the game developing in the children, some awesome ball handling skills, passing and tackling, and team collaboration are evident. The children knew how to keep themselves safe while using some of the tactics of a real rugby match. Enjoy our movie.

Ayla shares a story of her piglets

2010-05-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

Awesome movie Ayla. You know so much about farming. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in such a great movie.

Walnut Shell Boats

2010-05-02T19:28:00.001-07:00

Releasing frogs - the farm on our road

2010-05-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

Last week we read the story - The Frog Search by Julia Crouth. Our frogs stayed at Arla's house over the holidays and when we returned to Kindergarten, Arla and her family told us that the frogs were going to the bottom of the tank and sleeping. Just like Josie in the story, we decided to let the frogs go. It is coming on winter and the frogs need to hybernate, to sleep. But first we had to find a pond. Luckily Luca had a pond on his farm just across the road from Kindergarten. We had to walk across a few paddocks before we found the pond. Many parents wanted to help out and be part of the frog release. Check out the movie and discover what other animals we met at Luca's farm. Luca, Flynn and Wyatt tell the story.

Learning Waiata

2010-04-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

Dee and Rochelle attended a waiata workshop over the holidays and are teaching us new songs at Kindergarten. This one is cool - the batman song!! Dee and Rochelle demonstrated the song and a few of us stood up to give it a go. We sung it three times and eventually we were all joined in - what a cool song. If you want to teach your family this song the lyrics (words of the song) are listed below.

Kori kori to tinana
whati whati to hope
Batman, Batman

Kori kori to tinana
Whati whati to hope
Batman Batman

Peke Peke Matou
Peke Peke Maui
Huri Huri to tinana e

Hikoi whakamua
Hikoi whakamuri
Waewae takahia e

Kei runga
Kei raro

Hi

Wonkey Donkey

2010-04-22T01:57:00.001-07:00

Hi there,
I know you love this story - thought you may like to watch Craig Smith singing it:-)
Taniaxxx

Wacky Wednesday.

2010-04-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

Flynn's suggestion of a Funny Friday or Wacky Wednesday at Manaia Kindergarten again was a brilliant idea for the end of term. What fun we had. Children came up with suggestions on Tuesday and by Wednesday our whole Kindergarten world was WACKY. See if you can find 10 things wacky at Wednesday at Manaia Kindergarten.

Dr Suess's book Wacky Wednesday is a favourite at Manaia Kindergarten. If you haven't already read it, check it out at Fishpond.

Thanks to KSOnline (an Aussie Kindergarten blog) for their comment which led us to their blog and vuvox.com

Jonathan and Beverly go fishing

2010-03-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

What an awesome experience. Jonathan and his family invited me to go fishing with them. It was the Whangarei Heads Primary School Funky Fishing fundraiser. I met Jonathan's family at Pataua Bridge early in the morning and off we went - through the estury and out to the deep blue sea. What a fantastic day it was. The water was a bit choppy but the sun shone and shone. And the fish took the bait.

Jonathan tells the story in his own words. Watch and then using the comments section, share your Funky fishing Competition stories.

Screen prints

2010-03-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

We worked on screen printing last week. Often we use shapes but last week we tried drawing pictures to print. What great ideas you all came up with. You drew some very neat pictures and I helped with the cutting out so that we could capture the uniqueness of your art. Screen printing is great for teaching us all of the steps in a process.

1 We need to draw the picture
2 That picture is cut out
3 We place the cut out picture on some paper
4 We lower the screen
5 We put paint on the screen
6 We spread the paint with a squeegy so that it covers the whole screen
7 We lift the screen and watch the masterpiece emerge!

It is great for us to explore working with a process, learning the steps involved and enjoying the result of taking a bit more time to complete the work. I think that your screen prints are awesome!!

Our New Teacher - Rochelle

2010-03-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Last week our new teacher Rochelle began at Manaia Kindergarten. We held a Whakatau to welcome her. A Whakatau (informal powhari) is a special Maori welcome for a new person in a community. Our tangata whenua, along with our community, felt that this was a fitting process for the welcoming of our long awaited new teacher. It was wonderful to have our tangata whenua support our community in this process as we learnt about the protocols and practices of Maori alongside them. Danny, a Dad in our community, was our Kiakorero (speaker), and Arvay from the Kindergarten association and related to the tangata whenua of this area, was our Kaikaranga (caller). She called our visitors, Rochelle and her Kindergarten - the people of Te Timatatanga o te Matauranga (kindergarten) into the School Hall. Danny spoke on behalf of our community and we all sung a waiata to support him. The kaikorero from Te Timatatanga o Te Matauranga also spoke and they too sung a waiata. We were priviledged to have the kindergarten association's general manager, Richard, and our senior teacher, Barbara supporting this special event.

It was a great time for our two kindergartens to get to know eachother, for the children and families to learn more about Rochelle before she began her work with us, and for Rochelle's old Kindergarten to know where Rochelle was going to work, and to farewell her.

Because this was a sacred event photos were not taken. However below is a short movie about our time as two kindergartens together, and Rochelle's first week at Manaia Kindergarten.
Rochelle has settled into our Kindergarten with the full support of the children and the community and we all look forward to getting to know Rochelle better and for her contributions to our learning and development.

TJs Campervan Holiday

2010-03-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

Last year TJ brought his Campervan to Kindergarten for us all to see. We were able to go inside and check it out. We talked about how wonderful it would be to have a holiday in a campervan and TJ shared with us some of his holiday stories.

This year TJ and his family had a summer holiday in the campervan and they shared the photos with the teachers at Kindergarten. Now you have an opportunity to hear about TJs Campervan Holiday as he tells you about it in his movie with his photos.

The Rocket takes off - with vinegar and baking soda

2010-03-03T16:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you Flynn for sharing your rocket experiment with us. It was OUT OF THIS WORLD - or at least it almost went out of this world. We watched as the mixture of backing soda and vinegar bubbled and fizzed in the rocket's cylinders. It looked just like our volcanoes in the sandpit. But this time the mixture was contained in the rocket and had no where to flow out. The pressure built and built until - PUFF Bang wizz. "Check it out for real" as the saying goes at Kindergarten. Watch the video and feel welcomed to leave a comment to help explain this scientific wonder.

There is a large group of children interested in science experiments - so keep a look out for more on the blog and families feel free to come to kindergarten to share other ideas.

Let it Rain, Let it Rain...

2010-02-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

An unusual event occured at Manaia Kindergarten this week. In the middle of mat time the rain began to fall. It began to fall so hard we could hardly hear ourselves talk. This might not seem that unusual... but it hasn't rained at mat time for over four months. AND it is only the second time it has rained at Kindergarten in three months. It was a hot and sticky day. And the best way to explore this unusual event was to enjoy it!!

It has been a magical summer - a hot dry New Zealand summer. After the holidays children compared notes - how many had had to refill their water tanks, who was running out, who was on town water (how lucky are they!). Now we don't have to worry for another few weeks...

Perhaps we need to invest in a rain gauge to measure how much water we have for the month of March. Maybe other Early childhood centres can do the same and we can compare notes. The challenge has been set!!

Discussion on Stars

2010-02-25T13:01:00.000-08:00

Many children have been interested in rocket ships, space, planets and stars. This generated some great discussions at mat time as we explored some ideas about space. Stars seemed to be the flavour of the day and children came up with their own theories about stars. We share a little of those with you...

What are stars?
Amy - "You can see stars up above"
Jonathan and Saoirse - "You can sometimes see satrs in the morning"
Morehu - "I can see one at Kindergarten"
TJ - "In Australia I saw stars - they were very pretty"

Stars are made of...
Luca - Clay
Cam - Rocks that fall off the earth
Isla - They grow
Saoirse - They are made of sparkle
Tony - the Sun is made of fire
Isla - the stars are made of light
Amy - They are made of golden
Flynn - rocks painted with glow paint and thrown hard or maybe taken up in a rocket.
Luca - lots of balloons make a wish and let it go into a star.
Stella - a shooting star is a special star
Jayden - When my poppa died he became a star and we can talk to his star.

Puzzle Boys

2010-02-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

The puzzle began with Leon. Soon Dominik and Seabren joined in. It did not take long for a large group of boys to begin discussing the puzzle, the shapes, patterns, pictures - coaching each other, laughing with each other and persevering together until the job was done. What amazing team work and determination!!

2010-02-09T17:09:00.000-08:00

Preying Mantis vs Frog

2010-02-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

The frog is in the middle of the screen in the water. A small preying mantis stands on the rock to the lower right of the frog. They stand checking eachother out for some time - so be patient. Half way through the movie the frog and the mantis take a step towards eachother... find out what happens seconds later...

If you are feeling sorry for the Preying Mantis - check out another Manaia Kindergarten classic
Preying Mantis vs Cricket

Christmas Party 2009

2010-02-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the lateness of this entry - we were endeavouring to create music for this movie through Garage Band. Thus the music you hear on this clip was created by the teachers. We hope to work with the children throughout 2010 using garage band to create our own music for our movies.

Wet and Wild

2009-12-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

It has been a warm week at Manaia. Today Eleanor brought in a cool idea she had seen involving a water slide and the sandpit. Many helpers worked together to dig a space for the "pool", Robyn and Eleanor made a slide with boxs and a plank. It was all on! Lots of people had such great fun sliding into the pool. Water is such a great element to enjoy over summer. Check out our movie.

Manaia Kindergarten Fashion Show

2009-12-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

Our fabulous reliever, Eleanor, has created works of art with the material that has been kindly donated to Manaia Kindergarten over the years. Evening dresses, summer frocks, delicate skirts and skirts to wear out on the town have been designed and fashioned. We are used the opportunity of a fashion show to show case this work. These dress-up dresses and skirts are available for sale, ranging in price from $8 - $15. Eleanor has kindly donated her services as a fundraiser for Manaia.

Below we present the Manaia Models as they walk the cat walk and show off the outfits for you.

Cam's Butterfly

2009-12-01T17:02:00.000-08:00

forest floor art exploration

2009-11-29T18:37:00.000-08:00

Stella Corkill came up with a brilliant plan for the day. She wanted to turn the Kindergarten into a forest. We had large pieces of paper which we spread across the floor and began the work together. What amazing artwork developed as we talked about trees and animals that live in a forest.

Learn to count in Te Reo Maori

2009-11-25T00:27:00.000-08:00

We have had Arvay come to Manaia Kindergarten from the Northland Kindergarten Association to support us in our tikanga and te reo. She has taught us all a new song to help us learn our numbers in Maori. Ask your children if they remember it - tahi, rua, toru matimat...

We were unable to find a link to this song to support the children's learning from home, however we have found a youtube video to learn to count in Maori. Play and learn together.

IMPORTANT NOTE: At the end of this youtube video there will be links to other videos. We have no control where those links will take you and advise caution and parental supervision if following those links.

Doing the Monster Mash

2009-11-17T15:56:00.000-08:00

What fantastic art work is being created here! Seabren and Dominic got very enthusiastic about making monster pictures. You guys sat at the paint easels for a long time (developing perseverance) creating monster painting after monster painting. Your work is individual each painting is unique. You have chosen a range of themes, scary, octopus, glowing to name a few. You embellished each one with different colours and forms. Your creations are wonderful, you are practising skills in working with forms and colours and learning a lot about art/creativity. Way to go guys lovely work!

A week at Manaia Kindergarten

2009-11-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

We thought we would give you a sneek peek at all the exciting learning happening at Manaia Kindergarten over the past two weeks. Check out particularly a special practice run for a fashion show... Children dressed by our children's dress fashion designer Eleanor. We plan to show you more of that at a formal gathering at Manaia Kindergarten. Watch this space...
In the meantime enjoy all the fabulous insights into our inquisitive minds.

Tj's Campervan

2009-11-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, Tj brought his family campervan in to show us. Tj had been talking about how he enjoyed going away in the Campervan for holidays. The children got to look through the campervan which they really enjoyed. Tj told us some things he loves about the campervan:
"It can go far away. I love the bunks. I like to go to Sandspit because there is a big beach and a big,big,big ferry boat. My campervan is big like a truck, it is as big as a truck. Daddy drives the campervan up our big hill first because it is bigger than our Ute."
Wow thanks Tj and your family for sharing your campervan with us.

Kinder Olympics

2009-11-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

On Friday we went to our very own Kindergarten Olympics! What a great day we had. We competed with seven other kindergartens, in a range of activities designed to stretch our physical skills and align our brains. We had lots of fun moon-hoppering, soccer goal scoring, sack racing, crawl tunneling, balancing, throwing bean bags and parachute tossing. We held a medal ceremony at the end and everyone received a medal. Well done Manaia children! The day was put on by Sport Northland, our thanks to them for organising such a great event.
Working with physical skills helps muscles to develop, and the brain to switch on, encouraging our children to become agile helps to prepare them for school and life.

Show Day and KidsExpo

2009-11-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was an opportunity for Manaia Kindergarten to be out in the local public eye and showcase the amazing work the children engage in at Kindergarten.

Parua Bay Show Day
What an amazing event our neighbouring school put on. The community rallied around and joined the school on a brilliant sunny Saturday morning. Many of our children were there enjoying art work created by our older school friends, checking out the animals - lambs, sheep, calves as they were walked around the showring. Then we gathered around the Show Day truck and put on a performance to school children, parents, and teachers. Dee worked with the children on the stage to support their dancing.

Kids Expo
What a fabulous event. So many families from around Whangarei joined in to give their children many new experiences. There were bouncy castles, trampolines, bike rides. Inside included an Active Movement center, Tanya Batt story telling, and a creative centre to try new art experiences. There was food to share and displays from all Kindergartens in the Northland Association. It was great to see what other Kindergartens are doing in their curriculum.

The proceeds of this family fundraiser are going to the Samoan Relief effort and will help to re-establish centres of education for Samoan children.

wacky wednesday

2009-10-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

Pizza Making

2009-10-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

It was a great day for Pizza! Tineke, Aylas mum came to help us make Pizza. What a lot of work goes into a Pizza, thanks for preparing the pizza dough Tineke. We had to very carefully toss the dough from hand to hand to make a ball. Next we stretched the dough out to make a base. Beverly knows a lot about making Pzza and she explained to us that we needed to treat the dough gently so that it rises. Once our bases were made we put all of the toppings on. We had to cut and chop lots of vegetables and use the grater for the cheese. It was quite a process! We learned lots of things about making pizza, we had to be patient, take turns, make choices, try our hand at cutting vegetables. We also had lots of healthy toppings to choose from like mushrooms, tomatoes, capsicums, cougettes, chives, onions, as well as meat and cheese. This was great as it links with our vegetable garden. We did get to take home some delicious pizza mmmm. Thanks Ayla and Tineke for all of your help.

Sunflower garden hot houses

2009-10-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

As we continue our journey towards learning about all the aspects of gardening we are introducing various ideas for planting.

Today we started out the day by carrying out the task of watering our tomato plants that are growing well and hopefully they will soon be ready to plant out into our outside garden - yum fresh chemical free tomatoes. We then moved onto making our own mini little hot house and planted a sunflower seed. I wonder which seed your child decided to choose?
Was it the one that grows tall like a giant or was it the one that has lots and lots of flowers on it?
Another part of our gardening process is making sure the weeds are kept away - we also need to keep the birds away! with the strawberry plants starting to produce we have hungry birds trying to eat them.

chicken and duck

2009-10-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

A chicken hatching a duck might seem a bit unusual and it is. This all started out as an experiment from one of the children's group conversations at mat time and they were convinced that a chicken could not hatch a duck egg. Lots of research went into making this happen. Factors like chicken eggs taking 21 days and duck eggs taking 28 days to incubate (would a chicken sit for long enough to make them hatch?) How would the chicken react to having a very unusual looking baby with such a funny looking beak and huge feet. Well as you can see from the photos all is well. Althought there were a few almost surprised looks on the chickens face when it got a good look at the baby, mother and baby are doing well. They have broken through the communication barrier with the ducking responding to the chickens gutteral 'come and eat now' noises. We will keep you posted and I am sure your children look forward to watching the duck develope into a magnificent Khaki Campbell. Now we just need a name - any suggestions?

Pet Day??

2009-10-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

What a lot of animals we had at Kindergarten today. Flynn brought in Lucky. Robyn brought in her pet from home.

Ayla brought in some very helpful animals and we created a speical farm house for them. And Beverly's 'best friend' came to join the medley!! Can you tell your families the stories about these animals visits today? Each had their own story. Click on the image for a closer look.

Robyn's pet is doing something very special. She has some eggs underneather her. She is keeping them warm until they hatch. Do you remember what kind of animal will hatch from her eggs? Its a little bit wacky!!

Today one egg had a small crack in the side and when we put our ears up close we could hear a 'peep' sound and a tapping sound. Maybe tomorrow - but definately on our Wacky Wednesday the animals will have hatched. What a party we will have on Wacky Wednesday with our new pets.

Flynn's South Island Holiday

2009-10-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

ULearn09 Conference

2009-10-12T00:20:00.000-07:00

Once again, Tania and Beverly attended the ULearn Conference in Christchurch. We presented the stories of blogging and how Manaia Kindergarten blog has helped to build our community of learners. What an awesome opportunity to share with Primary, Secondary and Tertiary teachers, the incredible skills and expertise of the young children and families in our community. Tania and I networked with many teachers, and heard awesome feedback - teachers encouraged to use ICT and the tool of blogging in their education settings. Our children and community can consider themselves leaders in education.

Here is our Conference experience... Including the conference dinner where much networking took place. Thanks to CORE Education for an inspirational conference.