What do plants need?

The children in the extended day program had botany today. And today's lesson was the needs of a plant for it to grow. I decided to do the lesson outside in the garden to create the ambiance and to keep the classroom clean as we were working with water and compost. We did an experiment. We planted two similar plants ( a tambis teacher Wena said) in a pot. One pot we left in the garden exposed to the sun and air and we will water in the succeeding days. Another pot we put in the cubbyhole of the children, deprived of the sun, air and water. We will start our observation tomorrow and record them.

We talked about moss formation during Circle time yesterday. I then put the cement with moss in the nature table right after the discussion. I saw children queuing up to take a closer look. It is good to see the children taking interest in nature and in what is happening around them.

FIRST AID SEMINAR

SCENE: First Aid Seminar with Mr. BRIXTON REYES,RN

SEEN:

Little bodies, BIG SOUL

The children started their YOGA class yesterday with our Yoga teacher Mr. Harry Babatugon. Harry is also the yoga instructor of The Loving Life Program of Plantation Bay Resort and Spa. We are very lucky that he said "yes" to our invitation to teach in our school despite his busy sked.

I got the idea of having yoga for kids in my school in France. I saw that, after a considerable time of doing yoga, the children were more calm and centered. It was beautiful to see and without any second thought, i decided then that yoga would be part of the program in my school later on.

Some Benefits of Yoga With Children
1) Provides movement, stretches, and builds the muscles
2) Stimulates the internal organs to function properly
3) Helps the child calm and center himself in his body
4) Helps the child calm and center his mind
5) Increases the ability to focus and concentrate
6) Increases attention span
7) Increases awareness of the body
8) Reconnects the child to his body
9) Promotes a sense of well-being
10) Increases confidence and self-esteem
11) Builds peace from the inside
12) Helps the child cope with stress
13) Relax and sleep better
14) Improves digestion
15) Helps normalize weight


Similarities of Yoga and Montessori
1) Both have a calming and centering affect on the child.
2) Both begin simply and then gradually increase in difficulty.
3) Both provide movement. (Maria Montessori built movement into the work and eliminated sitting at desks.)
4) Both yoga and Montessori build peace from the inside out.
5) Both yoga and Montessori focus inward and increase awareness.
6) Both yoga and Montessori are non-competitive.
7) Like Montessori work, the emphasis for Yoga With Children is on the process, not the end product. Enjoy the poses without concern about doing the perfect pose.
8) Like with other work, we want the child to be successful in order to build self esteem, so the poses are modified and sequenced to give the child the tools to do them successfully.
9) There are three parts of a pose: going into a pose, being in the pose, and coming out of a pose with control. These correlate with carrying a piece of work from the shelf, using the work, and thoughtfully placing a work back on the shelf.

CT

A glimpse of our Circle Time

Nature Table

We have a special table in the classroom which is dedicated to a changing array of beautiful objects from nature. So far, we have had snails, fresh water crab, a bird's nest, a big seashell and a dead butterfly picked from our very own butterfly sanctuary.

The children are encouraged to participate in the collection of items for our nature table. It is our hope that upon nature walks or while vacationing; families will make discoveries and bring in their treasures to share with the school community. Some ideas are : snake skin, moss covered bark, bird feathers, fossils, perhaps even an animal bone, spider, flowers and plants or an unsual leaf that we can study in school.