Month: February 2024

Outdoor play at Kidz Village International Kindergarten is planned and  purposeful – the daily schedule is arranged to integrate outdoor play as part of the daily routine, and our environment is planned to have areas which will  support different types of play and activity. Aside from having fun, outdoor play supports a range of areas of development and learning. This is not an exhaustive list, but let’s take a  look at 10 of them! With all these benefits to getting outside and playing, check in with your child’s school or kindergarten to make sure that outdoor play is part of the daily routine. And you don’t have to stop there – look for opportunities to get outside and play with your child, or quietly observe from the sidelines!

“If we really want children to flourish, we need to give them time to connect with nature and love the Earth before we ask them to save it” – David Sobel Environmental education and sustainability are important topics, especially for Kindergarten students. The foundations for a conscious approach to our planet and the resources it offers us are laid at an early age. Observing nature and discovering the animal and plant world together are just as much a part of this important field of education as learning a sustainable way of life. Saving energy, avoiding waste and protecting animals and plants – there are many opportunities for young students to gain practical experiences with the topic of sustainability in kindergarten and nursery. What does sustainability mean in kindergarten? However, sustainability means more than just saving energy and avoiding waste. Especially in the elementary sector, the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) also includes teaching kindergarten children how to treat our environment with respect. Observing nature is a key part of helping children to internalize the respectful treatment of our ecosystem. Why is sustainability important for children? Learning about sustainable lifestyles and their positive impact on the environment is important to help children understand the effects of their own actions on the world around them. If you know how harmful or beneficial something is, you can decide against or in favour of it in the next step. How do you explain sustainability in a child-friendly way? The joint development of the concept of sustainability should be close to the children’s living and learning environment. Together with educators, resources such as water, food, energy and nature are explored and made tangible through observations and experiments. How is education for sustainable development implemented in everyday life? Many areas of everyday life in kindergartens are suitable for teaching sustainability: cooking sessions, projects about waste and litter, re- and upcycling craft ideas, encounters with the world of animals and plants, reading books about our planet earth and different habitats, and even small scientific experiments teach children about the complex challenges that our ecosystem faces every day.  However, when introducing environmental issues and challenges to young learners the developmental appropriateness needs to be considered. Many topics like climate change, nature destruction or animal mass extinctions can be scary and terrifying. Teaching students in Kindergarten about the environmental crisis might indicate feelings like hopelessness or exceed their understanding. Therefore, the pedagogical focus should lay on fostering love for (local) nature and create conditions that allow children to become curious and care about their natural environment.

by Teacher Nancy Sivilai Toddlers  age 1 ½ to  2 years usually start being introduced or get potty/toilet training.   Some are introduced to potty training or sitting on a potty others prefer toilet training with a child’s trainer seat that clips onto the toilet which makes your child free safe and confident on the toilet.    As you embark on getting your child trained begin by looking for  your child’s  signs of readiness to stop wearing nappies.  Most evident signs of readiness to look for are:    1.  Your child will show they need to pee or poo by fidgeting or going somewhere quiet or hidden.   2.  They know when they are peeing and may tell you.  3. They know when they have a dirty nappy.    4.  They are able to pull their pants up and down.   From previous experience working with parents and children, my advise would be to start potty training at home when your family is having  no great changes happening such as the birth of a new child or travel or changes to your normal  family routine.  Beginning potty/toilet training is  a time to have a consistent schedule that does not confuse your child.   I know of parents who began their child’s training during a school break  when their schedule was more relaxed for them and their child.   At  school we will be working closely with the parents to help their child move from  nappies to ‘grown up pants’.   Parents are advised to notify their class teacher when they want to begin.    In working for success, it is more successful for your child to wear clothes  that are easy to change and avoid clothes with  zips, buttons or tight clothes that are difficult to remove. The best clothes for your child at this time are easily managed clothing  such as pants with elastic tops.  The focus will be on the child doing the work  to develop his/her own self-help skills with teachers nearby.  Accidents will happen and should always be handled sensitively both at school and at home and the children are always changed in a quiet place.  Accidents are often the result of not yet acquiring the rudiments of control, being overly fatigued, new to school, or coming down with an illness. It is important to always have extra dry pairs of pants at school for emergencies .  These are important to your child and teachers when needed and all concerned. Another important rule is  hand-washing.  Hand-washing should be a consistent part of toilet/potty training routine.  Children generally enjoy it and will gladly take time to enjoy the soap and water experience.  The great benefit from this little extra time is the reduction in the spread of contagious virus and germs with a guarantee  there will be a reduction in colds and diarrhea that result for everyone is worth the effort. January 2024

‘I want to cut the carrots! And stir the soup too! But I can’t reach the pot, I cannot see!’ What is only well-intentioned on the part of the child and shows a genuine interest in preparing meals can quickly become a chaotic affair in the kitchen in hectic everyday life. Cooking with young children requires one thing first: a lot of time. Most children become interested in cooking between the ages of 4 and 5. They see what their parents are sizzling, frying or cooking and they also experience the preparation work, such as cleaning ingredients, plucking herbs and cutting vegetables. And they really want to help! They grab the knife and start chopping away wildly which can be quite a scary experience for their guardians. Of course, young children are not yet able to do all the work around the kitchen – some things are simply too dangerous at this age. Nevertheless, children often have much more potential than we would expect and it’s about trusting them to do certain things. Encourage the desire to cook and provide assistance The first attempts in the kitchen are often made when baking cookies. Kneading dough, rolling it out and cutting out shapes with cookie cutters – even the little ones love it! The cookies are then lovingly decorated where children can live out their artistic creativity. And what’s the best part? Of course, snacking them away afterwards!The cutting is more difficult: but a 3-year-old can practice to chop soft fruit or vegetables with a knife under surveillance of an adult. There are knives with a blunt blade especially for children. Real kitchen knives can be introduced later when the children are older. However, it is important to learn how to use the various kitchen utensils correctly right from the start. For example, cutting should always be done away from the body and hot pots should only be touched with a potholder. Fat in the pan can splatter and it is easy to scald yourself when draining potatoes or pasta.  How do we teach those techniques and be a good role model for our little ones? By constantly commenting on our own activities in the kitchen as an adult, children almost automatically grow into these tasks too. However, using electrical kitchen appliances (such as a blender) is not recommended for children in preschool. Here, too, the children should be introduced slowly once they are older and only be allowed to use them occasionally. A sense of achievement When children are learning to cook, they want nothing more than a sense of achievement. It is therefore best to start with simple dishes that will most likely succeed. Even primary school children can prepare the ever-popular pasta with tomato sauce and grated cheese with a little help. However, it goes without saying that the tomato sauce should be freshly prepared – because simply opening a can is way too easy, right? Pancakes or pizza are also dishes that children can help with diligently. A big hurdle has already been overcome when the child can read. Then they can weigh the ingredients independently and use the recipe to find out how to prepare them. Nevertheless, a helping hand can be useful, especially at the beginning of a cooking career. After all, many tricks and tips are not to be found in any cookbook, but rather come from the wealth of experience of the family. For instance, if the child has a grandparent who loves to cook and shares that hobby, the child can pick up valuable knowledge very quick. The parents can encourage to cook together when the children are visiting their grandparents again. Cooking with children also means a little chaos in the kitchen Cooking with children is definitely not a clean affair. Especially at preschool age, it’s not uncommon to feel like you could collect your meal from the kitchen floor after being around the stove. There are spills and spills, things get broken or knocked over. Well, cooking needs to be learned and the more experience you have, the less chaos there is in the kitchen. But one thing should be clear from the outset: tidying up is an inevitable part of the job! Flour bags, butter dishes, breadcrumbs – everything is put back in its place. Waste goes in the bin and used dishes are washed or put in the dishwasher. This is something where children definitely can (and should) help and learn to tidy up after themselves. Healthy eating and independence When children learn to cook, it is much more than simply preparing a meal. They learn very basic things about healthy eating, independence and get to know a wide variety of foods. But not only that. Being able to prepare and care for a healthy and delicious meal yourself is an incredibly valuable skill. Therefore, children also learn independence and self-reliance and especially if they don’t miss out on the fun of cooking, they are very likely to continue doing it. We can support them by giving in to their desire to help and leading them by the hand into the world of cooking.