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Nania News
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 At nania corner
October 2008 (E84)
Dear parents,
It was a touching moment when the 6 years old children who have tirelessly practice for their graduation ceremony finally gave a great performance on 10-Oct-2008. Their parents who attended that day must have felt proud of them. Teacher Thian was moved to tears when giving her closing speech.
As for me, who attended the class graduation ceremony for the first time, I was also touched by the magic of the moment by what the children can do at such tender age. The younger ones also did their part and dearly congratulating graduating classmates.
On the lighter note, one of the graduating children shouted ‘yes, we are free’ at the end of the ceremony. Now they are back to their daily routine again. However this day will forever remained with them throughout their life.
Teacher Thian gave birth to a baby boy on 19-Oct-2008. Both mother and baby are fine and resting at home now. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our new English class assistant teacher. She is Teacher Teoh. She has a 9 years old son. Prior to Nania, she worked at a kindergarten based in Langkawi. She is happily adjusting to the new environment.
Teacher Nora
|
Congratulations
to 6 graduated children |
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All
the best to Teacher Thian |
September 2008 (E83)
Dear parents,
The 6 year olds are busy preparing themselves for their graduation. They have made colourful music instruments and beautiful crowns to use for that special day. They have started to practice poems and songs too. Some of the small children have picked up on their presentation by imitating the big children. Enclosed with this news letter is a song sheet for graduation day.
As the children are preparing themselves for more challenges in their schooling, parents also need to prepare themselves to support their children’s transition. We were glad to have had Swee Kian, Chia Zheng’s mother, who shared her experiences with us. Foong Lin, Jing Qi’s mother, also contributed her ideas by a letter. I was very moved by the mothers’ confidence in their children and love towards them. They didn’t compare their children’s academic results with the other children but they look into every little progress that their children achieve day by day. They listened to their children and supported them through their difficulties. I was amazed that the mothers created many interesting ways to help their children.
Hari Raya Aidilfitri is just around the corner. Some ribbon ‘ketupats’ (the Malay traditional rice dumpling) are hung up in the display hall to herald the Hari Raya festive mood. As Teacher Nora is a Muslim, she is fasting during the day time in this month. She told the children about her practice and she doesn’t join us for meals.
I have decided to delay my last day until the end of October instead of 10th October as mentioned earlier. I feel that my body is still fit and my baby is growing well. Therefore my last day will be 31st October.
Teacher Thian
Coming events
Hari Raya Aidilfitri Celebration ( 29th September 2008)
Children will eat some Malay traditional food during the snack time. Teacher Nora will tell them about the festival.
English Class Graduation (10th October 2008, Friday)
7 children are going to graduate and start their Primary 1 next year. Parents of graduating children are invited to join the ceremony.
Harvest estival (24th October 2008,Friday
Parents are invited to join us for the Harvest Festival from 9 am. Children will go home early with their mothers after the festival at about 11.15 am. The programme details and songs are attached with this newsletter.
Deepavali Celebration (29th October 2008, Wednesday)
On that day, children will have Muruku (Indian Snack) for snack time. Teacher Chithra will tell a Deepavali story to the children.
Parents’ Meeting Evening ( 29th October 2008, Wednesday)
All parents of the English class students are invited to attend this yearly meeting. The arrival time will be 7.15pm and we will start on 7.30pm. We plan to end by 9.00pm. Parents can take this opportunity to meet each other as well as discuss issues related to child development and class experience with the class teachers. Kindly make arrangements for your children’s care.
Holidays
1st- 3rd October 2008 Hari Raya holidays
27th October 2008 Deepavali holiday
Harvest Festival Programme
Date: 24th October 2008 (Friday)
Venue: Taska Nania
Schedule:
09:00 – 09:30 bread making (for snack) & free play
09:30 – 09:45 setting up tables for snack & toilet break
09:45 – 10:15 presentation
10:15 – 10:25 toilet break
10:25 – 10:40 snack
10:50 – 11:05 puppet show
11:10 goodbye song & gift (origami flower)
11:15 going home
We look forward to sharing a wonderful celebration with you
August 2008 (E82)
Dear parents,
Parents of 6-year-olds were busy earlier this month registering their children for primary school. Hence, the children started to discuss the schools they are going to attend next year. It is challenging whenever children need to adapt to new environments and start new learning processes. Parental support is essential for a smoother transition during the beginning stages. I am glad to inform you that we will organize a parents’ sharing evening to talk about how parents can support their children during this transition period. Mothers of the graduates from Nania will share their experiences with us. Parents with children aged 5 and 6 this year are cordially invited to meet on 16th September 2008 (Tuesday). Please come between 7.15pm and 7.30pm. We will share for about one and a half hours.
Recently, I shared with a few mothers that we discourage the children from bringing merchandise associated with TV cartoon characters to the class. I would like to explain further why we discourage this. Children below 7 have an innate ability to imitate as this is one of the ways they learn. Our young children learn to stand, walk and speak by observing and imitating the people around them. What has been observed by a child is often tried out by the child as part of his or her experiences. At Nania, some children often want to play out the TV characters. Their play in such cases is often loud and follows somewhat fixed roles and story patterns. The boys often imitate action characters, adopt aggressive fighting roles in their play, produce electronic type action sounds, short loud speeches in line with the popular TV cartoon character. Such play is somewhat prescribed, limited in scope and lacking in social interaction, imagination and speech formation.
At Nania, we tell the children TV cartoon characters live in their TV world and do not come to class. We direct them to play out less defined but more human archetypal characters such as Mother, Father, Doctor, Waiter and Waitress, Prince and Princess etc. When acting out such roles without a predefined script, the imagination of the child is free to evolve a different story each time and respond spontaneously to others in the play. I understand that the market is full with merchandise printed with TV cartoon character nowadays. We, the adults need to put more effort to minimize their influence on our children.
The school holidays are just around the corner. I hope you will have a wonderful time with your children. See you again on 2nd September (Tuesday).
Teacher Thian
The Moon Cake Festival
The Moon Cake Festival, a Mid-Autumn Festival (Chung Chiu), is the third major festival of the Chinese calendar. Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "Chung Chiu Jie." It is also known as the Moon Cake Festival because a special kind of sweet cake (yueh ping) prepared in the shape of the moon and filled with sesame seeds, ground lotus seeds and duck eggs is served as a traditional Chung Chiu delicacy. On that day children are told the story of Chang-O, the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The legend surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, the Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result. Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival.
Moon Cake Festival (12th September 2008, Friday) The teacher will tell the story about the moon fairy, Chang-o, on that day. Later, the children will bring home a vegetarian moon cake. Holidays Monday, 1st September, is a replacement holiday for The National Day that falls on Sunday.We will be close on 17th September 2008 (Wednesday) for Nuzul Quran.
July 2008 (E81)
Dear parents,
Earlier in this month, we celebrated the Tanabata. The children hung their paper wishes, the Tanzaku, on a bamboo branch decorated with some paper ornaments. I hope their wishes will come true.
This year, the branches of our rambutan tree grew lower. The children were able to reach the rambutans. I was amazed that most of the children could abstain from plucking the green and yellow rambutans after we advised them to wait for those rambutans to turn into red. I think it is a great experience for the children who are born in this “fast food era” to learn to wait for good things to come into their life.
For those who attended the lantern festival, I hope you enjoyed the lovely evening as much the teachers and children did. Children were very excited as the festival approached. They discussed who would come on that evening, what costume they would wear and looked forward to the lantern walk.
That morning, the children happily made the dango. Later, they made colourful paper lanterns to decorate the garden. This year, a boy introduced origami flowers that he had invented to his friends. They joined the flowers together to make beautiful coloured balls. Did you notice those balls?
The garden was magical that evening. For the first time, our purple Garlic Vine bloom gloriously on the roof. The garden came alive with the children’s paper lanterns and paper balls. The evening was filled up with laughter and enjoyment during the children’s presentation. I appreciated the parents’ participation during the game and the Bon Dance. I hope that you also enjoyed the dango the children made.
As I lit on the candles for the children before the lantern walk, I silently wished that the children’s hearts were in communion between the lights on earth and the lights in the heavens.
Later, my heart was warmed by the children who helped us to put back the chairs in their appropriate places. Thanks to the parents who gave us a helping hand too.
Teacher Thian
Holidays
The holidays will start from 18th August. Please take note that 1st September (Monday) is the replacement holiday for the National day. Therefore, we will open again on 2nd September (Tuesday).
June 2008 (E80)
Dear parents,
During our school holidays, the teachers went to Shah Alam, Selangor to visit a Waldorf-inspired kindergarten. The kindergarten, Pusat Jagaan Kelip-Kelip is run by Teacher David, who completed his studies in the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Training College. I was very moved by his initiative and amazed by his creation. He showed us around the premises and shared his sad and happy moments with us. Later, we continue our trip to Malacca. We had an enjoyable time there. We also got to know more about each other.
When the children came back after the break, Nania was again filled with their laughter and energy. We were very happy to have them back again.
On 12th June, we did a fire drill with the children. As soon as we heard the sound of the siren, I told the children to leave everything behind and quickly gather at the mound in the garden. The children followed my instructions and without delay, they came out from the classroom. After we gather at the mound, Uncle Ong brought the fire extinguisher and explained to the children how it helps to put out the fire. After the drill, some children showed their concern by asking whether there was something damaged by the fire.
We enjoyed the Bento Day in our garden last week. The children had prepared their wallet and they made money on that morning. When the rain fell during our outside play time, the children were worried that the picnic might be called off. We were so lucky that the rain stopped just before lunch time.
The children are now practicing songs and poems for the Lantern Festival. The children have also started to prepare their lanterns using their painting paper. Please mark the date, 18th July (Friday), in your calendar. I wish to meet all of you on that evening.
I have noticed that some parents have to wait for their children who still want to play in the garden during pick-up time. Therefore, I had a class discussion with the children and explained to them they can play in the garden during outside play time. I encouraged them to go home with parents whenever they come for them. We also encouraged them to hold their parents’ hands when they exit from the gate for safety reasons.
A new assistant teacher, Teacher Jessie, will join us next month. She was a teacher in another kindergarten for 3 years.
Chia Zheng and Chia Yui’s mother, Swee Kian, a proponent of Waldolf Education, took the initiative to provide after school care to her son and friends. The class started on 16th June. There are currently 4 children in the class. They are here in Nania from 1pm to 6pm. She wishes to provide the children with creative and artistic learning so that the children can learn by their own will.
We also share our space with some Down’s syndrome children. It is a co-organized play group for the children and their families organized by the Penang Down’s Syndrome Association (PDSA), Asian Community Service (ACS) and Taska Nania. They meet on every third Saturday each month in Nania.
Teacher Thian
Coming events
Tanabata Celebration (Friday 4th July 2008)
This is the day of the year, according to a Chinese and Japanese folktale, when the Weaver Princes and the Cowherd can meet across the Milky Way to renew their love for each other. The children will make Tanzaku for this celebration. Tanzuka and other ornaments are hung on a bamboo branch during tanabata and placed in the house as a way of entreating better things to come.
Lantern Festival (Friday 18th July 2008)
On that day, the children will be going home early (after lunch at 12:15pm). Later, they will come back to Nania for the Lantern Festival with their parents and siblings after dinner at 6.15pm. Enclosed with this news letter are the details and a song sheet for the festival.
About the Lantern Festival Celebration
The Lantern Festival is one of the big festivals we celebrate with parents at Nania. The Nania Lantern Festival brings together elements from the Chinese Moon Cake Festival and the Japanese Summer Bon Festival.Bon is one of Japan’s summer festivals and is a time when people make offerings of food and other things to their ancestors and pray for the happiness of their ancestors’ souls in the next world. It takes place from the 13th to 15th of August, and during this time the folk dance known as Bon Odori can be seen in cities, towns and villages all over Japan.Moon Cake Festival otherwise known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is the third major festival of the Chinese calendar. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. This festival is also known as the Moon Cake Festival because a special kind of sweet cake prepared in the shape of the moon and filled with sesame seeds, ground lotus seeds and duck eggs is served as a delicacy.
This year we will celebrate the festival on 18th July (Friday). We will celebrate this festival in the evening at Nania’s garden if it does not rain
On the festival day, children will make dango (rice dumpling) in the morning for the evening festival snack. They will start the evening with songs, a dance and then enjoy the snack they have made themselves. Then, they will do a lantern walk with their handmade lanterns.At Nania we use candles for story time, birthdays and farewells. Candles, as lights on the Earth, are used to represent the lights in Heaven in our cultural activities. The sight of Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon and Mr. Star fill the children with wonder and awe. As Mr. Candle’s light graces their activity it brings a sense of solemnity and dignity to the children. The lantern walk during the Lantern Festival offers a moment of communion in the children’s hearts between the lights on earth and the lights in the heavens.
The children have painted the paper that they will use to make their lanterns. Parents are encouraged to make lanterns with the children’s siblings for the lantern walk on that night.
Nania Lantern Festival
Date: 18th July 2008 (Friday)
Time: 6.15 pm
Venue: Taska Nania garden [indoors, if it rains]
Programme(Morning) 9.00 am ~ 9.20 am Morning Tea
9.30 am ~ 10.00 am Dango making
(snack for the evening)
10.00 am ~ 10.15 am Clearing up
10.15 am ~ 11.15 am Creative play
11.15 am ~ 11.30 am Clearing up / toilet
11.30 am ~ 12.00 pm Lunch
12.15 pm Going home
(Evening) 6.15 pm ~ 6.25 pm Arrival
6.30 pm ~ 6.50 pm Children’s presentation
(greeting, poems, songs)
6.50 pm ~7.00 pm Hokkien poem by staff
Bon dance
7.00 pm ~ 7.30 pm Light snack
(Mothers are kindly requested to help bring along some refreshments for their children after the Bon dance)
7.30 pm ~ 7.45 pm Lantern walk
7.45 pm Goodbye song
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Dear parents, “Learning through play” sound interesting and innovative doesn’t it? The phrase sums up my training at the USM pre-school course I attended in 2003. It inspired me to want to pursue a career in educating the development of children in an artistic and holistic way. For your information, I was formerly a bank branch manager. Sadly, I was not able to do so at the previous kindergarten I was working. Things have turned out like a dream come true when I stepped into Nania. The common classroom style of tables and chairs with whiteboard is not present. Instead I see softly decorated rooms with toys lovingly made by hands or collected from nature. At Nania, I see children learning through creative play with friends. They line up chairs and turn them into a ‘boat’ traveling to different destinations with friends. They stack up blocks to build a zoo. They interact and act out roles of doctor/patient, mummy/children, big sister taking care of little brothers or sisters, hawker/customer, etc. At Nania, I found children who are more environmentally conscious than I am. Children who sing songs to me. Children who assist me willingly when I need their help, and children who show concern when their friends or teacher are not feeling well. Every day when the little ones go home, we, the teachers have so much to share about them. I miss them during the 1 week break. I am happy for the opportunity to work at Nania. I look forward to learning creatively with the children every day and take on leading the English class when Teacher Thian has her baby. I am getting to know the children individually with their respective unique characteristic and am interested to also know you parents more, to work together for their development. Teacher
Nora. |
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Dear Parents, We have started preparations for the transition of Teacher Thain’s departure as main teacher in the English Class. Currently, teacher Nora is guiding the afternoon big children’s session. She will take on more active role in leading the class gradually. To adapt the class graduation with Teacher Thian’s pregnancy, we are moving forward the Class graduation ceremony from 7th November to 10th October 2008, which will also be Teacher Thian’s last working day. The Harvest festival will be moved from 10th October to 24th October 2008. I hope these changes will not inconvenience you too much. Thanking you for your understanding. Regards Junko Suzumoto Principal |
March 2008 (E77)
Dear parents,
Most of you may have met the English Class Assistant Teacher, Teacher Nora. She is a mother of two teenagers and was a teacher in another kindergarten before she joined us. The children are getting closer to her as she loves the children very much. I am glad to have her in the English class.
Some children brought their paper craft eggs to the class before and after the Easter Day. That propelled the children to colour their own Easter eggs. Last Wednesday, we celebrated Easter with the children in Nania. The children looked forward to the celebration after I told them about the programme of the day. They coloured their eggs during that morning. After they had enjoyed the puppet show, they were very eager to look for the eggs in the garden. We were lucky that the rain didn’t fall during our egg hunt. Later, we also planted some seeds in three planter boxes. We hope to see the passion fruit, four-angles-bean, and ladies’ finger seedlings grow soon.
- Easter Spring Celebration -
We will start the Nania Craft Circle(for children ages 6 and above on 18th April (Friday). The class will start at 4.15p.m.and end at 6.00p.m. every Friday. The children will be explored to paper folding, needle work, weaving, doll and puppet making etc. The fee is RM25 per session inclusive of materials. Interested parents are welcome to register your children with Teacher Chithra. Please pass the word around as this craft class is also open to siblings and your children’s friends.
We have started practising the poems and songs for Sports Day with the children. Enclosed with this newsletter is the song sheet for the sports day. We hope to see you and your family members on 20th April 2008 (Sunday).
Teacher Thian
coming events
Sports Day/ Family Day (20th April 2008)
We are having our Sports/Family day on Sunday, 20thApril. The whole family (fathers, mothers, siblings) is welcome to join this active and fun morning event.It will be held at the indoor sports hall of the Penang Japanese School. Further details will be given at a later date. This event is organized together with the parents in our Sports/Family Day committee. The Sports Day replacement holiday will be on 2nd May 2008 (Friday).
February 2008 (E76)
Dear parents,
We were happy to have had a windy morning on the Kuih Kapit Baking Day. The children who attended were very helpful. They even tried to fold the hot Kuih Kapit! After their hard work, some children liked to eat the Kuih Kapit on the spot while some preferred to savour them slowly at home. However, I missed the English Class families. I hope to see you next time.
I hope you had enjoyed the Chinese New Year Festival with us. The Ribbon Kuih made by the children was delicious and the children love them. During the celebration, I noticed that some parents were very much engaged with the camera. I understand that it was a memorable moment to see the children performance or to show other family members what the child had experienced on that day. On the other hand, when we see or experience the festival through the camera, we may not be able to enjoy the experience fully. Maybe parents could just take a few photos and be with us physically and mentally for most of the time. We want you to share the festival with us.
After the Chinese New Year Festival, we celebrated the Setsebun Day. On that morning, children wore their masks and brought the soybeans to the garden. We said “Sickness, sadness outside! Happiness inside! ”as we scattered the soybeans. I wish all the children and their family members good health and happiness.
Please take note that we will change our Sport Day/Family Day to 20th April (Sunday) instead of 27th April as planned in the year calendar. This change is due to the arrangement of the venue. Further information will be given out close to date.
Teacher Thian
coming events
Girl’s Day Celebration ( 3rd March 2008)
We will celebrate the Japanese Girl’s Day Festival (Hinamatsuri) with the children on 3rd March (Monday). The dolls in traditional kimono displayed at the festival corner are praying for the well being of girls.The dolls are called hina-ningyo and the custom is also known as momo-no sekku (Peach Festival) because it is also the peach blossom season on the old lunar calendar.In some areas, the old custom, nagashibina, of loading one’s troubles onto a paper doll and floating them off down the river is still practiced. Most Japanese families with girls display hina-ningyo and dedicate peach blossoms to them.They are usually arranged on a five or seven-tiered stand covered with a red carpet.At the top are the Emperor and Empress. The next level sit three court ladies, followed by five musicians, two ministers, and three servants at the bottom row of a five-tiered display.Displays may include small pieces of furniture, meal dishes, and other things.The 3-tiered hina-ningyo at Nania was handmade by a child’s mother. The children have started folding paper dolls and make them into wall decorations.They will bring home the wall decorations on the festival day.
Japanese Class Graduation (7th March 2008)
11 children in the Japanese Class are graduating this year. We wish them all the best in their future. Please take note that there will be no water play on that Friday.
January 2008 (E75)
Dear parents,
I hope you have enjoyed the year end break with your children. It is nice to have the children back in Nania. I was told that many children had been asking their parents when they could come back to Nania. I hope that we will have another wonderful year.
During the holidays, we rewired and painted the premises. In the garden, we cut off the old tree from which the children collected red flowers to make colour water. In its place we planted the Longan tree. Longan means dragon’s eyes in Mandarin. Longan fruits are small brownish balls shaped like eyes. We also planted Bohemia that will prodece beautiful yellow flowers. On the first day of school, we brought the children out for an excursion around the garden.
Last year, we introduced Kuih Kapit Baking Day. Families that joined us commented that it was a special experience for them. To those who are new to Kuih Kapit, it’s a traditional snack for Chinese New Year. It tastes like love letter but is folded into a triangle. The details of Kuih Kapit Baking Day is enclosed with this newsletter.
Chinese New Year is the most important festival for the Chinese. It is a time for a family reunion. In Nania, it is a time when everyone comes together as a family to prepare for and celebrate a new year while wishing for health, happiness and good luck. The display corner is now decorated with fire crackers and beautiful plum blossoms to bring in the festival atmosphere. The children have started to practice poems, songs, dances and the drums. As mentioned, we will celebrate the Chinese New Year festival on 1st February 2008. I hope to see all of you on that day.
I am sad to inform you that three teachers are leaving. Teacher Tan is leaving for her voluntary work in India. Below is her letter to you. Teacher Joyce wishes to spend more time with her grandchildren. Meanwhile, Teacher Lim is ready to continue her studies in early childhood education. They have contributed a lot of energy, love and ideas while working here. I appreciate their support very much. I wish them all the best in their future. May they be always happy. On the other hand, Teacher Stella will join us to help in the kitchen. We will have another two teachers to help us.
Teacher Thian
The children are busy making cookies
Let’s make colourful stars
End of the year report cards
Chinese New Year Festival Programme
(1st February 2008)
9.00 am Free play / Setting up for snack
9.30 am Toilet Break
9.45 am Presentation Agenda
Greetings
Chinese New Year poems
Songs
Drum and dances
10.20 am Snack
10.45 am Puppet show / staff presentation
11.20 am Goodbye song
11.30 am Angpow and departure
Looking forward to a cheerful celebration with all of you
coming events
Setsubun/ Japanese Bean Throwing Festival (4th February 2008)
This festival takes place on the day before Risshun, the first day of spring on the Chinese calendar. Soybeans are scattered in and around the house to drive out sickness and misfortune which are represented by a demon. (This custom is called mamemaki.)
For the celebration, children will make origami boxes for storing soybeans and also a mask of the demon or the god of happiness. On that day the children will wear masks and scatter soybeans. We will celebrate the festival in the garden.
Holidays
6th to 8th February 2008 Chinese New Year Holidays
