Parent Workshop with Ellie Davidson from Activation Upper Hutt City Council

Learning about literacy starts early!

Keeping Kiwi Kids Safer in Cyberspace - Parent information (click on link below).

kids safer in cyberspace

Kia ora Totara Park community,

We have uploaded this 'Jolly Phonics' YouTube as a learning tool that can be enjoyed at home. These phonics are the same phonic sounds that we use at kindergarten. We have posted this as a fun way of learning, because if something is fun, it is more likely to be remembered. It could be played in the background while your having a snack together with your child, for example. The trick is to keep it enjoyable.

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning.   Play is really the work of childhood.”  Fred Rogers

Matariki Breakfast Friday 20th June 2014

Visit from the Rimutaka Fire Fighters

Come and Join Totara Park Kindergarten

Happy Easter Everyone!

Grandparents day song - Like a bright star

Blueberry Farm Excursion AM Children

Tuesday 25th February 2014.

The weather was great for our excursion to the Blueberry Farm today. We had talked about what

blueberries looked like before we went; so that we could pick them and enjoy eating them.

We excitedly boarded the bus and off we went.The Bluebank Blueberry farm is tucked away in
the Akatarawa Valley in Upper Hutt. When we arrived we took a group photo and then we
headed off into the blueberry garden with our small container to pick and eat delicious blueberries.
Several of us had never been blueberry picking before. It was exciting and fun. Everyone seemed
to enjoy finding the bluest berries, picking them and eating them. Our containers were full and so
were our tummies. After some time we came out of the blue berry garden and had a delicious
morning tea. Janet made a yummy blueberry pie for us to eat.

 "Did you know that blueberries are natural antioxidants and they are known as brain   food so are extremely good for you.”

After morning tea we went over to the emus. We then gave them heaps of bread and they loved it. We enjoyed the freedom to be in the fresh air and sunshine to run, to laugh and to play. All to soon our morning in the country quickly came to an end. Our trip to the berry farm was enjoyed by all. Children and parents said they would return with their families. On our trip to the berry farm we all learnt how blueberries grow and when they are ripe to eat. We discovered you can make lots of things with blueberries such as jam, muffins and blueberry pie as well as enjoying eating them straight off the tree. We developed a relationship with the natural environment, exploring the world around us. We learnt to respect nature and our place in it along with the Emus and Alpacha we were able to see and feed. 

Rimutaka Gym Excursion PM Children

Thursday 20th February 2014

Today, the PM session ventured out of the Kindergarten, travelling by bus to the Rimutaka Gym. This was a first excursion for many of the PM children, so they were very excited to go. Once we got to the gym we all took our shoes off and danced around to a few familiar songs such as Miss Bunny and Singing in the Rain. It was then time to explore the gym, testing out equipment like the foam pit, sponge challenge course, balance beams, trampoline, wooden balance board, ladder and slide. 

Each piece of equipment is designed to build confidence, develop children's strength, co-ordination and agility. They had fun testing their abilities and sometimes venturing a little beyond their comfort zone. They were all surprised with how confident they were moving from one area to the other.

He tino pai tō mahi, well done all of you, for your effort and courage as you explored the gym.  You did a great job of trying out fun activities, and developing large motor skills, muscles, balance and spatial awareness. 

  

Welcome to our new kindergarten blog. We hope you have all had an enjoyable holiday and are ready to join us on our creative and innovative learning journey.

The children have started the term off with an enthusiastic drive for learning about volcanoes, insects, construction and design i.e. mobilo vehicles. Many more interests continue to develop as the term progresses.

                                                This is an aeroplane designed by Jared

                            Creating a volcano cake. experimenting with chemical reactions to create an eruption.