A unique Primary School, offering a British based, child centred education in the Turks and Caicos Islands
The children in the JK class have been exploring and investigating the concept “Things that Grow” and one of our discoveries is that seeds can grow in soil. We made a list and charted “Things that grow” and “Things that don’t grow”. One child described his knowledge by saying…”An apple in the ground won’t grow. You’re suppose to take the seed out not the whole apple.” This is a great example of how children build upon what they know and adapt new information in their minds.
As part of our Community Helpers Topic the J.K’s have been investigating and identifying local community people and their careers. We have extended our school culture exploration of the Animal Hospital in our Home Corner to visiting The Turks and Caicos Veterinary Clinic. The children have been able to explore their own ideas about how to care for animals while making links between their current understanding and their increasing knowledge. These meaningful experiences offer such enrichment to learning.
The J.K.’s had a wonderful time making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins together. One of our mums is a chef, and she came into class and worked with all of the children as they poured, mixed and stirred a variety of ingredients to create this delicious snack.
After making the muffins, the J.K.’s created a story (recount) about the event using a Talk 4 Writing method that creates pictures to represent the events. The class has been practicing telling this story and will be performing it for parents in the near future. This is such a great example of early literacy and the fun and enjoyment that comes from it when it connects with a real-life experience.
As part of our Community Helpers topic, the JK’s created a hospital in the Home Corner. Presently, one of the most interesting things for them to explore are the bandages, surgical gloves and masks. The wonderful fine motor opportunities that have come from exploring with these items are evident in their attempts to use them in their play. When a child wants to put on a glove, the process is slowed down to “eye hand” coordination in placing the thumb in first and then each finger at a time. The focused attention I have witnessed from the children to do this is amazing and they are so happy with their success at it. This simple task helps strengthen their writing skills such as holding a pencil and achieving a proper grip. The same can be said for opening and peeling off a bandage wrapper or securing a mask behind ones ears. In the name of play, children learn and practice so many skills!
We invite you to enjoy Provo Primary’s Radio Show on Saturday Nov. 22nd at 9am on Radio Turks and Caicos 107.7FM. We will be showcasing our school’s “Love of Literacy” by featuring student’s topics and interests in this area!
We are excited to share with you and the listening community our educational approach to literacy and the many creative ways children grow and learn in this area…enjoy!
During our topic exploration of “Our Classroom as a Community” and “Our School as a Community” the JKs have been busy listening to stories, creating art work, and using puppets in relationship to “Friendship”. As we talk about “being a friend” and “being helpful and kind to others”, we also are working on resolving conflicts with one another.
The JKs have been creating stories about “Friends” using puppets. Their animal friends say “Hello” to their audience and create a short story while they share a variety of feelings with one another during a puppet show. They also created a “Friendship Wreath”. Together they made up the following “friendship story” to go with the wreath (The story can be seen in class next to the hanging wreath).
Our latest field trip involved us exploring the beach and expanding our knowledge about the sea. We started off by visiting the DEMA Environmental Centre, where Amy, the Environment Outreach Coordinator, shared many interesting facts about the Turks and Caicos Islands and highlighted the importance of taking care of our reefs. Looking around the exhibits, we were thrilled to meet a real-life boa constrictor and to touch a humpback whale’s tooth.
We then headed across to The Children’s Park on our way to the beach. A special tree planting ceremony was taking place in celebration of International Bio-diversity Day. The Honorable Premier, Rufus Ewing, asked us to help him to plant some lignum vitae trees. He then invited us to pose with him in a photograph that would be featured in the Canadian magazine, PIE. We felt like the paparazzi were all around us as cameras clicked and flashed. What a memorable trip!
Literacy came alive in the Kindergarten room as the students explored fish by creating ‘Sophia the Parrot fish’ and told her story. Please enjoy! How many sight words can you find?Sophia the Parrot Fish
“This is Sophia. She lives in a coral reef. She likes to go in the deep water and she likes to have friends over. Sophia likes to swim around the coral reef and it is her favourite thing to do. Sophia lives with her family. Sophia has a brother and two sisters. Her brother’s name is James. Her sister’s names are Emily and Amber. Her dad is called Bob and her mum is called Kali. Sophia loves to play with her family. Sophia likes her mum and her dad and she gives them hugs everyday. She loves visiting the coral reef because that’s where her friends live. She goes to school. She loves her friends there. At school she learns her A,B,Cs and how to do tricks…karate tricks. She also learns how to do ballet.”
What does “active learning” look like for mathematics? When the Kindergarteners play and explore the concept of number with the Cuisenaire rods they learn to partition the number ten in many different ways…one and nine, two and eight, three and seven. What a wonderful example of how children critically think about number in a concrete and hands on way!…In the name of “play” we support children’s learning in rich and meaningful activities.
The Kindergarteners visited the Turks and Caicos Vet Association and offered homemade doggie treats to the TCSPCA as part of their exploration of domesticated animals and how to care for pets. Ms. Peggy answered many of the children’s questions and they were able to learn very specific ways that veterinarians care for animals. What an exciting adventure in learning!
Our waiting area includes clipboards for signing in our favourite stuffed animal pets who unfortunately have issues that need our attention. We have created and labeled their cages and are learning to care for them properly. As we learn more about our animal patients, we also actively learn skills in problem solving, collaboration, literacy, and numeracy. We are planning a trip to the Vets soon to further investigate how to care for our furry and feathered friends.
The Kindergarteners thoroughly enjoyed acting out ‘The Three Little Pigs’, retelling the tale with puppets and by performing it in front of their peer audience.
They then retold the story in their journals adding detailed drawings and a few words of their choice.
What a wonderful example of emergent literacy!
As part of our “Building a classroom community”, the Kindergarteners explored a “Measuring Friends” project where they measured their friends using paper dolls.
Afterwards, they transferred their information onto a chart to compare and contrast each other’s heights. The project involved cooperating, negotiating and utilizing critical thinking skills all in the name of fun!
To complement and extend on our exploration of our “Building our classroom/school community” topic, the Kindergarteners wanted to develop the outside “village” space by adding more sand toys and kitchen cooking items. We decided to have a bake sale to raise money to buy these items. Year one also participated in the sale.
The bake sale was a great success with lots of smiley customers enjoying our delights. All the children helped to count up the money and altogether we raised $230. We look forward now to buying some new items and getting to play with them.
What a wonderful example of how academic learning can be meaningful and fun!
Every Friday during small group time, the Jr Ks follow recipes together. They have created foods such as berry ices, smoothies, cookies and sandwiches, and crafts such as playdough and salt dough sculptures. Click below see pictures of how the children worked together to create these fabulous recipes.
The Jr. K’s are enjoying their love of books by sharing their favorite stories with one another during circle time. As a class, we are looking at storybooks individually and retelling the story with puppets and arts and crafts activities. Along with sharing with you the latest language and literacy activities in our classroom, it is also important to share research in early childhood development on this subject.
Read on to learn more about language, literacy and active play in the classroom and to see more photos.
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