News Letter Issue No. 20
June 1997

Dear Parents,

It is hard to believe that another school year has come to an end and once again we have to bid a fond farewell to some of our children and parents. We hope you have some wonderful memories of your association with Tiny Home

This term we were able to take the children on two field trips. First we went to the Jumeirah corniche. Inspite of it being a hot day, it did not matter to the children as they enjoyed themselves in the play area with the swings and the toy train, after which they had a feel of the sea water. Some children found a lot of joy and thrill in collecting shells and pieces of rock. Later, all had their snacks in the shade of a huge canopy. Some children had to change when they got back to school - proof of the time well spent at the beach ! The day became eventful when Dominic from the Red Class caught two small crabs. This gave an opportunity for all the children to get a close look and they were fascinated by the way the crabs moved !

The second field trip was to the New Spinneys super market. The children were shown the display of fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and flowers. They were able to recognise many of the foods and flowers in all these areas. The highlight of the visit was the 'Bakery' at Spinneys. The children were shown around the Bakery by Mr. Paul of Spinneys. He explained the various ingredients that went into making the dough and showed us how they were poured into huge kneading machines in preparation for the delicious items available at the Spinneys bakery. The children had an opportunity to feel and roll out the bread dough. The consistency of the dough was a discovery for most of them. Some remarked, "It's just like play dough." The children were shown the electric ovens and the chimney oven that was used to bake different mouth watering items such as "khubz" and other types of bread. When leaving, each child was given a treat to take home.

Over the years, Tiny Home has had the privilege to welcome Parents and Guests who spared time to come and share their talents and special interests with us. It is in continuation of this tradition that we appreciate Mrs. Rose sharing some interesting information with our children about skeletons, bones and X-rays. For her demonstration, she brought with her different kinds of X-rays and models of various parts of the human skeleton. The children were amazed to learn that our body contains some 206 bones. The lesson was so interesting that the children listened intently. They all had a chance to examine the models followed by some questions. We are also thankful to Mr. & Mrs. Morishita who brought their dog, Ammi, to school. Ammi was instantly popular and children ventured to touch and pet the dog - for some it might have been their first such experience. It was an occasion to teach the children an important lesson about love for animals and how to take care of pets.

Last but not least, we also wish to thank Miss. Noi from Thailand who found time to come and show the children some fruit and vegetable carving. It was absorbing to watch her carve a leaf out of Cucumber, a rose out of Tomato and an eye catching design on the Apple amongst others.

We celebrated the Norwegian National Day in May. We would like to convey our thanks to four mothers - Mrs. Mohamed, Mrs. Horne, Mrs. Berge Foyn and Mrs. Miknas who visited each class to tell the children the significance of this day and how it is celebrated in Norway. The children were given Norwegian flags and a miniature march past was enacted to set music; the children waving the flags and shouting Hurrah! Hurrah! - reminiscent of the National Day event in Norway.They also provided a national dish as snack which was enjoyed by all - including the staff.

Once again our sincere thanks to all parents of Tiny Home for taking an active part in the children's school activities this year. We always appreciate your contribution, to enrich the children's life experiences. We take this opportunity to wish you all a pleasant holiday.

Miss Rashda

Notes from the Nurse

Children (Toddlers and "Casa") grow very fast. Their growth and development occur as a result of their culture, hereditary backgrounds, and the care and love that adults bestow upon them. Common physical factors that aid their development are height and weight. The weight of the child is one way to determine their health status. It is used to assess their nutritional needs. Children are weighed at regular intervals at school. Their weight and their height should be evaluated at least every three months for comparison to previous readings. I am happy with the results of the children at Tiny Home. The snacks they enjoy at school continue to be not only nutritional but also delicious.

Again, summer is fast approaching. Children going swimming or enjoying any sort of outdoor activities need to have an appropriate sunblock applied to protect them from the harmful rays of the hot sun. It is also advisable to check their hair once a month, as in this season one can easily be infected with headlice.

We wish you a very happy, healthy and safe summer holidays.

Mrs. Avelia O. Balatbat R N, School Nurse

Encouraging Language Skills

Dr. Montessori placed a great deal of importance on language development in the first six years of life - the 'Sensitive Periods' - and research has shown that there is a relationship between language and learning, and language and thought during this time.

'How can I help?' you may ask. Well, as a parent you will play several roles in your child's life, for after all, you are his first teacher and as such will be able to create a stimulating environment to bring about this early learning, which begins from the moment of birth and occurs most easily during the early years.

Before attempting to teach your child to read, he should be given several enrichment experiences. For example, talk to him, engage him in conversation, give him instructions, tell him stories, read to him, involve him in the story, ask him what is going to happen next, and take time to listen to what he has to say. Teach him some finger plays and sing as you work. Through repetition he will pick up the songs you sing. Children understand the meaning of words through action songs, finger plays and rhymes, and this in turn helps their sentence structure. Point out the written words in the environment. There will be signs to read while going for a drive and at the super market, different sections will be marked off by signs. Children can be encouraged to look at newspapers and magazines to recognise alphabets such as - 's', 'm', 'o' or others that they may be familiar with.

During your holidays it would be nice for the children to collect postcards to remind them of the places they have visited. It would be lovely for them to bring these for Show and Tell, as it encourages conversation and social interaction.

Another activity is to visit a local bookstore and let them browse in the children's department. Teach them how to turn the pages carefully and to treat books with care. Most of all, let them see you reading, and your keen interest and pleasure in books will be the example for them.

It is also important that parents read aloud to their children as it enriches the child's vocabulary and understanding. And, after reading the book, it is interesting for both parent and child to share experiences that relate to the story. For example, whether or not they liked the book and why. This in turn helps the child to think and form his own opinions.On the whole, the language syllabus includes all aspects of the child's environment and the opportunities for learning are endless.

"The discovery of sounds and words to express thoughts is one of the greatest of human discoveries. For a long time all thoughts and all knowledge were transmitted from generation to generation by the spoken word. The increasing burden of knowledge became so heavy that the human mind could not support it. Then occurred an event of momentous importance in human progress. This is the invention of written language. Written language helped nations to preserve what memory could no longer retain. It may be stated that no event in history had such far-reaching effect as the advent of written language.

(an extract from : What You Should Know About Your Child, by Dr. Maria Montessori)

Mrs. D'Costa

"The difference between the acquisitions of childhood and the acquisitions of adult life can be understood when one considers the pleasure with which a child masters his mother tongue and the labour with which an adult learns a foreign language."

(Dr. Maria Montessori)

"Adults are always asking kids what they want to become when they grow up because they are looking for ideas themselves."

(Paula Poundstone)

Learning to Love Numbers

Mathematics is a subject that is closely related in our daily lives, be it to run our finances, or the direction of commerce and industry. What is often not realised is that mathematics is more than just a system of numbers! In fact, it is also a way of thinking and a form of logical reasoning. Therefore, it is all the more important that children are made aware of this subject at an early age. We often come across people who have an aversion to maths. This is probably due to an improper foundation in the beginning. Let us briefly look at this subject in relation to our classrooms and the methodology used to introduce it to the children.

During the early years, the child will have a vast array of sensorial experiences derived from crawling, exploring and manipulating objects in the environment. These experiences assist in the formation of patterns for later intellectual development.

When children enter the Montessori nursery at two-and-a-half, they will not be ready to begin working with the mathematics materials until the age of three-and-a-half or more. However, during this intervening period there are plenty of pre-maths skills that will be introduced to them. This will help them become aware of numbers in the environment, their use and value.

One of the child's first experiences comes through songs and rhymes, which gives the names and sequence of numbers. For example, 'One, Two, Three, Four, Five Once I caught a fish alive', 'Five little ducks went swimming one day', 'Ten fat sausages' - to name a few.

Once children become aware of numbers they are encouraged to spot them in the environment - like shoe sizes, clothes sizes, prices in shops, car number plates, comparing their age with that of family members, weighing and measuring ingredients during cooking, height and weight charts, etc. This fosters the idea that we use numbers everyday.

At the same time, the children are given the freedom to explore the world around them. For this, the child is allowed to touch things, compare them, move them around, climb over and under etc. - thus giving the child a sense of size in comparison to himself. These initial steps are intended to be a foundation for later mathematical work. Many maths skills are built on the ideas of sorting, matching, and ordering. These activities involve concentration and making comparisons and as such, are very important for cognitive (mental) development. Let us take a closer look to see how we can help the child in these areas.

The first skill that needs to be developed is sorting into sets. The child needs to understand why certain things belong together and be able to recognise the properties that are common. For example, the ability to sort out all the oranges from a bowl of fruit or all the spoons from a pile of cutlery. The next activity is matching (or pairing) one set of objects with another set. After this the child begins comparing. For example, 4 buttons are more than 3 and so on. Once he can see this, he can then place things in order - 1 shell, 2 stones, 3 pencils, 4 buttons etc. Simple activities like these help the child to grasp a concept without any complications. It involves a play situation prior to the formal teaching of numbers.

Being able to recite numbers from 1 to 10, is not the same as counting, as many children are not able to identify 3, 4 or 5 objects. So children have to learn to match one word to one object (one to one correspondence) and later one word to the correct number of objects. Thus lots of practice is required when counting things while touching them. This can be done by counting the number of plates at mealtimes, or the number of forks and spoons.

Mealtimes are also an ideal opportunity for discussing the concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. You can talk to your child about the number of raisins on her plate: 'you've got 2 raisins on your plate. If I give you 1 more, how many will you have?" or 'You had 5 raisins and you ate 3, how many do you have left?". Division introduces the concept of sharing. For example, we may cut a fruit in halves or quarters depending on the number of people sharing it.

Dr. Maria Montessori always stressed that if children were introduced to mathematical concepts at an early age, then it would pave the way for more advanced work later. Of course this depends on how the subject is presented. Many of us may recall the long hours of drudgery and drill that we went through to learn certain basic concepts. This is mainly because it was presented to us in an abstract form.

On the other hand, Dr. Maria Montessori designed concrete material to represent all quantities. For instance, a child in a Montessori classroom not only sees the symbol for 1, but also feels it. Similarly, the child can feel quantities like 1000 and ½. Dr. Montessori recognised the importance of these experiences and emphasised the role of the hand in providing "the path to intellectual development". Hence the Montessori maths programme is intended to help the child gain confidence in the study of maths in the progressive stages of difficulty and in concrete form.

We can see that, in teaching mathematics, we are teaching for life. It is important that we as adults cultivate an interest in numbers so that we pass on a positive attitude to our children.

Parents and teachers alike can enrich the child's pre-math skills by giving them a firm foundation which will aid their later mathematical work. As the child begins to question and explore, he will learn to develop a love of numbers. After all, mathematics can be fun!

Miss Azra

Two simple Finger plays