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Happy Samoan Language Week

05 June 2019

Talofa, from all of us at Pascals Albany!
To celebrate the language and culture of Samoa, our teachers dressed in flowery clothing; our teacher Soli cooked a Samoan feast for ALL teachers and children; our teachers will be using Samoan words and phrases all week; the Nursery faiaoga put on a concert of Samoan pese for our babies and toddlers; and Soli is going around the classrooms reading Samoan story books and teaching a Samoan pese to the children, and it doesn’t stop there - from henceforth, we are commited to making our Samoan / Pasifika heritage become securely embedded in our centre culture. 🌺🌺🌺

Is there anything more fantastic than seeing an infant, toddler or young child fully rocking to a beat with their own artistic movements, not a care in the world as they create, move and groove to music that sometimes only they can hear?! There are, of course many learning benefits for children when they engage in music and movement, these are just a few of them as well as some ways that you can bring music and movement to life for your child.

Young children are learning their place in the world every single day in multiple ways. The ideas that they form from observing the world around them will often show up when children are engaging in family and dramatic play, but what exactly is family and dramatic play and what are the benefits of your child engaging in it?

Kia Ora! This month has been full of exciting activities and cultural celebrations at our preschool! We celebrated Cook Islands Week and Tongan Language Week by learning about greetings, colors, numbers, and the days of the week from these cultures. The children enjoyed making Tongan “Otai” and learning some Cook Islands language from one of our dads. We also had a visit from the librarian who entertained the children with puppet stories and songs. A highlight was our parent evening where we discussed raising resilient children. Parents learned about language development and strategies for managing common behavior issues. The children had fun with our homemade Olympic Games, where they created and awarded their own medals. We also raised awareness about asthma with the Sailor Asthma Show, presented by Aimee Gaestro. The Kapa Haka group from St Mary’s School performed for us, and it was a fantastic experience. Be sure to check out the videos! Our oldest children visited St Mary’s School to see what primary school is like and what they can expect. It’s been a busy month, and we look forward to more enriching experiences for the children. Connections to Te Whāriki (ECE Curriculum) Learning Outcomes: Belonging: Connecting with people, places, and things in their world Contribution: Using skills and strategies to play and learn with others Communication: Enjoying and creating stories

Happy Samoan Language Week

Music and Movement

Family and Dramatic Play

A month full of Cultural Celebrations and Learning!