The days have been long and sunny, but K1s have continued to learn a lot in spite of the heat.
This week we divided the class into 2 groups for Group Learning Time. We learned more deeply about tomatoes and cucumbers. We used our 5 senses (感覚)to learn about these foods. Their different observations were very interesting. Some friends said, “Tomatoes are quiet”(トマトは静か), and “Tomatoes are plump!” (トマトはぷにゃぷにゃ) . Some friends said, “Cucumbers smell like muchi”(キュウリはムーチーのにおいがする), and “Cucumbers taste bitter.”(キュウリは苦い) We shared our observations and made poster cards of our senses.
Today is July 7th, the Tanabata festival in Japan. The K1 friends learned about Tanabata from Story Time, and made strips of paper which they wrote their wishes and hung them on bamboo. Also, they made some decorations with the origami!
Water Play & Outside Play
We really enjoyed water play and outside play!!! It was super fun!!!!
Phonics
This week, we reviewed letters from A to G with the sounds, actions and worksheets.
P.E.
K1 friends learned how to make animal poses with their bodies and divide into two teams to play the ball game. When you hit the wall with ball, your team will gets 1 point!!!
Autivity & Gardening
K1 friends learned about many plants by reading botanical illustrated books. Then they chose their favorite plants and made a Plants Book. From next week, we will be divided into a tomato group and a cucumber group, and we will start group learning to learn more deeply. We also do our best in gardening!
We hope you all had a peaceful weekend as we commemorated Okinawa’s Memorial Day. We remember and pray for all of the families who were affected by the Battle of Okinawa and the War, as well as those around the world who cannot experience peace right now.
June 23, 1945, is the day the battle of Okinawa ended. In 1961, Ryukyu Government decided to make June 23 a holiday called “Irei no Hi ” to console and remember those who lost their lives and pray for peace. To commemorate this important event in Okinawa, we learn about peace and gratitude with our Kinder friends. We dedicated June 19-23 as our Peace Week. １９４５年６月２３日は、沖縄戦が終わった日です。１９６１年、琉球政府は、この悲惨なできごとを忘れず、平和への祈りをささげる日として、６月２３日を慰霊の日と定めました。沖縄にとって、とても大事な日を追悼するために、幼稚園でも１９日から２３日を平和週間として、子どもたちと一緒に平和について学び、考えてきました。
K1 friends learned about what peace looks like, how we can act peacefully. We read, “Peace is Beautiful” (へいわってすてきだね”). Some K1s stood up and shared with everyone what they think peace means, for example, peace means “no fighting”, ” we can eat a lot”, “we can grow up because there is no war”, “everyone is alive”, ” we can enjoy playing together.” We enjoyed making our “rainbow peace doves” this year as well, focusing on the age-old meaning of the rainbow- as rain washes the earth, we can wash our hearts and become as peacefuland beautiful as the rainbow. K1の子どもたちは平和とは一体どんなものなのか、“へいわってすてきだな”の絵本を読んだり、自分たちは平和に関して何ができるのかということを考えたり、学んだりしました。何人かの子どもたちは、友だちの前に立って平和にはどんな意味があるのかを発表してくれました。例えば、“けんかがないこと”“たくさん食べられる”“戦争がないから大きくなれる”“みんなが生きていること”“一緒に楽しく遊べる”などが出されました。また、昔から伝わる言い伝えの話もしました。雨が世界を浄化するように私たちの心も平和に、美しくしてくれますように。そして虹がかかるよう願いを込めて、平和を象徴する“虹の鳩”作りも楽しみました。
K2 friends listened to many peace-related stories by K2 Teachers and Miss Masami. We also made different peace crafts. K2の子どもたちは、平和に関する絵本をライブラリーの時間やアクティビティの時間で聞いたり、平和への思いを込めたアートを作ったりしました。
Then, we had our Peace Assembly. We listened to the story いただきます and performed peace-related songs. そして、幼稚園では平和集会を行いました。平和集会では、沖縄戦についての絵本『いただきます』を聞いたり、平和の歌をみんなで歌ったりしました。
Yesterday, we had a special challenge. NO SNACK and NO ELECTRICITY DAY. 昨日は、平和な日常を改めて感じようということで、「NO SNACK and NO ELECTRICITY DAY」と題して、特別な日を過ごしました。
Many friends said, “It’s dark!” “It’s scary.” “It’s hot here.” in the beginning. However, they trust that we are together in this challenge. Although we agreed on NO ELECTRICITY DAY, we talked to our Kinder friends and decided that we will turn on the AC because of the temperature and humidity. We started the day with our normal routine. Later on, K1 and K2 friends started preparing for our lunch. 子どもたちは登園してきてすぐ、「くらいのってこわい」「きょうクーラーもないの？」と色々な声が子どもたちから聞こえてきました。普段当たり前に使っている電気が、いかにありがたいのかをみんなで感じ、考えました。※その後、子どもたちの体調を気遣いクーラーはつけました。
1.They went out and got some gettou and banana leaves. When they come back, we wipe the gettou leaves and heat up the banana leaves. 月桃とバナナの葉をアミークス校内からとってきました。
2. Measure and wash the rice. お米を量り洗いました。
3. Cut the sweet potatoes. お芋を細かく切りました。
Cooking Time!!! 🍚
Now, our big pot of rice is ready. Yehey! 😊
It took us the whole morning to prepare for this and it’s all worth it. We enjoyed our lunch. 🙂
After this, we gathered and thought together how we can be peacemakers in our everyday lives. We also discussed the importance of electricity and food that we are enjoying everyday. We ended this gathering with a speech from Miss Collins and a song from Kinder Teachers.みんなでおいしいおにぎりを食べた後は、みんなで平和について改めて話し合いの場を持ちました。そこで、Ms.コリンズから、ピースメーカー(平和の輪を広げていく人)の話があり、自分たちなりの平和を考えました。最後には、先生たちで「月桃」を歌いました。☮️
Before the day ended, G5 friends came to read books and make origami. 降園前に、５年生との交流会も行いました。
We wish everyone PEACE everyday. At 12 noon today, please pause for a while and pray for peace all over the world. Have a great weekend :)今日は、ご家族で、これからの世の中が平和になるよう、想いを馳せる時間を持ってみてくださいね。🥰
We have happily be continuing to learn about plants. K1 friends now know what plants need to grow- soil, air, sun and water! We have even started to grow our own tomato plants. Thanks for sending in the milk boxes!
We are looking forward to watching our tomatoes grow! We are also enjoying our gardening experience, growing our cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots. Some of our vegetables look like they are growing very well and others don’t. We encourage K1 to learn from the success-or-fail experience so they can deepen their understanding and appreciation of plants and food (in particular).
This week in K1 we talked a lot about plants around Amicus, learned about “letter E”, learned how to run a relay in P.E. and more! Please enjoy our photos from this fun week!
Our nature walk around our beautiful Amicus campus🌺🍃
