The ECE Resource teachers continue to support the ECE co-teachers on a daily basis.  They spend time in different classes throughout the week, assisting teachers and supporting children where needed.   Organising exciting outdoor activities during children’s active play time, gives children more opportunities to explore different resources and try new activities in an outdoor environment.  Recently, water play has been a popular activity, now that the  Summer weather has arrived!

ECE Recource Teachers – Donne Liddiard & Grace Zhou

As staff and families prepare for summer holidays, a question we are often asked is what learning can parents have their children do over the summer. This is a fair question of course, but the answer is as complex as children are themselves.  To distil it into one statement: it depends on your child.  All sorts of factors come into play: their interests, their habits, what your family is doing for the summer, goals you and/or your child might have, whether there are ongoing learning targets for your child…the list goes on.

That said, our advice to families is usually based on some underlying principles:

 Keep it fun. We all know that we learn best when we enjoy it. Build the learning into games. There are literally hundreds of word games, maths games, map games…that can be played individually or with others. Don’t talk about it being learning; just talk about it being a game.

Use your child’s interests. This connects with keeping it fun. Does your child like reading? Art? Sports? Computers and video games?  Learning can be built into just about anything.  Drawing can reinforce learning about mathematical concepts of shape. Educational video games can contain lots of learning.  Or maybe encourage your child to start some basic level programming.

Make it interactive. Learning is very powerful when done with other people. This is a great time to have quality time with your child.

Keep up the reading. If your child likes to read, fantastic; just make sure there are plenty of reading materials at the right level (an easy, comfortable level).  And I don’t think I have ever met a child who doesn’t like to be read to. Reading with or to your child is another great way to spend quality time. It does not have to be in English; many of the higher-level reading comprehension skills will be developed in your child’s native language.

Keep it in the moment. Use what you and your child are doing on the holiday. Are you going on a trip?  Get your child to help with the planning, the calculations, the shopping, etc.  With your child, maybe keep a trip journal. Make it interactive by making it an online journal or blog that friends and family can read.

Take a break.  This is perhaps the most important.  Everyone needs a holiday, children especially. School holidays are a time for children to relax, get out and play, maybe see family and friends, do all sorts of things not school-related (and learn all sorts of things incidentally), and come back to school energised and ready for a new school year.  So, while you might have your child do some school-type of learning, we suggest keeping it to a minimum.

 

Primary Curriculum Coordinator – Jim Wilcox

 

‘Journey to the West’ is a well-known traditional Chinese classical literary work. Sun Wukong, also known as Monkey King, the protagonist of this story, is a beloved character. Sun Wukong has many magnificent skills: he can transform into 72 alter egos; With only a somersault can he travel a million miles away; he has piercing eyes to discern demons and ghosts. Recently, Year 1 students studied the theme of “Fantastic Journey to the West”. Children were fascinated by every little story in the “Journey to the West”. They read the story of “The Little Rock Monkey” and “Getting Treasure from Dragon Palace”. Children marveled at Sun Wukong’s magical weapon, Ruyi golden cudgel, which can freely become bigger or smaller. In Chinese Study class, students let their imagination run wild and imagined themselves as Sun Wukongs. “If I were Sun Wukong, I would use my piercing eyes to catch bad guys and use my Ruyi golden cudgel to fight with them.” “If I were Sun Wukong, I would drive somersault cloud to return home and visit my grandparents.” “If I were Sun Wukong, I would transform into a huge air purifier and make all the haze go away.” Students were very enthusiastic while making their own Ruyi golden cudgel and wanted to know more about the stories. The teachers then introduced some more classic stories from “Journey to the West”, such as “Three Attempts to Borrow the Plantain Fan” and “Monkey Subdues White-Skeleton Demon”. Students have developed language skills and stimulated their imagination through reading stories, singing songs, cooperative performance and hand craft making. They not only enjoyed the learning but also knew that when they encounter difficulties, they should try to find ways to overcome the difficulties like Sun Wukong did.

 

Y1D Chinese Teacher – Maya MAO

A streamlined process for the pre-ordering and collection of the School Uniform Set for students is being introduced and we trust you find this to be helpful. As such, can you please take careful note of the following, as your assistance is necessary.

Pre-ordering of Uniform Sets for students (for August 2017):

• Pre-ordering will be completed on-line via a ‘Blog’ site. Here is the link and Password to access the order from:

http://blogs.pd.ycis-sh.com/uniforms/   Password: YCIS

Please complete the Uniform Order Form by July 14^th to ensure that you will receive your child/ren’s uniform on the day before school starts.

• Please only submit one order per child. Once you submit, changes cannot be made.
• If you order the incorrect size, you may exchange this on the day of collection.
• To place an order for multiple children, please submit a separate form using each individual child’s name. You may need to refresh the page.
• If you are unsure of what size to order for your child, feel free to go to the Uniform Room during opening hours to have your child try on some uniform pieces.
• Should you have questions or require clarification, then please contact campus school office (Phone: 22267666).

Purchasing of Additional Uniform Items:

• To purchase additional uniform items or to exchange items, please kindly go to the following location. Hongqiao Campus – Basement of C building, on any Tuesday or Thursday from 8:00am-11:30am or 1:00pm- 4:00pm. The Uniform Room will open for purchases starting from August 22^nd.
• Size exchange will only be allowed within 7 days from the date of collection, on the condition that it has not been washed, worn or damaged.
• Please note, purchased uniform items cannot be returned for refund or item exchange.

Collection of Uniform items:

• Uniform Sets will be available for collection from 8:30a.m. to 10:30a.m. on Monday August 21^st (the day before school starts) in classrooms. This is the same time and date as the Family Visiting Morning.

Where are you from?

Hong Kong

How long have you been at YCIS HQ?

8 years

What do you enjoy most about learning here?

I enjoy all of the lessons, being with my friends and learning from the teachers.

Tell us an interesting fact about you?

 I like reading and cooking.

Can you share a favourite quote or some words of wisdom?

Soar high and reach for the stars.

 

Interviewed by:

School Captains – Deeraj SIVAKUMAR & Shuyu (Sophie) SHEN

Where are you from?

New York

How long have you been at YCIS HQ?

This is my 1^st year here.

What do you enjoy most about teaching here?

I like ICT, camp and special events.

Tell us an interesting fact about you?

I enjoy video games and sports.

Can you share a favourite quote or some words of wisdom?

‘To be or not to be, that is a question.’ – Shakespear

 

Interviewed by:

School Captains – Deeraj SIVAKUMAR & Shuyu (Sophie) SHEN

 

As the year comes to a close, we are looking back with the children at some of our favourite learning moments. It is always a wonderful opportunity for the children to realise just how far they have come and see their pride in their achievements. ‘Academic’ achievement is perhaps more obvious to most, such as letter and number knowledge and drawing and games skills becoming more detailed. But for us as teachers, the children’s growth as individuals gives us greatest pride as we see a class of happy, self-assured, questioning, helpful and caring friends showing genuine interest in each other and the world around them.

 

K4D Co-teachers – Anna KING & Maggie SHAO

 

The Y1 children have been working extremely hard all year to develop their musical knowledge and violin playing skills. Last week we have been extremely busy rehearsing for our Y1 Summer Concert. Our dedicated violin teachers Ms. Ching and Ms. Chen worked very hard to ensure that our young students were well prepared to play the songs “Twinkle, Twinkle” and “Edelweiss” on their violins.

The children performed the song “Mo Li Hua” in Chinese and each child wore a glowing flower ring on their hands. The audience clearly appreciated this beautiful performance.

Each Y1 class also selected and performed an individual class song. Y1A had a very challenging song, with lots of words and actions to remember. Y1B were buzzing through their dance moves to the delight of the parents in the audience.  The children in Y1C had lovely smiling faces during their song and dance. Y1D learned an upbeat rap to remember lots of facts about how a plant grows. Y1E delighted their friends in Y1 with a funny song about catching a bumblebee.

The Y1 teachers are very proud of the children’s effort and excellent behaviour through our rehearsals and the concert.

Y1E Co-teacher & Team Leader – Jennifer CAIRNS

Chinese idiom stories are unique shining pearls in the treasure-house of Chinese culture and have been delivering Chinese philosophy of life through generations for thousands of years. When reading those stories, we feel like we are listening to sages’ inculcation and discovering the secrets of history and culture.

Recently, Year 6 students learnt the idiom story of “Bo Le Judges Horses” in Chinese studies classes. When teachers were telling the story about how Bo Le spotted horses of superb stamina and strength, also known as “thousand-mile horses”, students could imagine themselves standing on the hillside back in the Spring and Autumn Period, witnessing the “thousand-mile horses” galloping on the field after months of careful nurturing by their groom. Students discussed how unusual it is for the horse to be appraised by Bo Le and they were also amazed at Bo Le’s extraordinary judgements, who didn’t only discover the horse’s potential by its appearance, but by his own observation. They learnt not to judge others by appearance.

“What if the thousand-mile horse was overlooked by Bo Le?” Students raised this concern and wondered what would happen if the thin horse ended up being just an ordinary horse pulling the cart all his life. Just as Han Yu, a famous writer once wrote: Bo Le always comes before the thousand-mile horses. The swift horse is common, but Bo Le is very rare. Then our students realized that they should also pay attention to other’s talents and not just the appearance so that they can become a Bo Le themselves. One of them said, ‘I will try my best to find the swift horse!’

Students understood the hidden meaning of this short and interesting idiom story and also illustrated the story with their own drawings. Year 6 students are about to start a new chapter in their lives. We hope they can broaden their minds and enhance their abilities to solve problems after learning about this Chinese idiom story!

 

Y6D Chinese Teacher – Claire ZHU