Harmony Newsletter Dear Parents
Not long after our last newsletter we had a
change of staffing in the 2 year olds group. Dana, the qualified Early
Childhood Educator, left to be with her partner in Kalgoorlie and so we took on two staff in a job share arrangement. Some of
you will already know Simmone from her time in our Babies group (she went on
maternity leave to have her daughter Chelsey, who now joins other littlies in
Harmony). Simmone works as qualified Educator Monday to Wednesday, and Renee
job shares Thursday and Friday. Renee is currently in her third year of an
Early Childhood degree at Edith
Cowan University—relief staff will replace her while she is away for exams and prac.
We are indeed very fortunate to have two such enthusiastic and knowledgeable
Educators, especially at short notice, and Janet and Alisha did a stirling job
in making the transition so smooth for the new staff and the children. The year is flying by and we want to help
your end-of-year planning. Our last day this year is Friday 20th
December (closing at 4.15 pm) and our first day back in the new
year is Monday 6th January. Your children’s end-of-year
concert and party with Santa is on Friday 13th December
commencing at 2.00 pm. We will
try to get in the Kindercams web camera again, so that your relatives and
friends interstate or even overseas can watch your children on stage and with
Santa here in Perth. Re-enrolment forms for next year will be sent to all current Harmony families at
the end of October. Families may enrol siblings, and change the days of
the week and the number of days—in most cases, parents will get what they need.
The forms will be treated in order of receipt and, in any case, must be
returned to Harmony by the due date on the form. Any vacancies remaining after
the due date will be allocated to others on our waiting list (already a
significantly long waiting list). Enrolments will be confirmed in writing once
the $30 annual admin fee for 2003 has been paid. Harmony recently had a fundraising drive
with iron-on clothing labels, which had a very poor uptake by parents. The
disappointing response was in spite of having collected a crate overflowing
with unlabelled and unclaimed clothing etc. over a rather short period. It has
come to a time when we cannot continue storing, and searching for, such a large
amount of lost clothing (some of the lost property are expensive jumpers and
shoes). In fact, staff waste a lot of time during the day looking for the owner
of an unlabelled item and then perhaps again when parents are missing their
child’s clothing and ask staff to find it. To alleviate this problem, Harmony is
ordering high quality iron-on clothing labels for every family (25 for
$13.50, or 50 for $17.50), which includes a subsidy from Harmony. They are made
locally and so orders can be filled quickly. The amount of $13.50 will be
included on your next child care invoice. Please fill out
the order form attached (family surname and phone number only) and return to
Robin or Janet by 4th October. We are absolutely
certain that you will save the cost during the next few months, when your
child/ren’s clothing can be correctly returned to you. Harmony will set up a
portable ironing board and iron so that, if desired, parents can iron on labels
at the centre. If you need more than 25 labels, you are
able to order them on the attached order form, in which case a further amount
will be included on your invoice. In addition, after these orders have been
filled, Harmony will offer, as optional, a deal for similar name labels,
for sticking on drink containers, plastic backpacks, lunch boxes, etc. Parents
will be given another order form for the stick-on labels. We are happy to tell you that 16 families
had their portraits professionally photographed at the Centre in July and
proceeds of $160 went into the Harmony fundraising account. Our current fundraising effort, which
finishes on Friday, 4th October, is for Nutrimetics natural
exfoliating soaps (displayed in our foyer), kindly coordinated by Belinda,
mother of Hamish and Imogen. She is offering each soap at $5 each (or $20 for
5), with the profit going to Harmony. Our goal is to add to our balance for
purchasing clean, impact-absorbing rubber matting under the swings (costing
$3000). Thank you so much, Belinda, for your help with our worthwhile cause. Also helping with fundraising is the valued
donation from parents of James and Michael—high quality leather belts for
children. These are brand new, in different color browns and greys, and are
mostly 80 cms long. Great for gifts, too! We have only 12 of them at $4.00
each, so first-come, first-served. Please see Robin or Janet as soon as
possible for the best choice. Thank you so very much to our parents for
donating items that add to the experiences of all children in Harmony—Sandie’s
mum (posters for painting on), parents of James and Michael (leather belts),
mother of Callum and Shakira (baby photo), and Sahil’s mum (yummy Indian sweets
for staff, called goolapjamun). Donations from our own staff are very much
appreciated too—thank you Janet (threading beads and collage materials), Alisha
(wrapping paper and art materials), Simmone and her mum (large roll of white
paper for art), Yvonne (bias binding for art) and her mother (puzzles), and
relief worker Eddie (mouse for children’s computer). We have been a bit late thanking handyman
father of our Kelly for supplying and installing shelving in the Babies admin
area—every day we are very grateful to Ken! We remind parents about their
responsibility and the Harmony policy regarding sick children. Children with a
contagious condition, such as discharge from the eyes (conjunctivitis?),
ears, or nose (thick green, yellow, or brown discharge), a rash, a fever,
vomiting, or diarrhea cannot be accepted at the centre. Sick
children with an infection pose a risk to others around them, and especially to
young babies whose immune system is immature, pregnant mothers, and staff. Ideally,
infections should be contained to as few people as possible, so that others
stay well and able to continue coming to child care or going to work/study. The 3 questions to ask, if you are not sure
about taking your child to child care— 1. Is my child okay now and should
be okay for the rest of the day? 2. Can I leave my child with
someone for the day, e.g. relative, neighbor, friend? 3. Is it contagious to other
children, to staff, to pregnant mothers? Could we please remind parents about the
importance of phoning staff, if your child is not coming to Harmony on
their usual enrolled day. The Harmony centre is fully enrolled but on some days
there are up to 10 children absent. This makes it very difficult for staff to
plan for sufficient quantities of materials for activities and for our cook to
know how much to prepare for lunch. Please phone centre educators by 9.30
a.m. at the latest to let them know if your child is not
attending. We also remind that both the 2 year olds
and Kindy/Preschool programs commence at 9.00 a.m. every day (our
operating hours are 7.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.). We know that sometimes it can’t be
helped, for personal reasons or a traffic hold-up for instance, but it is
better for your child to arrive at least 10 minutes before 9.00 a.m. This way,
children can settle in and have some free play with their friends and then can
slip into the first activity of the day, without feeling “lost” about what is
happening if they arrived in the middle of an activity. It also avoids disruption
of other children’s focus if, for example, they are listening to a story. The
Kindy/Preschool children learn so much in Harmony that prepares them for Year 1
in school (and for their whole life too) that we really don’t want them to miss
any of the morning educational activities. We really appreciate your help in these
matters. We realise times are difficult for families
but all the same Harmony decided to organise collections for SIDS ($2.75
raised) and Jeans for Genes research ($116 raised from donations and
badges—well done Carissa for organising that, and also the tee-shirt sales
which raised even more). We warmly thank those who donated to these worthwhile
children’s causes. All three qualified Early Childhood
Educators, with valuable input from their Assistants, have just about completed
the Developmental Checklists for all children who attend 2 and 3 days in
Harmony (all full-timers received their half-yearly reports last June). These
checklists let parents know what their child can achieve at a particular point
and may also provide information about what parents can do at home to enhance
skills. Children who attend one day and all full-timers will receive reports by
mid-December. Accreditation As many parents know, Harmony has been
awarded a 3-year Accreditation both times, with 52 highest ratings out of 52
during the first process, and 51 out of 52 during the second process. We would
like to keep up the momentum so that we are not rushed at the end and so will
schedule a first committee meeting on Monday evening, 4th or 11th
November. We have had two wonderful parents volunteer to give their input (but
one parent has since moved on). Therefore, we invite two parents to join us for
about 1 ½ hours every two months (light meal included). In past years parents
have remarked that it’s a fantastic opportunity to know what goes on in a child
care centre, especially with regard to the way children learn and why we do
what we do in our actions and language with the children. If you would like to
know more, or can join us from November on, please talk with Robin or Janet as
soon as possible. More and more parents are using this fast
and convenient way to pay fees. Attached are instructions for those who are not
already using the system. If you make the periodic payment from your own
computer, there is no need to fill out a payment envelope—just print off a
receipt and place it straight into the Payments Box when next you are in Harmony.
If you have set up an automatic repetitive direct transfer, please continue to
fill out details on a payment envelope so that your payment is credited to your
account soon after the transfer is made. We have just set up a separate email
address for payments—we’ll tell you more later. As in all age groups in Harmony, the
qualified Educator and the Assistants are continually observing the children as
they play and explore. From these documented observations the Educator writes
the program of activities and finalises them into written reports so that
parents know what skills and behaviours their child displays at a certain age.
The weekly programs are evaluated each day for what activities went well, what
needs changing or extended next time, and what unusual things occurred with
children’s actions and language. This way all children are stimulated to
perform at the appropriate developmental level for their particular age. Our babies have been busy as usual.
Outdoors on sunny days they love things like the jumping mat, bathing and
drying the dolls, and of course wet and dry sand in the sandpit. During winter
rain we bring climbing frames inside, so that they can still get their muscle
development and let off energy. They get lots of individual and small group
attention and thrive on frequent praise. Indoors they’ve been exploring slime and
goop (colored cornflour and water) and jelly through their fingers. They also
have great fun in the wading pool which we fill up with lots of different small
items (e.g. small balls, small wooden blocks, a mixture of baby rattles and
other plastic bits and pieces) and then the children sit amongst them, move
them around, and generally get a great tactile experience. The babies are still
very much into their music and dancing and creative artistic expressions with
mesh dabbing, chalk, a nature collage with leaves, and lots more that you can
see on their walls. Their paintings use all sorts of tools—flyswatter, fingers,
twig, marbles, plastic cutters, black paper, sorting shapes, water colors,
textas, etc. etc. Their self-help skills area coming along
brilliantly, especially for feeding selves correctly with a spoon, sitting or
lying down to have their bottle, and even packing away by the older babies. We
also encourage social courtesies such as please and thank you, taking turns,
and sharing. The babies have a huge amount of books and
indoors equipment. Only a small number are available in the room at one
time—the stored items are rotated for new exploration and so that the items
being used can be kept clean to avoid contagious infections being passed on. 2 year olds The children are always interested in
animals, which make them an ideal approach to learning abstract concepts such
as smooth/rough (skin), big/small. The 2 year olds talked about and made many
different Farm Animals over two weeks (goat, horse, duck, etc.) out of
various craft materials, then arranged them around Old Macdonald the Farmer and
his barn on the wall. For another fortnight they learnt about reptiles
(including dinosaurs, another favorite), and parents would be amazed at how
much they remember. To develop muscle tone and coordination they practised
jumping and throwing, and for social skills they practised turntaking with varying
degrees of success! Our Janet is certainly multi-skilled! As
well as being a fantastic assistant and computer whiz, she has proved that she
can step in and write a great weekly program of activities, when other staff
are not available. Her choice was Zoo Animals (hippo, kangaroo, seal,
camel, monkey, panda, koala, elephant, tiger) and the secondary colors, grey
and brown. Thank you, Janet! The children had fun using their Senses,
especially at the touch table with its wool, rubber, bubble wrap, sandpaper,
etc. The children mixed primary Colors and also increased their
attention span (using props to help maintain their focus) and self-help skills
(e.g. turning taps on and off, putting shoes on and off with some assistance). For another fortnight the children learned
about Friends and Feelings, using the video “Happy All the Time” and the
Rainbow Fish story which teaches that we should feel good about ourselves just
the way we are. The children talked about helping, caring, love, sharing, and
being gentle with their friends. They also continue to improve their bead
threading (eye-hand coordination), cutting (fine manipulation), and music
appreciation. Two more weeks looked at Nursery Rhymes, including the
traditional type (Mary Had a Little Lamb etc.) and the more modern action songs
(The Wheels of the Bus etc.). The children provided some amusing images as they
did actions to illustrate some of the rhymes! The activities are too numerous to repeat
here, so we highly recommend that parents regularly read the Weekly Program on
the bulletin board, so that they will get an idea of the research and
imagination that educators draw on to provide new knowledge and challenge for
your children. Kindy/Preschool It is easy to see how Harmony is streets
ahead of other Kindy/Preschool programs when you see how much learning your 3-5
year olds receive during a typical week. They know at least the first letter of
their name (they have now learned as far as the letter “s” using the phonetic
Letterland program) and have learned a lot of science (such as sinking and
floating using items in the water trolley). The recent values they have
discussed and practised under the Virtues Project have included Creativity,
Patience, Cleanliness, Purposefulness/ Concentration, and Courtesy. Under the Transport theme they made
stop/go signs, developed aesthetic awareness through artwork made with plastic
car wheels running through paint, and made boats from corks and toothpicks. The
children went on to learn about Road Safety using pages from the Road
Safety resource book, constructing police hats, riding bikes safely, discussing
seatbelts, etc. The June excursion by mini-bus to the annual Cushion Concert at
Perth’s ABC Studio was a wonderful opportunity for the children to see, hear,
and even play instruments of a symphony orchestra, with the Western Australian
Symphony Orchestra performing music like Rossini’s William Tell Overture,
Bizet’s Les Toreadors, Bananas in Pyjamas, and We’re Going to the Zoo. The July holiday program was a great hit,
as usual. The children really liked the Totem Tennis (tennis ball on a rope
tied to a pole) and some improved rapidly (great for developing eye-hand
coordination). Excursions included: ten pin bowling (the children were
fascinated with the balls popping up when they returned, and many had
successful strikes); the bus wash at Transperth in Karrinyup (the bus was late
picking up the children, so the driver took them around Doubleview and along
the coast as well); and Newborough Primary School (for a picnic lunch and play
on their different equipment). A mini-bus also took them to Aqwa aquarium at
Hillary’s Marina, where the children saw many sea creatures for the first time
(seals in a large enclosure, sharks that were being handfed by divers, and the
touch pool where the children could feel the skin of the starfish, rays, fish,
etc.). A reminder for the October Holiday Program—please sign up and pay prior
to the day of each excursion. Our July excursion helpers were mothers of
Bryce (2 excursions), Jakob, Tegan, Tyler, Amber (2 excursions), Monique,
Joshua P, and Sheryl. Fathers as helpers were dads of Luke (2 excursions) and
Sean. Thank you so very much to these parents who are truly valued, because
without you there would be no outings. A real highlight was India Day which
was coordinated by Sahil’s mother with the help of Sahil’s father and two other
members of the family. They provided the recipes for Briony to cook for all
meals, a display of Indian jewellery and artefacts, music to dance to, and many
traditional costumes in both children’s and adult sizes (the photos at the
front entry showed the beautiful colors and also what fun everyone had,
including the grown-ups!). The activities included painting clay oil lamps,
decorating the Indian flag, and having henna designs painted on the backs of
hands. It was probably the most exciting culture day we’ve ever had in Harmony. For France Day (close to the
national Bastille Day holiday) some of the children helped make a patisserie/boulangerie
(pastry and bread shop) out of a huge cardboard box. Their lunch and snack
were genuine French, and their activities revolved around the French flag
colors. The focus on Sea Animals was
popular, with the children playing with sea shells, coral, sponges and seaweed
on the science table, and discussing all sorts of sea creatures. They watched a
video about fishing and made a turtle, a starfish, jellyfish, and crabs out of
paper plates. The children already know about the fish and hermit crabs that
live in permanent aquariums in Harmony. Under the subject of Shapes and Colors the
children identified shapes in a “feely bag”, cut around drawn shapes, and made
two large group collages with a mixture of shapes on each. They learned some
secondary colors and constructed cardboard tube lens and “sunglasses”, using
colored cellophane for both. Dinosaurs, a real crowd pleaser!, promoted
learning involving listening, expressive language and social interaction,
moving to dinosaur music, and sewing around dinosaur shapes. Current favorite
stories are the “Hairy McLairy” series (easily found in children’s libraries). Eighteen different children have really
enjoyed computer sessions with learning games like “Mr Potato Head” over the
past six weeks. Most children have good concentration and mouse control and are
either quite confident or very confident. The group does regular cooking activities
(for eating at afternoon snack), including coconut cookies, Anzac biscuits,
pikelets with red cherries (for SIDS Day), and chocolate crackles (for a
birthday child and child who is allergic to wheat). The children love measuring
and mixing and really liked watching the bubbles form in the pikelets, knowing
that it was time to turn them. Large muscle development includes climbing
and jumping, and these also develop self-confidence and coordination (both of
which have a significant impact on intellectual development too). Hopping,
skipping, jumping with both feet together, walking a balance beam, and throwing
are all important skills that are practised in Harmony. They prepare children
for sports in school and keep them active and healthy (parents may have seen
the recent government promotions on TV regarding exercise to prevent childhood
obesity). French as a second language Ginette teaches French to all the
Kindy/Preschool children. Sometimes she runs a separate session (to learn a
song or listen to a story) but also at any time during the day when an
opportunity presents (e.g. cutting up fruit, in the sandpit, etc.). This method
means that the children learn naturally and very easily, in context with what
they are doing at the time. When Carissa programs special themes for
activities, Ginette follows the theme in French—e.g. transport (car, bus, bike,
plane), body parts (eyes, nose, mouth, head etc.). They are learning songs
including the Good Morning song (Bonjour Mes Amis), opposites
(big/small), colors, counting 1 to 10, and stories such as Goldilocks and the
Three Bears (Boucles d’Or et les Trois Ours). They are becoming
comfortable with some special videos—“French Lyric Language” and “Mussy” for
teaching French and the story “Peter Pan” (they especially like the little
mermaid (la sirene) in that story). New courtesy words have been added
to their vocabulary—merci beaucoup (thank you very much) and pas de
quoi (you’re welcome!). You will be so proud of their achievements when you
hear them at the end-of-year concert. News from the kitchen Briony has had some different challenges in
the kitchen—everything red (red kidney beans in tomato sauce, red jelly) for
SIDS Red Nose Day, France Day (quiche lorraine, crepes pommes, baguettes and
fromage), Italy Day (pizzas and cassata ice cream), and India Day (batata shak,
khir, and ritu with naan bread). New recipes have included corn and bacon fritters,
spinach and ricotta pasta bake (not very keen), mixed bean stir fry with
Benjamin noodles, frittata (omelette with eggplant, tomato, zucchini, cheese),
cinnamon and apple flavored bread and butter pudding, creamed rice pudding with
sultanas, and orange and coconut cake. If parents have recipes for afternoon
snacks (finger food served cold) or dips or sandwich fillings, that are a
favorite with their child/ren, Briony would love to try them in Harmony. Harmony always tries to contain fees to an affordable
level for families (we realise too well that we are not the Peppermint Grove of
Perth!). Unfortunately, however, following an unexpected across-the-board
increase in all staff wages from last August, we find we are unable to continue
without a slight increase in the daily rate for part-timers. These fees have
not been raised for 1 ½ years, and the amount should be offset by the increase
in CCB subsidy last July, which should mean a zero increase overall. Following
are the daily fees as from Monday, 14th October: Babies 2
year olds Kindy/Preschool Current rate $52
$52 $47 New rate $53
$53 $48 Parents of Babies and 2 year olds are able
to register with Kindercams web cameras for $40 and then, with their password,
can log on at work or home to watch their children playing and learning—please
see Robin or Janet if interested. Unfortunately we haven’t yet been able to go
ahead in the Kindy/Preschool room because the cost of a special web camera to
take in all of the very large room is currently too expensive. Robin Garbutt Janet
Johnston
26 September 2002
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