Happy Birthday Number 3

Today we celebrated you turning three

How many candles can you see?

Happy birthday to Cameron

with love from your friends and teachers at Learning Curves

By Mandy

Happy Birthday to Riya

Happy birthday to you

And happy school days too.

With lots of love and hugs from all of your friends and teachers at Learning Curves. Take good care, Riya and please come back and visit us. xx

By Mandy

2009 Christmas Party

Thank you to all our friends and families that came to celebrate Christmas with us. Even though the rain came down, it didn't stop some of the children from having fun playing outside in it and it was one of our biggest turn outs yet. We always look forward to these special occasions and so we appreciate it when people come. Our door is always open to the families that have moved on too and so please remember that you are always welcome to come back and join us, especially at our Christmas parties.

Merry Christmas!

Surprise, surprise TJ

TJ is from our Kinross Street centre and has been visiting us today as part of our teaching team swop days. He arrived at the centre on his motor bike and incredibly several of the children brought their own bikes in from home to show and share with their friends.TJ told the children all about his motor bike and answered their many questions before giving all those who wanted a ride,a ride on his motor bike.Thank you TJ for joining us today.

Taste: Food and Feasting in Art at the Akld Art Gallery

Make a Smilebox slideshow

What did we do after our Art Gallery visit?

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Rock Cimbing Adventure!

Watch our confident and capable children as they climb to great heights!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Day That Henry Came to Play

Thank you so much to Finlay and his mum for bringing Henry, their much loved dog, in to the centre to meet us. This was an experience that we will cherish.

Tip: Enlarge the photos by clicking on the page.

By Mandy

Celebrating World Children's Day

Today, we are celebrating World Children's Day(which is Saturday 21st November, 2009) by having a Fancy Dress Party! On Wednesday we made Crunchie Ice Cream. On Thursday we went for a walk and got Strawberries to go with the ice cream. What a fantastic day we are having. The children have made fairy wands, played with balloons and bubbles, and watched a Movie, Over the Hedge, while having dessert. It was very yummy... This afternoon the children are enjoying dancing to their favourite music outside on the deck! What a great day our tamariki are having! Ka Pai everyone!

Tūpeke motokā

Tūpeke motokā

Movement has been a big part of our planning story this year, and hotwheels have been a big part of this movement. Today the boys were experimenting with angles and height, using early mathematical concepts as they built ramps for their cars.

Making Crunchie Ice Cream

Make a Smilebox recipe

Music,Music everywhere

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A toy piano was brought to share with friends and before you know it there is music every where. Sharing is always fun

Happy Birthday Ziggy

Make a Smilebox postcard

Some of the girls decided to throw Ziggy a birthday party they built him a wonderful house and inside they created a party with lots of yummy things to eat. Listen to them sing happy birthday to him as he blows out the candles on his cake.

Josh's amazing perseverance with his towers!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Petipeti moana for my Papa

Today Hannah wanted to paint a picture for her Papa. She used two colours to make a jellyfish (petipeti moana).

We didn't know the maori word for jellyfish and so Mandy looked it up on the internet and found petipeti moana.

Hannah wanted to send her papa an email of "a smiley face. HEAPS!"

Perhaps we can send your Papa HEAPS of smiley faces another day, Hannah.

By Mandy

ULearn Conference 2009

At the beginning of October, Marlise, Catherine (from our Kinross Street centre) and I went to Christchurch for the annual Ulearn conference which focusses on ICT (Information and Computer Technology) with new and exciting ways to use the technology with our young children. The conference is for all sectors in education and it is one of the only conferences in New Zealand that all sectors attend. We had a great time and learned lots of fun things, including new ways to use the blog, how to use Skype and stay in touch with friends all around the world and a multitude of other innovative ways to use technology. As always, parent support and feedback is important to us and valued and so please offer tips, advise or if you have any concerns.

Here we are at the conference dinner. The theme was 'let the sun shine in...' I think we did the Early Childhood sector proud with our costumes.

By Mandy

(With the help of Catherine from Kinross Street)

Olivia's mat time

Today Olivia brought two books to the centre 'Rocking horse Roger' and 'Jeremy Fisher.'At mat time Olivia took her books up to Jo-Anne and asked if she could read them to everyone.Olivia did a marvellous job showing her confidence as she read the first book and assisted Jo-Anne with the second one. Her audience showed their appreciation that words and books can amuse, delight and excite!

Our out of this world trip

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy birthday!

Today we know for sure

That Josh is turning 4

Happy birthday, Josh!

We're having a celebration

for a wonderful occasion!

Out And About In Our Community

Getting out and about in our community is a regular occurrence for the children at Learning Curves. "Circus Out Of Africa" was at a park near by and some of the children were interested in seeing more. We strolled up to the park to begin our adventure but Mandy forgot the camera and so she had to run all the way back to the centre to get it. Have a look at our photo story of our excursion.

Children's expressive art work

The children used 'crayon and dye' to create their own expressive art work. The children had their own individual ideas working both independently and collaboratively. Visual art is a way for children to express their self-identity, thinking and interpretation of the world around them.

Stardome Trip

On the 13th October we went to the Star Dome. The children have been interested in heights, whats in the sky - planes, helicopters, moon, clouds, and also engaging in jumping high, kicking balls, squirting water in the air to see how high it could go. The children were fascinated by the Sky Dome Show, especially the Rocket Robot and the Bottle Rockets. The children were so excited to have their photo's taken as an astronaut!

The children really enjoyed the rocket launch. You are welcome to watch it too:

The rockets were made using a couple of plastic bottles with fins and a weight at one end. The bottle was half filled with water, put on a launch and locked on. Air was added and we counted down – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Blast off! The home made rocket went SO HIGH! It went higher with more fins on. I wonder if we could make our own rocket…

Any tips for this are more than welcome.

The Dancing Queens!

Watch these two girls in action, as they give a performance in dance!They have definitley been practising their moves!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Look what I can now do!!

One clever boy has now mastered the skill of riding his bike with no trainer wheels on, all by himself over the long weekend just been. Today he brought his bike to the centre to show all his friends and teachers how clever he is. Watch this video as he shows us his clever moves and skills on his bike!

Happy 3rd Birthday Eddie!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Talented Duo

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our very own spice girls!

Here are three clever girls that have learnt the song "Tim the Tiny Turtle" all by themselves and now confidently sing it around the centre together.Watch them in action!

Harrison's Christmas Tree

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Making discoveries with pipes and water

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Bo and Mum make yummy biscuits to share

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy 5th Birthday

Make a Smilebox greeting

Fun in the playground - shoot that water!

Today we had the Doctors set out and lots of Doctor and Nurse play this morning but this afternoon the play has changed - the boys have discovered what fun you can have when you fill the syringes up with water. When the boys 'shoot that water' out of the syringes it goes an amazing distance - soon Carole becomes a target before there is a cry of "Get Annie" and boy oh boy those boys sure can aim accurately. What a fun way to cool down on a lovely sunny day!

I had a little turtle, his name was Tiny Tim

When Maree went on practicum she was introduced to some new songs. On her return she introduced our children to the new songs. On Wednesday, mat time was held outside, and it was one of these new songs the children chose to start mat time with........

Our surprise purple carrots!

In April we went to Mitre 10 to purchase plants for our garden. We've eaten all the broccoli and lettuce, we're still eating the silver beet, the cabbages and cauliflowers are still growing, and our carrots? Well I think I need to speak to our resident gardening Guru - Joe's Mum Lisa. Lisa came out into our garden and had a look "Are you sure you're not growing radishes?" she asked."No" I assured her. So she bit the end off one "They taste like carrots. They're orange in the middle. Go for it, pull them out they are ready." Lisa took off to investigate further and at the Nursery they told her these carrots are a special variety called 'Roly polys' purple on the outside, orange in the middle and they grow like radishes. You can also get a red variety.Lisa has now purchased some for her garden to grow with Joe and Noah at home. If you are interested in growing a vegetable that doesn't take up much space remember to consider them. As the children pulled the carrots out of the ground you could certainly tell they had multiplied in numbers as we only planted one punnet. The verdict when they tried them? "Yum, yum! I like them" said Olivia and her words were echoed around the room.

Put Another Dime in the Juke-Box Baby

At Learning Curves the children create their own entertainment and make up their own creative dance moves to the songs that they like to sing.

Our Sky Tower Trip

On the 1st September we went to the Sky Tower, as the children were interested in heights. They were always trying to jump high and kick balls high, as well as creating tall buildings with the blocks. So as a team we decided on a trip to the Sky Tower for the children to experience a tall structure and being up high themselves, as well as looking down at other tall buildings etc.

It was an awesome experience! Here is our Photo Story of our trip:

Our Sky Tower Trip

On 1st September we took a coach ride to the Sky Tower. We were joined by some of the parents and caregivers of our centre which was much appreciated.

This trip was arranged in response to some of the children's' interest in building tall towers that, over time, have gotten bigger and more adventurous.

There was the added bonus at the observation areas to see some of our city's famous landmarks that we have visited previously such as North Head and we could see Rangitoto.

This was an awesome trip and we have had some positive feedback which is always welcomed so please feel free to add your comments or speak to one of the teaching team.

We are hoping to Blog some more photos of this trip soon.

Happy Birthday

We hope you had a happy birthday.

A birthday party just for you

Made special when your brother came too!

With love from all your friends and teachers at Learning Curves.

Planting our strawberry plants

Through our professional development we met Alison who is a true inspiration for us. Recently she came to visit, and while she was here she promised to return and bring us some strawberry plants from out of her garden. True to her word she returned last Tuesday and brought the strawberry plants with her. I set off into the children's 'Secret Garden' with some very willing helpers. We undid the newspaper around the strawberry plants and counted 29 of them. I stood there watching as Ollie, Jacob, Liam and Frasier started planting the strawberry plants. They each knew what to do. I was amazed at how quickly they were working and what a brilliant job they were doing too! They had everything in hand so I thought to myself I may as well take a video and share with you the planting of our strawberries. Frasier and I can't wait for summer and the strawberries to be ready for eating. Maybe Ollie, Jacob and Liam would like to come back and visit us in the summer school holidays to taste the strawberries they have planted. We would love to have you come and share your school stories with us.

Discoveries with soap and water

Today I heard a lot of laughter at the sink as Ollie and Frasier were supposedly washing their hands. What fun they were having as they discover and develop their own understanding of the properties of bubbles and water. Here is their video to share with you

Happy Father's Day!

To celebrate Father's Day, Gerald, Ollie's dad, came to assist in our Father's Day evening and showed us all, teachers included, how to use some power tools to make wooden plaques.

Here is some of the dads that came along. They shared fish and chips and had a few drinks to ensure adequate energy levels to get to work on their creations. Each dad demonstrated their creative side with enthusiasm and pride as they lovingly inscribed their child's name into their plaque.

Here is a photostory of our Father's Day evening - Enjoy!

Domino Fun!

Yesterday I saw Frasier sorting out the domino blocks and asked him if I could play dominoes with him. We asked Carolina if she would like to join us and the three of us started to play. Soon other children came and joined us each time waiting for a new game to start. Tamariki came and went and Carolina stayed the whole one and a half hours we played. Through dominoes the children are able to develop their numeracy skills as well as social skills like turn taking and helping their friends when they are stuck.

The Bungy Jumping Mclean Boys!

Our magnificent tall buildings!

Here are a sample of some of the magnificent towers and buildings the children have been building around the centre. There are lots of negotiations taking place as children work together to construct buildings. Problem solving when things don't quite go according to plan, and amazing to watch is the way they turn roads or build around friend's buildings so they don't impact on their friends imaginary personal space. Often they join seperate individual buildings together to make a much larger creation or link buildings with bridges. Since visiting the Sky Tower we have more and more magnificent towers and of course Sky Towers and other buildings being built around the centre. We also have a wall display of more of the childrens magnificent block creations in the block area at the centre.

Happy Birthday Bo!

Happy birthday number 3, Bo!

Bo's Special Day

No more sleeps until you turn three

For today is your special day and you will see

How much fun being three can be.

With love from all your teachers and friends at Learning Curves.

New Lynn Assembly Visit

Today, the four year olds visited New Lynn Primary School for the first time.Before going to the School we thought it might be a great idea to walk down to the Olympic park and have our morning tea, since it was such a sunny day.The children also got a chance to explore on the wonderful and challenging equipment, as well as the teachers.After all our fun, it was a short walk to the School where we attended the new entrant assembly.It was great to feel so welcomed and participate in the assembly.Thank you very much New Lynn Primary!

Carpentry Corner

The carpentry hut is a fairly new resource and is immensely popular with all the children as you can see from pictures below. I have just been on a brilliant course about creative carpentry and have gained immense Knowledge and fresh ideas which i hope to implement very shortly. However i am looking for a few resources and hope maybe someone can help, i would love to access an old spa pool cover i know it sounds unusual but it would be great to get one ,also any branches from cut trees or tree trunks that have been cut in your back garden would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your support and if any parents or whanau wish to join us in the carpentry hut you are more than welcome, we are always looking for tips and advice just let me know and i will arrange something thanks again. Carole

Kite Fying in the Park!

It was such a glorious day today we took the two and three year olds for a walk to the park. We took along the kite, balls and our picnic lunch. We had an awesome time! Have a look at the story!

Hari huri tau kia koe

We hope you had a happy day!

Today is the day that our little Miss D

Celebrated her birthday and now she is three.

With all our love from

all your friends and teachers at Learning Curves.

Happy Birthday Ben

Happy 3rd Birthday to our Ben!

Hope you had a wonderful Birthday with all your friends and teachers.