Sort of a dull afternoon, wasn’t it? The weather beckoned, to curl up with a good read, watch TV or laze. Nah! Not us, not by a long shot – we went totally active (if you’ll pardon the grammar) and short of a tutu or two, danced away the day with all sorts of stimulating activity.
Today was ‘Tinikling’ day! If you raise your eyebrows, we invite you to click on this Wiki-link for more! Another activity that you’d want to try with your children at home. Potentially sore ankles aside, loads of fun with the right music. Basically, a waltz-like step, or a canter, if you are into horses, 1-2-3 if you into neither. So, please do get the (Spanish influenced) music, dismantle a couple of handles from the nearest broom or rake and voila, you are ready to do the Tagalog Tinikling! More to come about how we did it!
After exchanging pleasantries as the children arrived, we sang a ‘summery’ action song entitled ‘I love summer! Here are the lyrics to it and our resident (wannabe) nightingale, Rumeshi (did you know, she plays drums? Well she did, very well in fact, until she took a ‘pre-maternity’ leave of absence from doing that!) will be glad to help you with the tune.
‘Swimming by the beach
Playing in the park
Riding bicycles, I love summer…’
Next, we learnt a summer classic, ‘Teeny, weeny, yellow, polka …. – get it? Dennis accompanied the children, on his acoustic guitar and the singing session was a nice and energetic way to begin our day.
An introduction, to the archipelago of the Philippines, which some of the children already knew about, from their work with the puzzle maps of Asia, preceded our presentation to Tinikling and, the ensuing activity. Once again, reverting to our ‘Montessori material’ we spoke of this amazing country, one that is so rich and diverse, in all there is to see and experience! Then, we literally got down to learning the steps. Rhythm was not stressed on much today, as our purpose was for the children to experience the steps. We shall introduce the rhythm, within the week, so the dance steps are reinforced and then, compare a 3/4 rhythm with a 4/4 rhythm to add to the experience. Dennis, who was thrilled about dancing with ‘the stars’ (our little stars – all of them!), thoroughly enjoyed this session with the children. They were helped by Rumeshi and Yan Mei who also took turns to give it a shot! Please send us a picture of you and your children trying the Tinikling at home and we will post it on Facebook with pleasure!
Before lunch, things went green and orange! Making a salad to supplement our lunch! We presented the children with the ingredients - carrots (they were grated), cucumber (sliced) cherry tomatoes (halved), butterhead lettuce and radicchio, did a little vocabulary lesson in English and Mandarin, and went for it! There were mixed reviews about the salad, from the lunch-bunch! We can say no more - it was a closed door session.
POST LUNCH
Narration – related to the topic that we presented yesterday, about what makes up a television set, Aunty May, spoke about the very first animated film by Emile Cohl. Suddenly, in the middle of cathodes and such, pops a question from a ‘would-be’ pilot, asking about airplanes. Well, the beauty of Montessori education, is that we ‘follow the child’ and we did just that! Switched gears, well - added wings, stick and rudder, and brought in the famed Wright brother into the narration! May went on to speak about the first flight across the Atlantic by Orville and Wilbur Wright. Back to animation now!
‘Live’ from the ‘Main Activity Room' where a brilliant group of artists are creating a unique collection of art – “we see a scurry, another in a hurry, bumping into one and saying sorry, like putting together a curry, in concert, with focus but with unfurrowed brow, free of worry, and we know that soon they will carry, an object of amazing beauty!” There, we said it all! Also continuing, ‘tissue-painting’ by the group who were moulding the salt-dough, yesterday.
Rugby today, was presented with a recap of what we spoke about yesterday. Using solids to identify the shape of the ball and the Decimal System Beads to Quantity - ‘2016’, ‘1823’ and with the ‘Change Game’ the older children understood the difference. The drills were repeated for reinforcement with an addition; passing in pairs (older children) laying emphasis, that in rugby, the ball can only be passed to a teammate who is behind the ball! More from the today’s gallery.
We leave you with this:
“A child under two is well able to walk for a mile or so, and also able to climb. Our impression that a long walk is beyond (him/)her comes from making (him/)her walk at our pace. But the child is not trying to 'get there' -- all (he/)she wants is to walk. And because (his/)her legs are shorter than ours, it is we who must go at (his/)her pace...” Dr. Maria Montessori.
Rumeshi & Yan Mei together with, May and Dennis
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