Ngā mihi nui from Whānau Koru

Term 3 

Welcome to all new tamariki and whanau who have joined our Balmoral school community this term. A big welcome back also to Cheryl who is teaching our newest tamariki in the Mototapu Room.

The Milk and Cookies Evening, which took place in August, was a chance for whānau to read favourite stories and discover new ones together. We held this year’s celebration of books and reading in the Library for the first time and the children arrived in their pyjamas to twinkling lights, lots of little nooks to snuggle into with their books and an enticing supply of cookies and milk. Our librarian Liz Hamilton, helped by Nicola Brown, opened the Library to us and organised two wonderful authors, Toby Morris and Melinda Syzmanik who read some of their stories.

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 Learning to see the world

Wandering through classrooms in Whanau Koru you will often see sketching tables and water colour tables set up with particular objects or materials ready for observation and reflection. We want children to be active observers of the world around them, wondering, asking questions, sharing theories that will guide their research and lead to new or deeper learning. Observational drawing is a powerful way we can lead children into exploring science understandings. It allows time to notice detail, the shape and form, structure of things and colour. Children can make observations by comparing and contrasting. They sort, categorise, make generalisations and importantly ask more questions.

• Drawing takes observation beyond simple sensory perception and allows children to organize knowledge and understanding (Fox, 2010)

• Learning to draw with accuracy helps children to filter speculations and false theories out from what was actually observed in the subject or process (Fox & Lee, 2013)

• Children develop new theories as they draw and observe (Ainsworth, Prain, & Tytler, 2011)

• Children retain more of what they learn in an observation when they draw vs. when they do not (Fox & Lee, 2013)

• Teachers may assess what children have learned by what they are paying attention to in their drawings.

The roots have to go, and then the plant grows. the plant needs roots to grow. Hana

That’s a kiwifruit that has black seeds. The [apple] seed looked like a rain drop. Kianca

Detail of a peacock feather