Where have I been?

Argh!  Checked the date on the last post and I nearly fell over from shock that I only blogged once last month!  We must have been busy in class and life...
Next week your little darlings begin school full time.  Can you believe it?  Some of you will have full weeks with your younger children and some of you will have free time for yourselves...look out :-)
As you would have noticed, you children have been very tired coming for the four days with a re-coup day in between, they are going to be twice as tired this coming week.  We would recommend keeping a routine with your children, make sure they are in bed the same time each night, before bed have 30 minutes of non-technology time (read a book, listen to calming music, talk) and don't be afraid to say no to after school play dates.  While they will put on tears and tantrums at the time, much better than the next morning and struggle getting them to school...
We are so looking forward to having the children at school all day - as are their specialist teachers and the other junior teachers who will teach your children on a Wednesday afternoon on a rotational basis.  One week the children will take part in science, the next will be music, follwed by drama and finally LOTE.

What do you know about Penguins?

On a Monday afternoon, as a class we are undertaking an investigation into our class name sake 'penguins'.  On our wall we have completed a K.W.H.L chart (what we KNOW, what we WANT to know, HOW are we going to find it, what have we LEARNED)...the children have asked great questions and want to find out lots about these little creatures...we are working towards ticking off all of our wonderings.  Yesterday we read a fantastic little story called The Truth about Penguins and completed a task about the physical appearance of a penguin - these are up on our wall to have a look at.  Please come in...

Talk to your children about penguins, generate questions with your children and share them with the class - everyone's a learner and it is great to share!

We are the Navy Blues!

Wowser, what a fantastic and very busy day we had in the Penguins classroom today.  After recess we had some very special visitors, players from the Carlton Football Club.  Marc Murphy, their best and fairest was one on the players that we spent a little bit of time with.  The players spoke to us all, told us what number they wore and what they liked to eat for breakfast!  Brock liked to eat Weetbix with peanut butter...are you game to try that?
We had lots of fun with them and they showed us how to hand ball and kick the ball.  It was great!

One more sleep...

It's school time again! You're probably feeling excited and maybe a little sad that summer holidays are over. Some kids feel nervous or a little scared on the first day of school because of all the new things: new teachers, new friends, and maybe even a new school. Luckily, these "new" worries only stick around for a little while. It won't be long until your child is in full school-mode swing and what you were worrying about is just a fleeting memory. 
We have been busily preparing and organising a fun filled day for the children which is similiar to what each Friday will be like for them.  The classroom is still a work in progress and will only truly be the Penguins class when we have work that the children have done displayed to learning from and enjoy.
We will be providing a lot of support for you all along the way too - tips and ideas to assist your children while they are reading, writing, counting, investigating and questioning.

The world is their oyster...we are just the ocean around them!

Mrs C x

Hello From Mrs Schwab

I trust you are all as excited as we are about Friday and with 2 sleeps to go until we are about to  begin our 2012 learning journey together as 'Penguins' I thought I might give you a brief snap shot of my past 5 weeks events...BUT can not wait to hear all of your holiday stories...
My time, since seeing you all has been less than boring! I have spent the majority of my rest and relaxation time at one of my families favourite spots ' Rye on the Mornington Penninsula. We have a caravan and we camp less than 200 metres from the beach-with a view that is worth millions  and we share it with some great friends! We went to the beach most days, ate yummy gelatis, shopped, spent time with friends and went to the movies all the right ingredients  that are vital in a good holiday recipe!

We also had some exciting news in the final weeks of our holiday that my eldest daughter Madeline was accepted to Australian Catholic University in Melbourne ..we are both a little sad ( to see her go) but happy that she is about to begin University study. My middle daughter, Hannah swam in several bay swims- Lorne, Portsea and Queencliff and did very well. She even bet Tony Abbots time! My youngest daughter adores dancing and was fortunate enough to dance with a talented lady in Melbourne and will continue to do so on a weekly basis.  If I had to say what was the best part of my holiday......it would be watching my girls and husband fighting over eating an icecream..hearing them laugh is priceless. What was your favourite time in the holidays????

Holiday Fun times...

A little bit of Happy Feet!

Boogie Wonderland - who doesn't smile at Penguins dancing!

Appointment widget

For those who are lucky enough to be tech savvy and own an iPhone or a HTC (like me) you may be, should be, could be using widgets.  They are just the same as downloading an app onto your phone - designed to make your life easier and to somehow enhance what is already an awesome product!  Well, this world of blogging is very new to me however I have come to learn that there are widgets in the world of blogging too!  I have added a new one to the bottom of these entries which allows you to book appointments with the teachers if you are wanting to catch up with us about your child.  Of course, we are only new to this and it may not be the right app for us but we are willing to have a go...are you?

Only five more sleeps and we are into it!

Mrs C xx

Hospital stay...

Last Friday Baby D had to have surgery, Bilateral Squint Surgery to be exact.  Why you ask?  In May last year I noticed that Baby D had developed a turn in his eye.  As each day passed the turn become slightly worse and I took him to the optometrist.  From that appointment we were referred onto a specialist in Melbourne who made recommendations however, the end result was an operation. 
It was a very scary morning for me more so than Baby D or hubby.  Baby D was in theatre for about 45 minutes and I was able to see him soon after that, phew, what a relief for me.  I missed him too much and was very worried.  Baby D was a trooper though, he was back to mischief later that night and I knew that we had made the right decision to have the surgery, before that I was questioning what I had done.

Nothing that CARS won't fix!  You are a trooper Baby D!

Big bandage on his hand where the drip was.

Hope that you are all safe and well - not long till school begins!

Mrs C xx

Words that touched me.

As I was searching the net (as I do on occasion) I came across a page where everything on it seemed to touch me in some way, but there was one thing that grabbed my attention more so than the others...

One Hundred Years from now
(excerpt from "Within My Power" by Forest Witcraft)

One Hundred Years from now
It will not matter
what kind of car I drove,
What kind of house I lived in,
how much money was in my bank account
nor what my clothes looked like.
But the world may be a better place because
I was important in the life of a child.

It are words like these that make my job as a teacher the most rewarding - to see a child smile, to laugh, to contemplate and be patient, to wonder and to enjoy...what more can you ask for?  Yep, I am a very lucky person indeed!

Mrs C xx 

Letters in the post

Wow, what a shock to the system!  I am at school today for the first time since we started holidays.  There is still so much for me to get organised before all of you come to school.  I have managed to complete a very important job today - I wrote to you all!  Your letter will be in the post tonight and I am hoping that you will get them tomorrow or Friday.  Writing the letter makes it all seem so close now, you are nearly a Penguin!

Beach baby

The holidays are a time to relax and recharge, so in keeping with that ideal hubby, baby D and myself took off to Point Lonsdale to the family beach house to enjoy a few days away from the river to breathe in the ocean breeze and feel the sand between our toes.  While baby D has been to the beach twice before we invested in a portable DVD player this time to make the drive a lot less painful...for us!  What a treat that was.  Although now baby D wants it on every time he gets in the car. 
It seems that we have a little water baby on our hands too.  On his first visit to the beach Baby D explored the rockpools with his dad.  While he was initially unsure of the water and the waves splashing up at him he soon became very interested and inquiring about what the sand, water and rocks were.  As his time at the beach extended so did his confidence with the water.  Baby D was so keen to get in the water one day that we had to resort to putting him a pair of jocks that we happened to have in the back of the car.  He was so delighted in the fact we was able to splish and splash to his hearts content.  What a joy he was in the water.  I am sure there will be no stopping him when we next travel down the Bellarine...

Baby D and daddy at the Rockpools

Bady D getting brave!

Wherever you are these holidays, whatever you are doing I hope that you are enjoying your family and creating life long memories.
Mrs C x

Technology takes over!

It is a little bit scary when I walk in and I find baby D trying to put a DVD in the player because he wants to watch Giggle and Hoot...which got me thinking...my child, your children are born into a world that is at their tiny fingertips.  A click of a button and they have information from anywhere about anything.  They know how to work iPhones, iPods and iPads.  They have Facebook accounts and email addresses.  I am sure this is a far more scarier concept for us as adults then for these children.  They shrug their shoulders and get on with it, we question and create scenarios - what if, where is, how do we???  They just control right click and have the job done.
Hence the creation of this blog and the wiki.  We need to embrace the future because it is not going to wait for us to be ready, it is already here!