Pre-school 2011 starts

Magnetic train

It is a massive shame that we had to let our first intake of immersion pre-schoolers graduate!

More tea, vicar?

They grew out of our schedule, and are now immersed in a mono-lingual environment. Of course, I still see them every week, but no longer free of time restraints.They impress me with how much they can now recall, and their ability to sight read some common words and have a good stab at decoding words phonetically. Clearly, we did something right. I hope the legacy withstands the bombardment of less than great English they will be forced to endure in their more formal educational careers...We did more than 'play with blocks' here (my daughter's stock response when I ask her what she did in her school now).

Building a gate

Eriko-sensei is a very cheerful and charming new member of our team this year. She replaces Naomi, who we wish well and thank for her commitment to "Season One". Eriko will introduce herself here soon, promise.

Eriko has been sat on, cried on, cuddled and dribbled on so far - not, I hasten to add, by me! Our very young recruits are experiencing time away from mummy for the very first time, and we know this is very disturbing. This year, we have more boys than girls, and we expect the dynamic to be quite different. For example, lunch time is already a completely new experience. Everything munched down quickly, no messing or dancing about! Wow, we get an extra 45 minutes to play with...I think games will be more physical than tactile, toys will be tested for their tensile strength rather than admired. I could be wrong - and it is going to be a lot of fun finding out.

Bench jumping

Once the tears subside, we will be able to 'do' more, rather than trying and missing with 'cheer up' activities. Fortunately, going for a walk and exploring our neighbourhood appears to calming. We've already gone on our first butterfly hunt (we found a lot of chrysalis in a holly bush), explored the shrine and trawled the hardware store.All good!