We had a fun and hot (!) end to the school year. With temperatures pushing 40C we cooled off by swimming in the paddling pool, running in the sprinklers, listening to stories and playing games under the shade of the olive trees. On the last day of school we made calendars to celebrate the beginning of Ramadan and held a dance party in the garden. The children raided the dressing up box and let loose dancing around the garden. A lovely end to the year.
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| Colourful pencil cases made for art on Arabic Day |
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| Playing in the sprinklers on a hot day |
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| Ramadan Calendars helped the children understand how Ramadan is marked through the month and the phases of the moon - they enjoyed counting out the days and trying to write the numbers but most of all they enjoyed pouring on the glitter! |
With the heat of the Summer the children had a true appreciation of the changing of the Seasons, one of our topics this term. It was really interesting to watch them grasp the concept of seasons and the passing of time - from the beginning of the school year as we moved into Winter and the end of year as Summer began. We read and discussed Julia Donaldson’s 'Stick Man’ noting how the seasons change as Stick Man tries to get home, showing us how long he has been away from the family tree. We made Stick Man season art to show Stick Man in all the seasons and we used a laminated picture of a bare tree for the children to decorate by themselves according to each season. We focused on how some trees change over the seasons by doing several tree themed art projects and to make it much more relevant to them we discussed in which season their birthdays fell - they made art to show what clothes they wore and what activities they did on their birthdays according to the season.
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| The children gathered all the twigs, petals and leaves themselves to make the pictures. They sorted out the items from the garden into groups and decided which would be used for each season. |
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| We split a picture of a tree into four parts and the children discussed how a tree looks in each season. After painting they arranged the four sections in order of how the seasons fall. |
We also did a topic on birds and eggs this term and the kids had a great time, touching and exploring different kinds of eggs - from ostrich, goose, duck, chicken and quail. They were curious about the different sizes, colours and shape of each egg and we watched a short film about how chicks grow inside eggs. We also discussed what other animals apart from birds hatch from eggs.
The children have made such progress this year building on their knowledge and understanding new concepts, some have begun to read, others are building on their confidence with phonics and the alphabet. Everyone moves to their own timetable and because no one is pressured and we learn through doing activities and topics, they feel able, secure and happy. And that is the best place from which to discover the world around you.
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Ramdan Lanterns
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| Art project for Arabic Day |
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| Broad beans growing on our farm - the children helped to plant seeds, water and harvest this year |
**Currently Hayati Homeschool is having some upgrades - we are adding a bathroom and art storage room near the school tent and a small swimming pool for the Summer months. Pictures of the new improvements will be posted at the end of the Summer. In the meantime enjoy our photos!
