Good afternoon,
This week we were happy to welcome a new student to our class community. The children who are already ‘old hands’ in KG1 made us proud after our discussion about how it might feel on your first day. They took action by making sure she felt included, inviting her to play and take part.
In relation to our unit of inquiry this week, we focused on two main aspects, both connected to social skills. The first was considering our own and others’ impact on the group. We read a story called Fergal is Fuming about a little dragon who struggles to control his fiery temper when he feels frustrated or angry. We noticed how his behaviour—breathing fire that burns objects including his dinner, the football posts, and the cakes at the baker’s shop—affects his friends. Eventually, they become upset and don’t want to play with him. His mum teaches him to count to ten as one way of calming down, and he soon discovers that many of his friends have their own strategies for managing anger. We related the story to our own experiences in class, thinking about how our behaviour can affect others. The children remembered that taking slow, deep ‘belly breaths’ can help us feel calm when we’re angry or frustrated. To create a visual reminder of this lesson, the children used hand-painting to make fiery flames. These are now on display to remind us that when we feel frustrated, we can count to ten like Fergal, take deep breaths, or tell someone to help us feel calm and in control again.
Our second focus in the unit of inquiry was learning how to cooperate in a group—sharing and taking turns. For this, the children played a fun relay game in pairs, where the goal was to move water from one bucket to another a few metres away using only a sponge. Team members took turns soaking up water with the sponge, running to the other bucket, squeezing it out, and then running back to pass it to their partner. To add excitement, the teams raced against a sand timer. By working together, the game was not only more fun but also a great way to practise sharing responsibility. You can see photographs from this activity below.
You might like to revisit these two important social skills at home—whether in everyday family moments or while sharing a story together. It can be a lovely way to connect and reinforce what we are learning in class.
Wishing you all a restful and happy weekend. Kind regards,
The KG1 Team
