Crinkles and wrinkles from Singapore

Children had fun playing with paper. Folding and unfolding the papers to observe shapes and patterns was interesting. The curious minds were able to observe designs on the papers and connect them with the surroundings. 

Our inquiry on skin and how it looks was explored further with comparison to the lines on a paper.  

The artists were asked to:
•Close your eyes and feel the paper
•Crumple the paper into a ball or fold it as you wish to.
•Close your eyes and feel the creases.
•Find a section in the paper that might mean something to you.

Below were some ideas shared by our children.

Warm Regards,
Rachel

Leeann 5

I folded a paper into a hand fan. When I opened the paper I saw lines. They looked like giant doors. Then I folded it into a paper wand. When I opened the paper, I accidently made a hole in the paper. Then I crushed the paper and opened it. I saw may lines on the paper. Then I painted the paper with red, pink, brown, yellow, blue and purple. I painted a rainbow treasure map.

Emilia 4+

I folded the paper and made an aero plane and opened it. I saw almost a lion face. Then I crushed the paper and opened it. It felt a bit bumpy . It looked like a bumpy design. After I painted it looked like a map. Later I tried to trace over the lines andit looked like a big map with no houses. Later I crushed another paper and made a treasure map with my friends.

Xi Wen 5

We folded the paper. Then we opened the paper. Then we folded the paper again. Then we opened the paper. I could see triangles. They looked like mountains. Then I painted it. I painted with many colours. I used the brush to paint a triangle. I like my painting. I enjoy painting.

Oliver 4

I rolled a paper into a magic wand and opened it. The paper looked flat except for the edge that was a little curved. The I folded it like a sandwich and I opened it and it looked like windows. Then I painted the paper in the middle, yellow, brown and red. Then I painted below, dark blue and light brown. I also painted the top dark green and light blue and red. It looked like rainbow blinds.

Avinaash 4+

I folded the paper and opened it. It looked like a machine. It looked like a machine that could squeeze the rubbish. I could stretch the paper and flatten it. Then I painted it and it looked very nice. It also looked like a staircase.

Advaith 5

At the beginning the paper felt smooth. I made it into a fan. Then I unfolded it and made it into a big plane. Whenunfolded it, I saw small holes . Then I crumpled it and made it into a mountain.  Then when I flattened it, there was another hole on the sides. I felt that the lines made a connecting bridge from one city to another. Then I decided to paint an orange bridge.. Then I followed the lines of the paper and painted one whole line green. I painted the other side of the bridge blue. Then I painted a slant line black andalso painted a horizonalline black. The other horizontal line was red and golden. I figuredout that it was beginning to look like an Australian flag.

Tan Jing Ru

A Shell

Caitlin 5

I crumpled up a paper and then I opened and saw the shapes. I saw lots of roofs. Then I folded it and opened it up again. I did this a few times. Then I flattened it. My paper looked like lion’s face because it had one diamond and four triangles. Then I used orange to paint and then I used purple and then I used light pink. Then I used orange but it was like orange because it was brown. Then I used dark pink and a little bit more dark pink. My picture looks like a rainbow sun.

Jordan 5

At first I folded the paper into an aero plane. When I unfolded it, it looked like a flower as it had triangles anda circle in the middle

I crumpled a paper very hard and it became like grandpa and grandma’s skin. Then I tried to connect the lines to form a lion’s face. But as I was painting I realized that it was beginning to look more like a Bison . The lines looked as though the bison was bending down eating grass. It also looked like a bumpy wall.

Jia Wen 5

I folded a paper into a plane. ThenI unfolded it and made a boat. Then I crushed it and folded it again into a rectangle. Then I opened it. When I unfolded it, I saw six rectangles. Then I painted it.  I painted with purple, orange, green and yellow and dark pink and dark purple and light pink and dark green. I added more lines onto it. I painted a bit of red on one of the sides. It looked like colourful doors. Then I crumpled another paper with my friends. ThenI made a treasure map with my friends.

The 3-4 year old artists from EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-school in Singapore are making and sharing art with the 3-4 year old artists from Oakdale Montessori Preschool in Cape Town, South Africa.

Shadowing our shadows in Singapore!

Moving from shadows of constructions to shadows of people was interesting. Shadows that move and shadows from still objects differ. Sometimes objects do not move but their shadows do.

When Arlene shared a sample of a picture of shadows, I pondered how children might think and draw about their shadows . Initally children drew the shadows of their friends at the carpark.. Then they drew shadow images of their friends on the paper. It was tough for friends to keep still. But what was even more challenging was drawing their own shadows. They shared that it was nearly impossible after trying.  Watching a shadow drama on youtube helped children realise that they could actually form different shapes with their body. 

Sometimes the shadows do not look anything like how we expect them to be. E.g. Caitlin formed the shape of a table but the shadow formed under her was different from the shadow that appeared on the side wall. The shadow did not appear like a table on the floor. Sometimes they look abstract and formless but at times they look like something else, decieving our eyes.

This was what children shared:

Jordan: Can you see an elephant spraying water? Can you see a lion eating a Zebra? Can you see a giraffe trying to fight a tiger? Oops! I forgot to draw the tiger!

Xi Wen: Can you see a giraffe? Can you see a dinosaur? Can you see a sea-lion? Can you see a chair and a castle?

Lin Jia Wen: Can you see an elephant eating a carrot? Can you see a Prince and a Princess?

Oliver: Can you see a lion growling?

Leeann: Can you see a panda at the Zoo? Can you see the Prince and Princess too?

Emilia: Can you see a giraffe eating leaves? Can you see a human shadow?

Caitlin: Can you see lines inside each of the shadows? But how can a shadow dance by itself?

Advaith: Can you see armours here? Can you see a dinosaur roaring?

Aahan: Can you see a shadow of a lepoard? Can you see the shadows on my name?

Avinaash: Can you see the shadow of a tiger? Can you see the shadow of a tall building and a house?

Warm Regards,

Rachel

The 3-4 year old artists from EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-school in Singapore are making and sharing art with the 3-4 year old artists from Oakdale Montessori Preschool in Cape Town, South Africa.

Welcome home! Stories from Singapore

When we realised that the topic on 'Building a Home' has come up again after Lay of the Land, there was a room for doubt about how differently children might react to the same theme with little twist in the provocations. 

Our children gave physical descriptions of their homes by talking about the shapes and surfaces and made comparisons with their peers'. 

During our whole group meeting, children shared about how they could connect all their pop-up homes and make a City not realising that it was the intention of the Author too. 

Interviewing each child based on the suggested questions gave us an insight about individuality in their thinking. Creating a pop-up home encouraged children to think about dimensions in their homes. They loved it.

Your home says so much about you. What is your home like?  Is it in an apartment complex or is it a single building with a garden?  What do the surfaces of your home feel like? Think about others who live in this home. What if you could fold up your home and take it everywhere with you? What parts of your home would you want to carry with you on your travels?

Avinaash: My house has a rectangle roof. There is an automatic door too. There is another door which you need to use the key to open. It is a single building with a garden. The floor usually feels cold. My daddy, Mummy, me and my brother and my Grandmother stay with me. I would love to take my plane room along with me wherever I go. There are many toys in that room.

Jing Ru: My house has a rectangle roof. There is a gate at the garden. There is a staircase near the garden. The staircase will take us to the shoe-rack where we put our shoes. It is a single building with a medium sized garden. My Mummy, Daddy, me and my two aunties stay there. I have a very big dog too. I would like to carry my playroom along with me where ever I go. It makes me feel happy.

Emilia: My home has a dining area and there is where you walk then you see the study room and then you can see my room and then my Mummy’s and Daddy’s room. I have a balcony. I have a tricycle out at the balcony and a small scooter and one balance bike. I live in a condominium where many people stay in one building. There are three swimming pools at my place. My sofa feels soft. My floor feels hard. I would love to bring my room wherever I go because it makes me happy.

Caitlin: My house has lots of pointy things outside. The driveway of the hall is cracking. It is very old. There are rectangular windows on the first floor which are very big. They don’t have grills. You can just unlock it by pulling something up that makes a click sound and slide the window. I feel that my home is bigger than the school but I don’t think so because it only has two levels. I would love to bring my toy room along with me wherever I go because it has many toys. I have got a lot of games to play with you.

Jiang Xi Wen: There are many trees near my house. When I take the lift, I see some lights in the lift. Once the door opens you need to walk to the house with the white door. When you open the door you will see my brother making a tree. He is making a decoration. My mummy, Daddy, brother and sister stay with me. I like to bring my kitchen wherever I go because there is so much fun in there. I can make bubbles in the kitchen by filling a cup with water and adding soap.

Aahan: My home is white and green. I live in a tall building together with other people. It also has other condos. My sofa is soft and the wall is hard. My floor has some kind of rock designs on it. My Mummy, Daddy, brother and aunty stay with me. My friend Etsa visits me sometimes. I like my bedroom the most and would like to take it along wherever I go. I have a bed which opens up. You can find some pillows, blankets and bed-sheets in there.

Oliver: There is one bed for my Papa and Mama and one bed for my sister and a bed for me. I have one big pool and two small swimming pools. My sister likes to play in the toy room. The toys are supposed to be in the living room but they are on my bed. There is a garden next to my home. My floor is smooth and white. I would love to take my toy room wherever I go. I can play the toys. But when it is time for us to go out, we cannot play.

Lin Jia Wen: I live with my Mom, Dad, brother and my aunty. My sofa feels rough. My floor is white. But the floor in my Mummy’s room is brown. My brother’s room and my room are also brown. My house is in a tall building. Other people also stay in the building. There is a car park outside my house. My Mummy parks her car there. I like my room the most. I would like to bring my room wherever I go because my Mummy allows me to draw on my own room wall.

Jordan: My house is like a nature park because there are many flowers and plants growing in my garden. My Mom and uncle grow them. My Daddy, Mummy, sister and aunty stay in my house. I have two pet dogs and one cat. My cat is a good climber. You will see my door and staircase when you enter my house. I have a baby doll in my room. I would like to bring my bike wherever I go.

Advaith: In my living room, the floor has got some square patterns. In my room, the flooring is similar to those in my classroom, wood floor, goldenish brown. The walls are bumpy as though they have mini mountains on the walls. My parents share the home with me. My house is on level three but there are people living above my level. I would love to bring my own bedroom wherever I go because it is so full of toys (although it is not possible).

Julian: My bedroom has powder, body-cream and toys. I also have train tracks and trains. My floor has square patterns and marks on it. My wall is smooth and white. My sofa’s armrest is hard. The back part is also hard. The bottom is cushion and is so soft. My Mummy, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma, Tita, Oli and Kristin share the home with me. I have a muslin blanket on my bed to smell and fall asleep.

Zhu Yu Hang: My house has a lift. I live on the third floor. I have to take the lift everyday to go back home. My house is grey. There is swimming pool down stairs. There is a toy in my house. It is my favourite. It is a rocket. I take it wherever I go.

Warm Regards,
Rachel & Nan Nan

The 3-4 year old artists from EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-school in Singapore are making and sharing art with the 3-4 year old artists from Oakdale Montessori Preschool in Cape Town, South Africa.

The thinking child- Building understanding of the world

Children were conversing about hearing the Rooster crow in the mornings. But did they really hear the rooster crow or was it something they have read from books? (In Singapore, we do not have farms. We could probably find chickens at the Singapore Bird Park). They shared that sometimes they hear things but don’t get to see the things. E.g. noisy garbage truck,  birds chirping, dogs barking. The children were given an opportunity to think about their individual environment  and the noises heard. Even the noises heard at school differ from that at home and sometimes similar. Children expressed themselves through drawing (paper, markers and pencils) and spoke about them.

Warm Regards,
Rachel

The 3-4 year old artists from EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-school in Singapore are making and sharing art with the 3-4 year old artists from Oakdale Montessori Preschool in Cape Town, South Africa.

Naturally and artistically!

From natural materials picking to using microscope convertor, our children became investigators zooming into this little gadget to look closer into the plants in our environment.

Following that, they did mark making on the clay using tools such as sticks and twigs to create lines similar to the ones on the leaves. This encouraged them to transfer their observation onto pre-cut paper before coloring using different mediums such as crayons and colour pencils.

Our final episode of this project was drawing a spiral and cutting along the line to create beautiful mobiles for our friends in Mexico!

Nurul'Ain, N2B teacher, and her 3 and 4 year old artists from EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-School in Singapore are making and sharing art with Marianna Diaz and her 4 year old artists in Nursery B at Colegio San Patricio in Monterrey, Mexico. 

Connecting, developing, exploring, and integrating through making art

Making a connection at home and in school
Our children wanted to have a clearer view of their exterior home hence they drew simple pictures to represent different things such as potted plants, grass, building and windows. This guided them into thinking of the smaller details that exist in their home environment.  In this experience, our children reinforced on their fine motor dexterity while learning to manipulate the writing tool while expressing their creativity through representational drawing.

Developing a sense of appreciation
Home-school partnership was present when our parents contributed into our inquiry learning by sending in pictures of their child’s favourite spot at home. Our children were actively participating in ‘Show and tell’ sharing about why they love that particular spot and how they would feel if it was taken away. This experience created a sense of appreciation of what they have and made comparison to children in other countries who may not have the same privilege.

Expressing creativity through drawing
While making doodles using the oil pastel, most of our friends observed the colour change when the colours overlapped while others were very focused on covering the white spots of the paper. There was an exchange of prior knowledge about how their individual homes look like from the outside view.

“My building is not tall. There’s only three floors.’’

“Mine is at level twenty-four but it’s not scary.’’

‘’There are lots of plants outside my home so I need to water them otherwise they will die.’’

Exploring technology
In creating a fond memory of our drawing, we included technology and learned the importance and efficiency of making copies using the photocopy machine. Here, our children identified the red and green buttons. Literacy was involved as they learned to spell the words ‘start’ and ‘stop’. In addition to that, they observed how the machine is operated and the process it takes to print a paper. Sounds of the machine captured our children’s attention as they listened attentively while the machine is making copies of their home exterior drawing.

Integrating inquiry with Math concept
After all the learning at the photocopy machine, our children sat down and began matching the original to the duplicated copy. When someone asked, ‘’How do we know whose are these?’’, another friend took initiative to bring in their name cards. It was a clearer view looking at everyone’s copies of work and this created a sense of achievement and teamwork for everyone in class.

Exploring different textures using different mediums
In order to identify the different view of our homes, we used different mediums to represent our home from exterior and interior view. At the initial stage, the exterior part of our house was the focus as they drew and coloured using oil pastel followed by covering with a layer of acrylic paint. Soon after, our children learned the ‘scratch’ art technique as they explored different tools and drew their favourite spot in the interior house while referring to their photo from home.

Sending a message through letter writing
As we learned that words contain messages, our children verbalized their messages to their friends in Mexico while the teachers wrote it on the paper for our children to trace over. While doing so, some of them identified sight words such as ‘you’ and ‘and’.  Although it was tricky in ensuring the film stayed still while they were tracing, most of them were meticulous and patient in fulfilling this task. 

Regards,
Nurul'Ain

Nurul'Ain, N2B teacher, and her 3 and 4 year old artists from EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-School in Singapore are making and sharing art with Marianna Diaz and her 4 year old artists in Nursery B at Colegio San Patricio in Monterrey, Mexico. 

Observations from Ms Senthamarai, a loving teacher

Our homes represent more than our financial assets; they have a deep and unique emotional meaning. Our earliest memories of home are often connected to our childhood. Layers of love (our 2nd mailing project with Mexico) helped us to cogitate about our homes, inside and outside. It was not a mere art experience that just involved paper, oil pastels and paint to enhance creativity but a reflective process that helped children to share their perspectives through illustration of what home meant to each one.

Personally, contemplating about my home gave me flash backs of both my wonderful and unpleasant experiences during my childhood days. I remember the time when my Dad discarded a wardrobe and placed it outside my house to be hurled out. My friend (my neighbour) of my age, used to join me to play in that wardrobe. We used to hide inside and pretend that it was our home. There was a discarded table outside too and we used to smuggle food from home (scramble eggs in a bowl), sit outdoors and party there. It was so fun. I was about three at that time and my memory is still vivid. I felt sad when I had to move out when I was four but there was a tinge of excitement of how my new house was going to be.

I believe that you have memories to share too.  These memories might help us to understand our children better.

At school, the moment we handed the photographs( of the homes) to the children, they got excited and started chatting with each other. It was spontaneous sharing amongst them (between friends) and 'meeting time' became obsolete.

When we finally settled down for discussion after about ten minutes, all the children had something to say about their home and they couldn't wait for their turns. Adu said that he might forget if he doesn't say it now.

Actually this is true. I realised that children are just like us...or at least i could reflect my teachers' meeting where sometimes I would be bubbling with ideas and just can't wait to relate my opinion.

Children were able to describe their homes in various ways E.glevel 1, fifth storey , tall building, high etc. A child reflected about a time where she cried at home ( a sad memory). Another reflected about what happened to her vase of roses when the water became dirty. Others related about how special their homes were.

Drawing about homes aided at sharpening observation skills of children. Many wished that their homes were colourful and made colourful illustrations with the oil pastels. Getting down to our children's level( height) while taking the photographs might have given us a view that might be familiar to children. A child couldn't recognise her home (from exterior) as she had not seen her home from the angle which her parent took the photograph from. It made me realise that children observe things from their level (physical, emotional or/and social) which may differ from our perception.

Anyway, we have finished our art project and sent them to Mexico. So what is next? Let's look onto the homes in other parts of the world. How are they different from ours and how similar are they? Is our environment changing constantly? Are there reconstructions going on?

Love,
Ms Senthamarai (Rachel)

Nursery 2A Core-Teacher
EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-school
Singapore

The Layers of Love, Dear You art project. This picture depicts the artist's home and their artistic representation of it from the outside.

Sharing the Love!

Ms. Rachel, core teacher of N2A, presented Layers of Love project in a unique and meaningful way to her students. 

Our homes represent more than our financial assets; they have a deep and unique emotional meaning. Our earliest memories of home are often connected to our childhood. Layers of love (our 2nd mailing project with Mexico) helped us to contemplate about our homes, inside and outside. It was not a mere art experience that just involved paper, oil pastels and paint to enhance creativity but a reflective process that helped children to share their perspectives through illustration of what home meant to each one. 

I live in a tall building. I stay on the 7th storey. I have many books at home. I have toys in my home. The lift is on level 1. When you press the button, the lift will go up. I have a big table and a small table at home. I have big and small chairs too.

-Jiang Xi Wen

Nursery 2A and Nursery 2B, 3-4 year olds at 215 EtonHouse Bi-Lingual Preschool in Singapore are making and sharing art with the 4 year olds from Nursery B at Colegio San Patricio in Monterrey, Mexico.

Feeling happy in Singapore : )

We finally got mail from Mexico! Our children were so amazed to see a big envelope in each of their private letter box. Upon admiring the materials used to paste within the boundaries on the crafts, some of our children shared their prior knowledge about the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and did sequencing of the days of the week and matching the food crafts accordingly. 

Regards,
Nurul'Ain

Nurul'Ain, N2B teacher, and her 3 and 4 year old artists from EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-School in Singapore are making and sharing art with Marianna Diaz and her 4 year old artists in Nursery B at Colegio San Patricio in Monterrey, Mexico. 

Excitement at EtonHouse!

Our children are excited to send mails to your children. They asked, " Ms Rachel, Are you saying that we are going to receive mails from the children in Mexico?!" When I said, 'Yes!', they jumped with joy. Sharing an art work is a excellent idea. 

In fact we had a show and tell with all the children about their mailboxes and they all gave unique descriptions. The Lights, Camera, Action! Dear You Art Project was well received by the children. The sticky contact papers often got stuck together and had to be pulled apart. Children were exploring with the materials. Perhaps after the project, I will suggest an open-ended experience with the materials that you suggested. Most of them enjoyed tracing the pictures while others decided to draw the pictures on their own. A child was very focused and wanted to use specific coloured tissue papers for specific part of the drawing and was concerned when the tissue paper couldn't be cut into the exact shape and size. Another child preferred to use the markers alone with the contact paper.

Exploring the unique properties of the materials would be my next objective. We haven't used it with torch or the projector or paint. We will do more later.

The children shared that they have to go to the Airport to send their mails since the mails have to take the flight just like us. Interesting! Looks like we have to do an inquiry on how mails travel around the world.

The children will do a show and tell upon completion and experience light effects on the Art pieces.

Today we also did a Mexican dance at school. It was fun.

Thank you again!

Love,
Rachel

Post Box Central at 215 EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-School in Singapore

Last week Ms Rachel had this great idea that the kids make their own mail box at home and bring it for show and tell this week. So when the kids receive their mail from their friends in Mexico each one of them will have it put by the teacher in their mail box. She has informed me that there are quite a lot of interesting looking ones. 

Below are pictures of some of the mail boxes made by our children at home with the aid of their parents.

Regards,
Ms Pema and Ms Rachel

Nursery 2A and Nursery 2B, 3-4 year olds at 215 Eton House Bi-Lingual Preschool in Singapore are making and sharing art with the 4 year olds from Nursery B at Colegio San Patricio in Monterrey, Mexico.