Week 4 update

Kia Ora All,

I thoroughly enjoyed the school BBQ and meet the teacher evening last week. We had a great discussion in Room 2 covering many areas such as mindfulness in the classroom, helping children manage anxious thoughts and build resilience, screen time etc. We also shared parenting tips (for those of you who may not be aware, my daughter is in Room 2 this year) and contrasted our own experiences of school with the experience our kids have these days. I found it to be an enjoyable and valuable discussion. Here are a few things to look out for this week:

• Homework books and book bags to school on Monday please. 
• In doing some research looking for kids' audiobooks recently, I found this RNZ page with a bunch of audiobooks for different age levels. It would be a great way to supplement your nightly read-aloud for your child. 
• If you don't participate in homework formally then please ensure your child is reading nightly and that you have a read-aloud on the go.
• If your child needs to be excused from PE, please send a note so I know their excuse is legitimate. 
• This term for science / inquiry we're studying rocks and volcanoes. On Friday we started our first activity sorting rocks using a hardness scale. To test hardness we used a scale dependent on how easy it was to scratch the rock with a fingernail, a piece of copper, or a paperclip. If the paperclip couldn't scratch the rock we tested to see if the rock could scratch a piece of glass and sorted the rocks accordingly. Below are some photos.

Rock on,

Mr M