Dugongs Class

This term the Dugong students have learned about Life Cycles as part of their Science curriculum. The children have loved the process of growing Chick Peas and Lentils.  They also watched  a potato and a plant growing roots in water.  In this way the children are learning about developing sustainable practices and taking care of all living things, an important aspect of Montessori education.

Well done Dugongs!

In term 4, the Dugongs had a very special visit from Swina Kalwar of  Let’s Bollywood Dance School.

During the presentation, the children enjoyed learning about India and its uniqueness. They have also had a sensory experience with Indian spices, Indian dress up and at the end a Dance workshop.

Namaste, from the Dugongs.

This term the Dugongs class enjoyed exploring art in different areas of the curriculum. We have explored the art of Kandinsky, and painted poppies.  We collaborated in a group drawing and then made a self-portrait.  We had some fun painting with coffee and later we created a mural of the solar system. The Dugongs also had an opportunity to experience our First Nation’s  indigenous art and craft with Lalania Tusa Fa’aaefili, who painted the Cycle 1 water tanks.

The Dugongs have been learning about plant care and the life cycle of Sunflowers.

The children have enjoyed planting their own seeds and watching them sprout.  They have been painting and cutting their own Sunflowers, sequencing and learning how to care for our plants.

Great work, Dugongs!

The Dugongs class celebrated the Chinese New Year. The children enjoyed the Chinese zodiac legend “What the rat told me”.

They learned about the animal representing the year in which they were born.

They also painted fireworks, made lanterns out of paper and created wishes on envelopes.

As part of their Asia studies,  the Dugongs have enjoyed learning about the traditions and costumes of Japan. They have also enjoyed learning the art of Origami and making their own cherry blossom book mark! Great work Dugongs!

Look at our new herb garden!

In term 3, the Dugongs have enjoyed working around the garden and taking great care of our environment.  They have been pulling weeds, watering plants and planting new herbs with Fili.

The Dugongs had fun watching all the big machines coming to school, they are developing awareness of their surrounding and how things works. They got excited when they saw the excavator and big truck.

The Dugongs have also been exploring Asia and learning all about this amazing continent. We have visited India, learning about their traditions and costumes. Dugongs have enjoyed colouring Mandalas, Rangolis and making their own Diyas out of clay

Well done Dugongs!

Last term, Ken, the CMS Groundsman visited the Dugong classroom and spoke to the students about life on a Pineapple farm. Ken had planted a pineapple a few years previously at the back of the Dugongs classroom. He picked the pineapple which had been planted and shared it with all the Dugongs.

We all enjoyed our taste test.

Well done Dugongs!

Our Dugongs students have been busy settling in to Term 1, helping to make our new students feel welcome and caring for one another.  They are a fabulous little bunch!

The Dugong students have been learning how to sew; they have been using the Knob Cylinders, practicing balance and cutting and pasting Australian animal pictures. They have been learning how to strengthen their focus and concentration with our Montessori manipulatives including the Pink Box, the Moveable Alphabet and Inset work.  The Dugong students also spent lots of time outdoors, caring for the environment and watering our Sunflowers.

Well done Dugongs!

Oh my goodness what a busy Dugongs class we have had this term! Our student Dugongs and Dugong parents have been doing lots of interesting work.  Ryan and his Mum, and Arielle have been:

• Searching their garden for insects and keeping a watchful eye on the caterpillars on their Mandarin tree .  Once they build their cocoons, they are going to put them in the butterfly house so Ryan and Ariella can see what beautiful butterflies they turn into.
• Sewing some vegetable seeds for our veggie garden
• Making Grass Head Babies
• Admiring the beautiful rainbow.

It was so lovely to find all the beautiful photos of Ryan’s work.

I wonder how many insects are in your back yard? Instead of going on a Bear Hunt, perhaps our Dugongs could go on an Insect Hunt. You can catch them in a photo. Perhaps you could ask an adult at home to help you research some of the insects you find to name them properly. You could write a story about your Insect Hunt and draw pictures about it. We would love you to share some of the wonderful work ideas you have being doing at home too.

Loui was very excited to receive the little surprise Joy and Gemma put in the Easter Activity Pack.  Shernita could not wait to get home and do some of the work from her Easter Activity Pack. Levi started working on his activities as soon as he got home. Great Bubble Gloves form Levi.

Ellah picked her Easter Activity Pack later on in the week, so she made her own creation. She created a diorama and if you look very closely, you will see a little cat playing the piano.

Dugongs you are very creative thinkers and thoughtful problem solvers. Joy and I have been very excited about opening up our email each day to be surprised by all the work you have sent us. We hope you have a lovely term break, keep washing your hands, catching your coughs and staying healthy.

Love from Gemma and Joy.

What an interesting week we have all had. Our Little Dugongs have been working at school, some have been working at home and our plants have been working on growing.

Take a peek at this week….

This week we learnt how to wash our hands so we can keep our bodies healthy. We sing our song a few times, as we wash every little part of our hands. We are making sure we really dry our hands thoroughly so the germs don’t jump back onto us.

So we make sure we wash our hands after using the bathroom, after using a tissue, after we pick our noses, after putting our hands in our mouth, after touching the bottom of our shoes, before we set our place for lunch and before we eat!

There are many steps to follow but we can do it so well we are teaching our families how to sing our song and wash the germs off their hands too.

We love being healthy.

Today we had a very special lesson with Rosie and Joy. Rosie loves to recycle and has started the “Soft Plastic” collection in our school. The Dugongs discovered that it is Clean Up Australia Day tomorrow. They participated in an activity to sort some rubbish into the correct compost, re-cycling, or waste bin in our classroom. Then they went on a little excursion to see where our “compost” scraps go, where our waste ends up in the school and where our paper recycling goes.

In 2020, we welcome Joy Bristol as the 1D Dugongs Assistant.