MONDAY (PRESCHOOL CAMPUS)

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY (CASTLECRAG CAMPUS)

TERM 1, 2019 – STORYLINE & SONGS

T’was a sweet unfolding of friendships for all as we explored the vibrant Glenaeon Playgroup settings in a health filled tapestry for our children.

Appropriate stories build our resilience for what life demands of us and offers us too. Through feeding our imagination; through hearing the rhythm and repetition of our human voice and word ; through feeling the goodness of wisdom intended, we grow.

In February Sydney is a – buzz with the ‘Chinese New Year Celebration’. Thus we began our first term of 2019 with puppet show stories of our large pink knitted pig ‘Liang Liang’. (Mandarin for light.)

While she dug in the compost with her babies, the 12 Chinese zodiacal animals on the farm celebrated her for “Year of the Golden Pig’ . Her kindness, humility, and good luck were honoured though she was bashful to hear this.

This theme carried over into our baking as our dough was overflowing PIG! In our game time we combined our silk cloth peek- a -boo game with ‘Old Mac Donald’. There was much merriment as we snorted and squealed and mooed and some children even danced while we clapped!

In March we explored the story of the Three Little Pigs leaving their maternal home and making their houses of flimsy straw, then hard sticks and then sturdy stones. This puppet show gave us a metaphor for our own and that of our children’s gradual resilience building. When the ‘strong winds’ threaten to ‘blow our house down’ we may ‘run home to safety’. There we recoup ourselves with the strengthening of sleep. The next day we are more mature and we are more knowledgeable about protecting ourselves. Our fears defeated, we can ‘live happily ever after’.

Good for us trying new things and learning how to support ourselves! Through our discussions we learned tools from each other for facing our fears ( and those of our children) and being patient with ourselves (and our children) as we all adapt to new adventures. Our empathy grows.

How can we protect our children for what is not necessary for them to be exposed to? How can we prevent unnecessary trauma and heal wounds of all natures? What facts can we convey so we can stand up for their right to grow up in a nurturing, age appropriate environment? ‘Together’ we can.

To introduce our butter making activity, we had the puppet show story of the farmer needing us to help make the cream after the cow had been milked. She had eaten lots of juicy green grass which had now been made into creamy milk. Then we all too turns shaking the cream jars until we had the golden sun surprise in the jar! Home made butter!

‘Come butter come Come butter come If you don’t hurry you’re gonna be late and I’m gonna beat you to the garden gate.’

In fluctuating weather of autumnal April, the Chinese story ‘The Dragon’s Gate’ [1] was appropriate for continuing our resilience- building work. My adaptation was of a dragon wishing for a friend and the fish wishing to fly. Daring to wish and being open to the wish coming true is a worthy motivator for life.

The colourful fish dared to leave it’s safe home element of water to try to make its’ dream come true. With one deep breath after another and accompanying large leaps ‘up, up, up’, ‘Swish Fish’ succeeds in traversing the grand, gushing waterfall that connects the treasure filled lake he lived in and reach finally, the top of the mountain.

At the top of the mountain his fins become wings, he can fly in the light, and now colourful Dragon ‘Ani Aff’ (Hebrew for ‘I am flying’) has his dream of a friend to fly with!

Amongst the white fluffy clouds and the blue, blue sky they fly together:

‘I am flying I am flying I am flying

Adorned with wings of light. ‘

As the calendar year moved along, children’s birthdays were celebrated with a specially crafted story unique to the intricacies of each child. The birthday celebrations flowed with familiar songs, a birthday bread and lots of love too.

SONGS

(In order of end of term to beginning)

Theme songs

‘Little bulb little bulb come into your bed so dark. Comfy there until its’ time to shine, shine, shine.’

‘Come little leaves said the wind one day come over the meadow with me to play.’ X2

‘Puff the Magic Dragon lives by the sea and wallows in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee.’ X2

‘I am flying I am flying I am flying Adorned with wings of light ‘

‘Come butter come Come butter come

If you don’t hurry you’re gonna be late

and I’m gonna beat you to the garden gate.’

‘It’s a new moon after all It’s a new moon after all

It’s a new moon after all It’s a new moon after all. ‘

(Tune of ‘It’s a small world’)

( It’s a half moon, It’s a full moon.)

‘I see the moon the moon sees me

The Angels bless the moon and the angels bless me’

‘Old Mac Donald had a farm ee I ee I oh

And on his farm he had a mooo Ee I Ee I oh

With a moo moo here and a moo moo there, Old mac Donald had a farm ee I ee I oh!’

‘Bluebird, bluebird through my window

Bluebird, bluebird through my window

Bluebird, bluebird through my window

To catch a little sweetie’.

Circle Songs

‘Roly poly roly poly all the way to …’s house’

(when we roll a ball from one person to another’ )

‘Good morning dear Earth Good morning dear sun Good morning dear stones and flowers everyone

Good morning dear animals and birds in the trees Good morning to you and good morning to me’

‘Oh here we are together, together, together

Oh here we are together at play group today.

There’s … and …and … too.

Oh here we are together, together, together

Oh here we are together at playgroup today’.

Healing Song

Healing, healing loving for my beautiful daughter/son

Healing, healing has begun

Now my son/daughter will have some fun

(When a child has hurt themselves)

Birthday Songs

‘In Heaven high there shines a star

An angel brought you from afar

From Father sky to Mother earth

Brought you to your place of birth’

‘Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high Like a diamond in the sky

Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are’.

‘Rock a bye baby on the tree top

When the wind blows the cradle will rock

When the bough breaks

The cradle will fall

and down will fall baby cradle and all.’

Baking Songs

‘Fish swim in the water

Birds fly in the air

Come and sparkle your hands here

and dry them over there’. (For hand washing)

‘Soft sifted flour from wheat golden x2’

‘Roly poly, roly poly, roly poly roly’

(When we roll bread dough or a ball to each person)

‘The bakers are baking, baking the bread today

The bakers are baking, baking today. ‘

‘We’re kneading We’re kneading We bakers we are kneading We’re kneading we’re kneading we’re kneading dough today.‘

(And many other adjectives: pounding, rolling, squishing, knuckling tapping, patting, pushing, pulling, adorning, embellishing, squashing, )

Patt’a cake patt’a cake bakers man

‘Bake me a cake as fast as you can

Roll it and prick it and Mark it with a ‘B’

And put it in the oven for Baby and me.

Eating songs

‘Morning tea, morning tea

Won’t you come and dine with me?

Fruit and vegetables and porridge and bread

and a little bit of tea for you and me.

Morning tea, morning tea

Won’t you come and dine with me?’

‘Make a mountain with your hands

The strongest mountain that you can.

Thank you for this food, this food, this glorious, glorious food.

And the animals, and the vegetables and the minerals that make it possible. ‘

Transition Songs

‘We can make a circle round like the sun

And we can make a circle with a place for everyone’.

(Gathering people into circle form)

“I met a little dusty gnome

He said: ‘It’s time to go for a roam . Let’s clean our home.’

Follow, follow … follow follow

Follow, follow… follow now.

(When we are moving from one place to another. It allows children to feel the order of the direction and they enjoy being the leader’.)

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream.

(Group Unifying song that children love to enact with adults)

We’ve had a lovely day and now it’s time to go on our way.

Good bye … good bye… goodbye…. And …. Too. Good bye… good bye …. Goodbye… and … too.