THE ETONHOUSE MONTHLY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 2014 Dear Parents, It is hard to believe our school soon will be done. Over the last ten months I have learned many things at EtonHouse Bundang. We are fortunate to have an amazing group of dedicated and passionate educators and staff at our school who continue to strive to create opportunities for children to learn and achieve. The Christmas show and flea market events were done successfully. Each class performed with different Christmas carols and songs inspired by their own inquiry topics. Children performed with pride in front of many parents and relatives. This year’s Christmas was more meaningful because each class collaborated with other classes and finished the show with the whole classes’ participation. Children learned team sprit through making beautiful harmony with different age levels and classes. After the Christmas show, parents and other guests enjoyed the flea market with children. Many parents donated items such as clothes, books, toys and other valuable products for this event. Our neighbors, ShaSha Pilates, Java City, H Clinic, Kizmeal and Rectangle 618 Coffee shop also participated by donating certificates, sportswear, food and drinks for the flea market. Our children and teachers actively participated in preparing different booths, advertising and selling products on that day. It was not only an event that parents and children enjoyed but also an event that children can learn the marketing roles and responsibilities and the value of sharing and helping other people. I would like to acknowledge the great work and support of our parents and PTA members led by class mothers. I would also like to acknowledge and thank those of you who volunteer your time freely across our school in support of children’s learning. We would like to keep building these partnerships. On behalf of all staff at EtonHouse Bundang School, I would like to wish all families School Events Dec 22th to Jan 2nd Winter Break a happy, relaxing and fun school holiday break. For those traveling, we wish you a safe and enjoyable time with family and friends. The staff and I look forward to seeing you all in 2015 for another fantastic year of learning at EtonHouse Bundang. January 30th Year End Report Card February 13th With very best wishes, Lunar New Year Event Hannah Sung February 17th , 2014 Graduation/Half Day Principal of EtonHouse Bundang - 1 - THE ETONHOUSE MONTHLY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 2014 Body Awareness Workshop In November, EtonHouse Bundang students (Pre-K to K2) had a great opportunity to learn about their bodies and child protection education by the seniors from Soojeong Social Welfare Center. EtonHouse believes that children are sexual beings who need to know about their bodies. The seniors taught our students to respect and take a good care of their own bodies and other children’s bodies. We want our children to keep their bodies safe given that we can’t supervise them all of the time. To stay safe, they need to develop the confidence that comes from the knowledge that their bodies are their own, that they can say No and reject and report inappropriate and unwanted touching. We would like to keep providing this wonderful opportunity to our students in regular school assembly time. Parents’ Curriculum Workshop for the Next School Year It is time to prepare for the next school year! In order to provide appropriate information in advance for parents who are curious about the EtonHouse Bundang Curriculum for the 2015-2016 school year, EtonHouse Bundang held curriculum workshops. Parents were able to get more specific information about the next school year curriculum through the workshops. Parents also had an opportunity to visit classrooms and asked specific questions to teachers. We hope parents will be able to understand more about the next year level curriculum with this opportunity. Please feel free to contact the principal, school coordinator and teachers if you have any questions regarding this matter. MISSION Empowering each individual to be an enthusiastic life-long learner and confident global citizen of the future A curriculum focused on pedagogical integrity and research-based best practice Acknowledging and responding to each learner’s potential An authentic partnership with families and quality assurance across the organization A curriculum focused on pedagogical integrity and research-based best practice Acknowledging and responding to each the community Continual evaluation, improvement and - 2 - learner’s potential THE ETONHOUSE MONTHLY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 2014 tation: words, movement, drawing, painting, building, ships. sculpture, shadow play, collage, dramatic play, music (the "hundred languages"). In this way children are able to explore and communicate ideas in many different ways, and are able to link ideas across different media. EtonHouse is committed to each staff member’s professional development through induction, appraisal system and professional training and workshops. In November, EtonHouse sent a representative to the Reggio Emilia International conference to adopt great educational values for EtonHouse school. We would like to use this opportunity to introduce the Reggio Emilia approach to parents and more details will be followed later. The environment is the third teacher Space is designed to encourage encounters, communication and relationships. There is order and beauty in the organisation of materials; every corner of space has an identity and purpose. The piazza and the atelier are at the heart of the preschool centre. Reggio Emilia is a small city in northern Italy. After the second world war citizens of Reggio began to construct their own preschools and educational approach for young children. The schools were built on the premise to teach children to think for themselves and with an image of the child as rich in potential, strong, powerful and competent. The schools embraced creativity, listening to children, community involvement, democratic citizenship, professional dialogue and documentation of learning processes. There are now 78 municipal preschools and infant toddler centres in Reggio Emilia, and their approach is an inspiration to educators around the world. Educators are partners, nurturers and guides Educators and artists (atelierista) facilitate children's exploration of themes - short- or long-term projects - and guide experiences of open-ended discovery and problem-solving. They observe and listen closely to children in order to deepen their understanding of the children's ideas and their ways of working together. They reflect in groups to analyze their observations and decide how to further support the children's learning. Reggio's Approach: some key principles All children have potential Our image of the child is rich in potential, strong, powerful, competent and, most of all connected to adults and other children.—Loris Malaguzzi From birth the child has the need and the right to communicate and interact with others. Through energy and curiosity the child constructs his/her own learning. Educators are researchers Children are connected Documentation as a learning tool The child is a member of a family and a community rather than an isolated individual. The child learns through interaction with peers, adults, objects and symbols. Preschool centres are seen as a system of relations embedded in a wider social system. Careful consideration and attention are given to the presentation of the thinking of the children and the adults who work with them. Transcriptions of children's words and dialogues, photographs and drawings are used for groups of adults and children to reflect on the learning that is taking place. The documentation enables children, educators and parents to share each other's learning, not just at the end of a learning process but as an aid to a continuing group idea. The educators work together, sharing their observations and interpretations about how the children are exploring and interacting. They develop their own research based around how best to support particular aspects of children's learning. The reciprocity of children “Children are very open to exchanges and reciprocity as deeds and acts of love which they not only want to receive but also to offer. These form the basis of their ability to experience authentic growth, dependent on the elements listed above, as well as on conflict and error. “ - Carlina Rinaldi Children are communicators Children have the right to use many forms of symbolic represen-3-- Families as partners Families have an active role in children's learning experience. They are encouraged to share their ideas and experiences of their children's learning, and are able to see what has been happening in school through documentation and discussions. 3 - - 3 —3- THE ETONHOUSE MONTHLY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 2014 The Importance of Giving By Allan Ward and Jinny yook With the success of the recent flea market, that allowed us to support a local children’s home, fresh in our minds and with Christmas looming around the corner we thought it would be apt to write about why it is important to give. And more importantly why should you teach your child about charity. Ellen Sabin, author of The Giving Book, suggest that once children are exposed to helping other people it starts to become a habit. In her opinion, as well as in ours, children should grow up believing that helping others is a basic thing that everybody does. Like brushing your teeth, or saying please and thank you. Like having good manners children will only get in the habit of giving if they learn to do so. For this reason it is important for you to lead by example. But why should we give back? Other than the obvious answer that it is good for the person being helped, it has also been found that it is beneficial to the helper. The Corporation for National and Community Service found in a study that children who do volunteer work do better in school. They also found that people who are regularly involved with charitable work tend to be healthier, and that these wellness benefits increase if they start volunteering earlier in their life. Volunteer work that involves personal contact also makes people feel better, happier in life, by releasing endorphins. It is also important to remember that teaching your children about giving and getting them involved in community projects helps them build confidence and self-worth in the right way...by showing them that their actions make a difference. That doesn't mean you need to schedule weekly trips to the community centre or build houses for the homeless every weekend (unless you want to, of course). Building a culture of giving is simpler than that. Praising kids when they share nicely with their siblings, encouraging them to make birthday cards for their friends, picking up trash as a family when you're at the park or playground, visiting an animal shelter to give the ownerless cats and dogs some hands-on love. "Just smiling at someone is a charitable act," says Sabin. "If we offer good experiences, if we say to kids, 'How cool is it that you can do this,' it becomes addictive." -3-- 4 - 4 —3- 405 Michelan Chereville Jeongja-dong Bundang-gu Seongnam-si Gyeonggi-do South Korea | (+82 31) 782 1004 | www.etonhouse.co.kr | www.etonhouseprep.com 204 Hyperion Building Bansong-dong Hwaseong-si Gyeonggi-do South Korea | (+82 31) 613 9963 | www.etonhouse.co.kr | www.etonhouseprep.com 68-3 Hannam-dong Yongsan-gu Seoul-si South Korea | (+82 2) 749 8011 | www.etonhouseprep.com| www.etonhouse.co.kr Vision EtonHouse is committed to the pursuit of excellence and leadership in educational services and practice
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