Joey's New Year
As the new year has come, the Joey class enjoyed playing New Year games.
We made a mouse kite and tried to fly it.
We ran a lot in the gym and enjoyed seeing our kites fly!
Kitten Class' Fire Station Visit
“What do you want to be in the future?” “I want to be a florist!” “I want to be a doctor,” “I want to be a construction worker,” “I want to be a teacher.” “Wow, like us?”
Kitten students are learning about community helpers in this month. When we asked our students about their future dreams, none of them mentioned becoming a firefighter. Not even close….. but right after we visited a fire station to learn about firefighter’s jobs, they changed their minds! The students were so excited to try on firefighter uniforms, get on the fire engines, hold the long hoses, and put on their masks. In the beginning, students looked a little shy to ask firefighters questions, but they couldn’t stop asking questions in the end because all the equipment looked cool and stimulated their curiosity! Now, all our students are attracted to be a firefighter and declared themselves to be one in the future! Thank you, firefighters, for helping us to learn more about being a firefighter! It made our learning experience more special!
Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks!
This past Monday, we celebrated Thanksgiving at YGK! Puppy, Kitten, and Cub class all gathered together to discuss what the Thanksgiving Holiday is all about! We read a book about the very first Thanksgiving and another about what it means to be thankful. The children really enjoyed both books. Then, we all discussed different things that we are thankful for in our lives! For example, some of the children said they were thankful for hugs from mom, our earth, playing with daddy, etc. It was very sweet! We are happy we were able to enjoy and celebrate Thanksgiving together!
November 20th is World Children's Day.
November 20th is World Children's Day!
Our Cub class watched a video about it and learned about what rights they have as children.
We believe that it is important for the children to know that they also have their own rights!
Click below for further details.
Yokohama YMCA International Charity Run
Last Saturday was the 22nd Yokohama YMCA International Charity Run.
This is a charity event held once a year to support the handicapped children.
The participants make a group of five and pass the baton to the goal.
This year, 3 groups of YGK children could participate in this annual event with the help of many people.
We really appreciate that we are given this chance to consider and act for others.
Cub Class' Winter Art
Winter is just around the corner, and Cubs are longing for the beauty of snow, we made snowflakes using origami paper! Cubs had fun folding the paper and tried to cut and trim the paper to create amazing snowflakes. They were surprised on how unique each snowflake looked and loved the details of the snowflakes once they opened the folded paper. It was a great Art time and we will use these pretty snowflakes for our December calendar!
Autumn Walk
Now autumn is here. Some puppies have been enjoying filling small bags with acorns and watching the trees change color. We made a special bag for leaves, so everyone could enjoy our autumn walk.
We had story time first
Then we went for a walk.
We found trees with big leaves ,
trees without leaves like the book we read,
red leaves, yellow leaves and stinky fruits.
We enjoyed walking through our neighborhood.
Kitten Class' Library Visit
Kitten students are learning about Community Helpers this month. As the start, we discussed who help our community and spent some time walking around the YMCA. We found some community helpers, such as police officers, construction workers, food vendors, and so on. We also checked inside of the YMCA and introduced them to our library on the 8th floor. Unlike public libraries, there was no librarian, but students were very happy to find a bunch of books there! Our students love reading books, so we spent our afternoon enjoying reading.
Joey's Sumo Tournament
YGK Joey class had a paper sumo tournament.
After the Joey children designed and drew their own chestnut wrestler, the tournament started!
They understood the rules, such as, the one passed the line or fell down first is the loser.
Those who lost still enjoyed cheering friends.
It was so fun!
November is the child abuse prevention month.
November is the child abuse prevention month.
Teachers of YMCA Global Kindergarten are also wearing an orange ribbon to show support to this movement.
The Kitten class teachers talked about the meaning of the orange ribbon in the class.
At first, the teachers asked the children if they knew anything about the orange ribbon. Having no clue, most of the children just shook their head. Still, some children said, “I wear a pink ribbon on my hair today,” or “I heard that a pink ribbon stands for cancer prevention.” Coming up with such ideas, we were surprised how wide knowledge they have. The Kitten students are always willing to share their opinions with confidence just like this. The teachers asked how they were feeling at that moment. “I liked it today because we had music class!”, “I’m happy!”, “I enjoyed the fire fighter pretend play!”, “My lunch was yummy!”, “I am happy because I played a lot with friends!”, most of them were happy. So, they started talking about who made them happy. They thought and said, “because teachers teach us lessons”, “because my mom and dad take me to school”, “maybe because we have friends”. The teachers explained that there were children who couldn’t go to school, suffered or even died from hunger because their parents didn’t cook for them or they underwent domestic violence.
At the end, they talked that each one of them was important and to be protected, and that they were really lucky because they were loved and protected by their parents. After the talk, they brought up their own ideas, such as “why don’t we wear a blue ribbon?” As some children said they wanted an orange ribbon, they made their own orange ribbons and put them on their bags.
We pray for the happiness for every child on the earth.
