Our Treasure Chest and Welcome Risako!

Good morning Friday! The weather looked really fine today and we think that we’re going to have loads of fun activities again at Ohana. We greeted each one of us with bright faces.  Yurika came first again with her mom and Toshiki helped her out to get inside the classroom. Obviously, Yurika was smiling because she adores him so much. Lucy and Risako came too. Lucy was so well-adjusted in Buds class and she even knows where to put her things. With the help of her teachers, she was able to complete the morning task. We welcomed Risako in Buds class today and we feel that she’s very settled with us. She has a very happy personality that she even influenced some of her friends. Taiga was also here too. And he truly liked the toy cars and maps that we prepared on our play area. He even showed his friends and teachers how he parked the cars in the parking lot. Lucy then found the basket full of food.  She offered them to her teachers and she said that she wanted to have a picnic. We put out the picnic mat and started laying all the food toys on the floor. It was so magical how everyone got to participate in this activity.  We really like working and planning things out together. Toshiki and John played a simple song with the ukulele and we all sang merrily with them. In our circle time, we did some finger play activities. We practiced following and imitating directions. We sang “B-I-N-G-O” too. For each letter of the word “BINGO” disappeared, we made a “ssshhh” sound. For example, if B would be taken out of the word, we have to sing “shhhh- I – N – G – O” and so on. It was fun because we were able to complete everything with ease. It was so amusing and all of us had a marvelous time. Then our story for today was all about “Mary the moose found the treasure chest”. Mary was trying to look forEmma because she has been missing for quite a while. So, the only way to find her was to get on the pirate ship and go for an expedition. But we also reminded Mary never to forget putting on her pirate hat and eye patch. Hence, she slowly found the things that she needed. She put on her pirate hat and eye patch and sailed the ship away. It was a long journey but eventually she found the treasure box. She was wondering what was inside because she couldn’t open it. She tried to use the magic word “Open” but it never worked. She tried, “Buds class” and “happy face” but nothing worked at all. And lastly, we all said “Open please” and finally it opened by itself. She took the shining and glittering necklaces. And to her surprise, Emma was there too. She has been waiting for someone to save her. Mary the moose who happens to be her best friend, just rescued her from such peril. Emma said “thank you” and Mary the moose replied, “You’re welcome!” So, we learned this concept of responding to thank you’s. We should always say “You’re welcome” when someone shows their appreciation to us.

Each of us made a treasure chest to take home today. We had some gold coins as well and Lucy was very excited to show her project to her mom. Everyone just got so thrilled in coloring and designing our treasure chest. After our snacks, we went to the balcony upstairs for our pool activity. We surely had a great time dipping in the pool. Toshiki also joined us and we all got so wet. Having him around the classroom gave us more positive outlook on how our day would turn out for us. Thank you Toshiki!

        After such fun pool party, we went back to our classroom and did some quiet time activities. Of course, we made sure that we’re all not making any sound. We kept quiet and started moving our shoulders, putting our hands up and down and so on. Thank you, Nanako for taking care of us and showing us how to be very patient. Kaia, Yuu and Rei were actually showing signs of happiness but somehow they got tired of the pool activity because there was so much energy going around. Thank you so much Ohana for the wonderful day and see you all again next week. Have a great weekend.

Lots of love,

John, Nanako and Toshiki