Come Saturday and it was the second meeting of The Book Club. Since our last story was about a dragon we kicked off with a craft activity – making a dragon out of paper cups. It was fun if a little chaotic, but the kids seem to thrive on the confusion.
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| Hard at work |
This is what they looked like.. Not very ‘scary dragonish’ but dragons nonetheless. As one of the kids put it, ‘It doesn’t need to look scary since the dragon of our story was a nice one.’ Which was of course undebatable!
I have to add that N behaved perfectly while H was as much trouble as possible. Twice I turned him out and twice I took him back in.
Story of the week
The story for the day was The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. The older kids were thrilled because apparently they were doing it in school too. Like last time, they were all eager to read, which is suprising since I thought that would be too much like school and they wouldn’t like it. Rather than an exercise in reading it turned out to be an exercise in patience as they waited for their turn.
Over chips and biscuits we dealt with some interesting words. We took turns trying to talk in a ‘gruff’ voice like a giant. We discussed the difference between frost and snow. The kids wanted to know what hail was too. One of the girls wondered what a peach looked like and because we happened to have one it was seen and duly appreciated. The demand for more chips was firmly declined because often mouths were found to be too full to read!
Then we stumbled upon some similes and metaphors and so we talked about them. Here’s how the kids figured out the difference.
Simile: H is as naughty as a monkey.
Metaphor: H is a monkey.
So his naughtiness wasn’t in vain after all!
We had barely done half the story and it was way past our stipulated time of one hour so it was a wrap.
For next week..
Activity on The Selfish Giant
I’m at a bit of a loss on this. I thought we could maybe…
1. Make a ‘perfect garden’ diorama together. However, it’s the ‘together’ that might pose problems unless I plan and allocate tasks.
2. Or maybe they could make their own gardens out of playdough but that would involve arranging for boxes. I definitely do not want to pressure the mums at home.
3. Or we could do something on winter fruits and flowers.
What do you think? Which one should I go with? Do drop a line if you can think of anything else to do with giants, winter, selfishness, gardens. I’m hoping I can figure something out till the next meeting.
The story for next week
…is almost decided – The Happy Prince. Another one from Oscar Wilde. Maybe I can tell them a bit about the author too then. Or, if Amazon obliges, I’ll take up We the Children of India by Leila Seth. This one is suggested by my sister. Thank you S.
Huge thanks to all of you too for your suggestions from last week. I’m already on the lookout for a story that can be acted out like Cathy suggested. Uma, special thanks to you. Pratham books has some great titles as well as Art Tales. Sangeetha those quizzes are a great idea but I’m keeping them for later. For a month at least the focus is completely on having fun. Taking baby steps.
Very Nice Article on Preschool activities for kids
kinderdance India has also some really nice activities too.
you can visit the below website for more details.
http://www.kinderdanceindia.com
Get in touch with us for more details
Mrs Kirthana Ramarapu
Mob. + 91 98809 36612
E-mail: info@KinderdanceIndia.com
website:www.kinderdanceindia.com
Can I come join your classes 🙂 🙂
Oh Bhavya what I would give to a wonderful person like you here.
Wow! That's a great start!! A fantabulous initiative, Tulika! I am sure other parents must be all praise for you and thankful too! 🙂
It's just two sessions Shilpa. I don't think I've made much of a difference just yet.
The kids are lucky to have such a dedicated and talented teacher cum friend to help them read and grow. I would love to be a part of the activities at your end.
Thanks Sulekha, I think any of us can do this. It's on a very very micro level.
I love that story by Wilde!! Children can learn a lot!
I love it too Michelle.
I myself am excited reading about all the activities, I am pretty sure the children must be crazy about it 😀 The dragon is so cute not at all fiery 😀
Lol… That's the easiest dragon I could find.
This is beautiful as an initiative…..I'm sure the kids enjoy this as much as they enjoy playing…Sounds fun. I wish I could be a kid too 🙂
I sure hope so, but I can never tell with children. Only time will tell.
I love hearing about your book club and all the fun things you're doing, Tulika! You're making a difference and that's so wonderful! Looks like everyone is having a great time. Good for you!
http://cattitudeandgratitude.blogspot.ca/2014/08/its-time-to-slow-down.html
Thanks Cathy. I am enjoying sharing it with you guys.
Aweee… looks like a fun clud. Kuddos Tulika for what you're doing! 🙂
Thanks Sheetal.
This is great going. Just as a clarification though, cannot take credit for the Leila Seth suggestion, it rightly belongs to a dear friend, Sumita and her book club at Lucknow. Wonderful to know of the two successful sessions. Keeping fingers crossed that the interest continues. All the best!
This time when I'm there I hope to attend one of her sessions for sure.
Wow I'm amazed at what you are doing Tulika… I don't think many of us can do that and that too with interest… Would love to hear about the session next week 🙂
Oh you'll hear about it for sure Naba. I'm not giving it up in a hurry.
This is spectacular work, Tulika! I'm amazed at the efforts you've put in! I doubt I would have the same patience week after week ; ) Good luck with the activity. That simile -metaphor analogy was really cute 🙂
Actually I'm trying to keep the effort to a minimum or else I won't be able to sustain it. The meetings are fun, it's the other stuff that takes effort.
oooh i like that craft, love that long dragon.. with breathing fire .. wowow
and learning something out of all the play is like icing on the cake 🙂
Bikram's
Thanks Bikram.
Hey, this is so cool. I love the efforts you are putting into this activity and it shows on the way the kids have lapped it up enthusiastically. I'm glad you found the links useful. Once again, kudos and good luck!
Thanks Uma, I need the luck.