May passed rather quickly with the extended holiday celebrating Labour Day. We hope that all our children and families enjoyed a lovely holiday!

Shortly before the May holidays began, marked the beginning of the nursery class in Huamei Kindergarten for children between the ages of 1 ½ - 2 ½ years old.  It has been a fruitful transition for many of the young children, despite being in a new environment with new faces and people entering their lives.  Every day, the children are attentively looked after by a team of experienced teachers from the moment they arrive at the kindergarten until it is time to go home at the end of the day.  During their joyful time at the kindergarten, they have the chance to naturally learn about the world around them through organized and guided play, as well as free time to develop themselves through inquiry and exploration through the environment.

During May, the children all took part in the physical examination.  This consisted of several parts including testing their eyesight, having their blood taken and a comprehensive check of their overall health.  The children were all very brave, with many even eager to show the teachers afterwards where the needle was inserted on their arms and proudly saying they did not cry and were big children now.

In May, the children continued to explore the world through IB inquiry lessons.  For the junior level, the children have explored the unit of inquiry about food, the central idea that food is needed to meet the bodies growth requirements, as well as the variety and origin of food, the role of food, and how to cook food.  IB inquiry activities that the children have carried out this month around the theme have involved inquiry into fruit, vegetables, meat, grains, drinks, healthy vs unhealthy food, and the chance to make their own food, such as milk tea and sandwiches.

In the medium level, the children have explored the unit of inquiry about discoveries and inventions, the central idea that human’s discoveries and inventions have changed the development of eras, learning about various discoveries and inventions, the influence discoveries and inventions have on people.  The children have taken part in a variety of inquiry activities related to the theme, such as land transportation including a commonly used form of transport in Guangzhou, the subway.  Other inquiry activities have included water transportation and making a boat to float in water, exploring forms of communication from the telephone landline to the ubiquitous modern-day smartphone, inventions from China and local culture and making paper art.

As the final unit of inquiry for many of the senior and connection children before they graduate from kindergarten and begin primary school in the fall, the theme is school with the central idea of changes in living environment bring new challenges and responsibilities.  Areas that the children have inquired include our school, the differences between kindergarten and primary school life, challenges and preparations to be made in advance before this new chapter in their life begins.  Inquiry activities have involved the different roles and jobs at our school, describing what the different individuals do at the school and what would happen if they did not exist, making a thank you card for their service to the school, inquiring into the daily routine at kindergarten vs at primary school and comparing the life and schedule in advance of graduation.

As May comes to an end, we look forward to celebrating the Dragonboat Festival and ongoing preparations for our graduating class.  Wish you a nice start to June as the weather continues to stay hot and humid in Guangzhou.

□ Author | Felix Lam