Summer Slam 2019 - Week 3 - Day 4

Hello Parents, Good evening and welcome to day 4 of our final week of Summer Slam 2019!  The logistics for the field trip to Playuem is as follows: We board the bus from school at 9.15 am Estimated Time of arrival is at 9: 45 am Snack at 11: 15 am at Playeum Leaving Playuem at 11:45 am Arriving at school at 12:15 pm Lunch at 12:30 pm The Location: Playuem Children’s Centre for Creativity  BLOCK 47 MALAN ROAD #01-23 GILLMAN BARRACKS SINGAPORE 109444 Please call (63450087) or WhatsApp +6596444501 if you have questions about the trip. The day'activities are in the video clip above and also, in the following articles in this publication. Thank you for reading and we shall be back with more, tomorrow, with our final update! Bye for now, Team SS'19 @ Broadrick Cookery: We started the day by decorating our 'birthday' cakes!  They turned out great! We used colourful sprinkles and gummy bears to decorate our cakes. The pictures say it all. Don't you think that the children did a fantastic job? Craft with a sense of 'giving'! It was all about the birthday celebrations in school as the children got involved in wrapping presents and making birthday cards for the two birthday celebrants, Geethan (today) and Aunty May (tomorrow)!  Please have a look at what we came up with!  It was adorable and we are pretty sure that the recipients would be touched and feel loved. Entertainment: We were quite busy adding 'over the top' (just as Cher likes doing things!) final touches to the (Cher) wigs. This flamboyant singer has gotten through to us no doubt - her imagination, creativity and simply outrageous projection and to top that, her catchy and enjoyable music. Would you agree that we got the 'look', spot-on? Lunch: Lunch-time goss was about birthday celebrations, the upcoming field trip blah and more of it! Ha ha! Movie Time:  The Sound of Music, starring the inimitable, fabulous, divinely charming Julie Andrews, was presented to the children and much to our delight, most of our little friends had heard of this timeless musical and movie as well as the actress. Generally, an enjoyable time spent on the appreciation of a movie. Sport - Volleyball: Ah...the practice match went well.  We had to use an improvised net as the net used, had to 'catch some air' but we managed! Quite well actually. So it's finals -1 and tomorrow shall see us on the 'court' commentary and all! Then, it's going to be wet and wild with you 'water play' party to celebrate the last day of Summer Slam 2019! Cheering squads are welcome on the sidelines as long as you cheer for both sides! Dancercise with Uncle Suhairi:  The studio transformed into 'Cher's' of little sizes!  Cher and more of Cher, as the children donned the colourful wigs and had a blast with Uncle Suhairi doing a dancercise session! But wait, as it as our final dance session for Summer Slam 2019, it did not stop there. We had requests for all the dancercise numbers played in the earlier weeks we ended up doing a flashback too! Great fun and good exercise. Wild 'n wet party! To celebrate the end of the Summer Slam '19 we will be having some water play and fun in the garden. Please note the following: Please include, within your child's bag: Sunscreen (we have some at school and Banana Boat Kiddies 50+. We will be happy to apply the sunscreen that we have, on your child's face and body unless you do not want us to. A swimsuit  (preferably a rash guard and swim shorts or a full suit) A complete change of clothes and a towel, in a zip lock bag (for the wet clothes and towel). Please call or WhatsApp +65 9644 4501 us in the morning and let Aunty May know about your request. Staying out of the sun and/or away from the water are also options that are necessary due to health reasons. Again, please let us know your requests, no later than Friday the 2nd of August, before noon.  Thank you!

2019 Summer Slam - Week 3 - Day 3

Hello Parents, A good evening to you. It is always a pleasure to see happy and eager faces in the morning and it is never a dull moment. We are periodically asked "What are learning today?",  "Are we cooking anything new, Ms Suanne?", and, of course, our response is - "Every day is a surprise, just you wait for it!" We are pleased to share with you all the activities that kept us busy through the day!  Team SS'19 @ Broadrick Cookery: Today, our cookery project was baking cakes!  We have two members of staff that are celebrating their birthdays and it is usually a tradition at SS to celebrate their birthdays as they always fall in the month of August. So, we are baking cakes for our friend Geethan, an alumnus, who is always around to give us a helping hand and also, for Aunty May!  So we really are doing this 'hands-on' and as you may imagine, gearing up for the celebrations!  We are fast becoming pros at measuring the ingredients, mixing, kneading and even decorating confectionaries. Pictures of the process and end-products are assured. Gymnastics:  Coach Annie had planned a surprise for us this morning, she used the 'parachute' to do a warm-up exercise and then re-used it as a tunnel to conduct the planned exercises.  Then it was hoops to cross over to the 'river stone'.  Wow! that was imaginative and loads of fun!  We continued to work on our cartwheels and we are getting to see Coach Annie beam more, at our progress! Experiment: Balloon 'Hovercraft' Today we made a balloon-powered toy using common household materials and it was a ton of fun to send it zooming around! We had so much fun moving the hovercraft across a long table. A light push sends it gliding along, almost in a straight path. And, the balloon had enough air in it for more than a few pushes. We kept blowing the balloon up for more and more trips! This activity was a great way for children to learn about the force of friction and its relation to power/velocity.  As long as the balloon is still filled with air, the hovercraft glides across a smooth tabletop. But as soon as the air runs out, and the power drops, the 'boat' slows down, and eventually comes to a stop. Material needed: An old CD, bottle cap, balloon and glue. Inventors: We are continuing to work on our boats as they do need some touch-ups. They are still at the 'paint-shop' and with some adding on a few parts and glueing some too.  Snack: Today, for snacks, we made our own 'Sweet Potato Breakfast Cups'.  Sweet potato is featured quite a bit in South American cuisine.  So we decided to go ahead to use the humble sweet potatoes and convert it into a delicious snack!  Here's how we made it: Step 1: Peel the Sweet Potato Step 2: Slice the Sweet potato Step 3: Arrange it on to your muffin tray in the shape of a bowl Step 4: Add the beaten-up egg and your vegetables Step 5: for the topping sprinkle cheese Step 6: off into the Oven And we waited for it to be baked and gobbled it all up! Coding: We continued to work on 'Scratch Jr (R)'. The children are really getting good at this and it is nice to see them having fun while learning something, at the same time. We have posted a few video clips of the work that was accomplished throughout the coding sessions. We hope you like it as much as we did, creating them. Sport - Volleyball: We learnt a few more skills and were introduced to the game on how it is played. We also played a practise game. Uncles Dennis and Sathish want us all prepared for the game on Friday!  Geography:  Today, we added more pictures to our project by drawing pictures of trees and flowers found around Singapore.

Summer Slam 2019 - Week 3 - Day 2

Hello Parents, A good evening to you all. There has been quite a buzz about plans for Friday!  Wonder why? Please take note of the field trip planned for the 2nd of August from 9.15 am - 12.15 pm. We shall be back at school for lunch. The logistics for the outing will be sent out to you, later.  Please be reminded to attend to the consent forms that were sent to you in yesterday’s post. Thank you and we shall be back with more, tomorrow! Please see the activities done today in the video above and posts below. Bye for now, Team SS'19 @ Broadrick Brainstorming with Maitri: Teddy Bears'! Making them! Yes, we are - using soft, manageable material. The children loved the activity and were quite absorbed in the process. This project is in line with the upcoming field trip. The idea behind making a 'teddy bear' is to accessorise it using recycled materials, at Playuem (when we visit on Friday). Inventors: So, we have started building our boat! We had to follow instructions and it was fun alright!  The children were thrilled to see the end product. Now for the paint job and voila! we have a beautiful toy boat. Will it sail? Where will it sail to? As time unfolds, we shall keep you informed. Sport - Volleyball: The girls and boys are latching on to the essential skills and making a game plan. The skill level has been appreciating in just 2 days and we are sure to see a thrilling practise match and then, of course, the finals. Our Finals are to be held on Friday, 2nd August followed by a party in the afternoon.  We are inviting volunteers to commentate on the game. Anyone? Entertainment:  We took a particular liking to a 'Cher' song the 'Shoop shoop song' as it played had us dancing to it too! The girls, in particular, are a 'head over heels' with Cher! They love her moves her style and we even heard them commenting on her unique voice! Some even went as far s to say; "we want long hair like Cher! " The boys are not saying much right now! Hmmm... Snack and Lunch : Today our special snack for the day was 'goldfish' and the 'rainbow-coloured fish' This came as a nice surprise to our little ones and they enjoyed it very much! Lunch Time:  Happy Lunchtime with friends followed by a game of charades couldn’t have been more fun! Geography:  Going with our home country, we looked at its attractions, special features and uniqueness in comparison to larger countries, to work on our project. With all the information given by our little ones, we were able to start putting the design together. We can't say much as that would be a spoiler alert.   Dance with Uncle Suhairi: Explosive Suhairi and his boundless energy saw us into 'Zumba' to music by who else but the diva, 'Cher'! ' Strong enough' and 'Do you believe', were the catchy tunes that had us on the floor!.

Summer Slam 2019 - Week 3 - Day 1

Hello Parents, Good evening and welcome to our final week of Summer Slam 2019!  We hope that you had a decent day, regardless of what you did Gymnastics:  Coach Annie started off the week, with our younger friends doing warm-up drills before they worked on the forward roll, the L shaped handstand and the baby cartwheel.  The more experienced children who had attended sessions, performed the baby cartwheel, cartwheels and the kick-handstand. Please see the video for more.  Cookery: Our focus on cookery moved from Asia to North America over the past two weeks and this week, we are taking a culinary trip to South America. So it was Brazil that we picked and the children made and enjoyed Brazilian cheese croquettes completely from scratch. Now, this was no easy task. Here’s how it was done, and yum: Step 1- we first got our hands messy making the dough Step 2 - kneading what we made, we cut out circles of the dough Step 3-  we stuffed the circles with mozzarella cheese Step 4 - tucked in the edges and sealed the croquette well so the cheese wouldn’t run away! Step 5 - dipped the croquettes in a beaten egg mix Step 6 - coated the egg coated croquettes with bread crumbs Step 7 - (adult work) we fried the croquettes until golden brown Step 8 - said 'Yum' and tucked into this delicious snack! Photos say the rest! Brazilian Chicken Croquettes (Coxinha) Lunch: Children were shown to set the table and then we sang grace and relished the meal. It was sweet to see children bobbing their heads to the music playing in the background as they ate. Experiment: 'spy stuff'! Today we wrote secret messages to our friends using ‘invisible ink’. Oh, it was thrilling and chilling as the letters became visible. This is how it was done ... 'Invisible Ink the Baking Soda Way': 1. Mix about 1/4 cup (60 ml) of baking soda and 1/4 cup (60 ml) of water 2. Using a Q-tip, toothpick or brush the solution on a piece of paper with desired writing 3. Let dry completely To read the secret message, apply grape juice concentrate across the paper with a paintbrush or a sponge. Don't forget - grape juice stains Inventors: So we spoke about the Helicopter, the electric fan and this week we are talking about the ‘boat’. We spoke about 'what is a boat?', 'the types of boats', 'why they are essential to us' and 'who invented the first motorboat'. We have a related craft planned that the children will bring home. Craft: We got our hands dirty today by using a mud/clay-like texture to do our artwork. Wow they turned out really well, have a look the pictures tell you how they all turned out. Entertainment: This week it's all about Cher. This flamboyant artist who has been performing for over 50 years, we thought, would fit well with Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. We are wondering how the boys will be part of the music haha Cher is an American singer and actress, who got started off with her partner, Sonny, in the act called Sonny and Cher in the 1960s. She has since amassed international fame with an array of Top 10 hits and screen roles, even winning an Oscar. The children were eager to find out about who they were. They were impressed with Cher's signature hairstyles (well wigs too!).  The girls, especially liked how she dressed up and thought she was very fashionable! More of Cher as we go along and 'Turn back time'! Sport - Volleyball: The Uncles, Dennis and Sathish are back, introducing, Volleyball. We began with the history of this popular game and discussed the rules. FYI, there are 6 Basic Skills in Volleyball - passing, setting, spiking, blocking, digging, and serving. Passing is often thought of as the essential skill in volleyball. Details of the 'finals' will be announced soon! Geography:  The focus this week will be on Singapore and how it looks like from our perspective. First, we brainstormed and worked on a mind map - what we can find in Singapore that helps us in our day to day lives. More as we go along. We have a project planned … you'll have to wait and see!