Blossom Edugroup » Blossom Discovery

Blossom’s Year End Staff Workshop

bec — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:05:58 +0000

Identifying good and bad rubrics

The main focus of Blossom’s second staff workshop of the year was to review the assessment rubrics being used in the children’s progress reports found in our e-profiling. The preparatory work began a couple of months prior to the workshop with the training for subject coordinators and the review of the entire set of rubrics for each subject for all the levels from Playgroup to Kindergarten 2. On the day of the workshop, following a brief training, detailed discussions were held with the teachers from the different centres teaching each of the subjects, during which necessary amendments to the rubrics were decided. These changes will be incorporated into the assessment rubrics for the next year.

At Blossom, we constantly review and update our curriculum. The second half of the staff workshop was set aside for reviewing the curriculum in 2011. The teachers are given two curriculum review forms for the subjects under their purview, one in the first half of the year before the subject meetings and the other during the second half of the year before the staff workshop. The teachers will reflect on what they have taught and highlight any problems or issues with the syllabus and suggest possible solutions or amendments to be made to the curriculum.

: Identifying good and bad rubrics

Subject meetings are also held to gather all of the teachers’ feedback. During the workshop, the teachers and the subject co-ordinators reviewed the curriculum for the whole year, while incorporating the amendments suggested in the two curriculum review forms as well as the subject meetings. With this, the curriculum for the following new year is finalised.

Blossom Discovery’s Relocation to Lorong Chuan

bdc — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 03:00:38 +0000

A make-over for Blossom Discovery @ Lorong Chuan!

In July 2011, Blossom Discovery relocated from its old premise at Chartwell Drive to Lorong Chuan. The new premise underwent extensive renovation with the aim of becoming the model setup for Blossom’s group of childcare centres.

Apart from a new coat of paint for the interior and exterior, extra fittings such as fans, lights and furnishings were added to give the school a brand new look. Existing fire safety installations were also upgraded to meet the latest fire safety regulations. To increase the overall capacity of the centre, extension of the basement was carried out too.

Have a look at our bigger outdoor space!

The relocation to Lorong Chuan has enabled Blossom Discovery to grow not just in size but in numbers too! The centre is now licenced to accommodate a full capacity of 52 children up from 44 children! Our children have settled in very well and have gone on to make many new friends and interact with new staff and teachers. The new premise has also brought much joy to our children as Blossom Discovery now boasts a bigger outdoor play space with more playground equipment, complete with a mini garden too!

The new Blossom Discovery has certainly opened up more opportunities for Blossom Edugroup to grow. Through this relocation, it has enabled us to reach out more to the public and provide evidence of our effort to continually seek to improve and upgrade ourselves. We aim and truly hope to remain the preferred choice for quality childcare and preschool education!

Occupations: Blossom Discovery’s Cook and Cleaner Play Special Roles

bdc — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:59:02 +0000

Aunty Goh (left) demonstrates how to crack and beat an egg.

Aunty Goh shows the children how to cook the perfect scrambled egg!

Term 3 has ended and the school holidays are here again! In September, Blossom Discovery Center to the holiday theme ‘Occupations’. First up, we were introduced to the occupations found in our very own school eg: teacher, cleaner and cook

To be introduced to the jobscope of our school’s cook and cleaner, the children had the opportunity to watch the aunties go about their daily routines (ie. preparing meals for the day, and cleaning the school.) For a cooking demo, the children from Playgroup, Nursery 1 and Nursery 2 witnessed the aunties in action as they demonstrated the art of frying a perfect scrambled egg, followed by a step-by-step demonstration of cooking a wok full of mouth-watering fried rice!

: Aunty Helen demonstrates the proper way of cleaning a table before getting the Kindergarten children to take turns trying out various cleaning activities.

For the older children, they were introduced to a cleaner’s jobscope! For this, Aunty Helen was roped in on the action as we got her to explain to the children the importance of being responsible and learning to play a part in keeping the school clean. Aunty Helen demonstrated various cleaning tasks as she explained the importance of maintaing a clean and hygienic environment for us all! Preschoolers will learn responsible habits more easily if they are given a set routine early on and understand that chores a part of everyday life. You’ll be amazed by how much pride and self-reliance preschoolers gain from undertaking simple daily chores.

A BIG THANK YOU to Aunty Helen and Aunty Goh as they took time out to introduce their daily responsibilities. The children had the golden opportunity to learn to appreciate all the hard work and efforts the aunties put in on a daily basis to ensure the smooth running of our school. Great job, Aunties! You’ve been excellent teachers for the day and role-models for our children!

Outdoor Fun with Nature

bdc — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 04:09:02 +0000

Rachael braves herself when called upon to place the plantlet on top of the culture board at the nursery greenhouse.

Blossom Discovery was all set to have an adventure on our very own home grown hydroponics farm and butterfly lodge at Oh Chin Huat Hydroponics Farm located at Yishun. The clear blue sky that morning brightened up each of our spirits as we journeyed towards the farm. We started the day at the ‘Harvesting Centre’ where a farm guide led us to the trimming, weighting and packing of the fully grown vegetables before delivery to the supermarkets.

The children and teachers learnt that the farm grows six types of vegetables including Kangkong, Chye Sim and Xiao BaiChai as well as 10 different types of herbs such as Italian basil, mint, Italian parsley, thyme and Stevia. The best part of the farm tour was a visit to the Cold Room (4 to 8 degree Celcius) which resembles a walk-in giant refrigerator. he farm. Here, the farm produces are stored to keep them hydrated so that the vegetables stay fresh before delivery.

The farm tour ended with an outdoor classroom with a fascinating show and tell session conducted by our affable guide. During the presentation, our children were encouraged to experiment with hydroponics at home using a cut up water bottle and some Kangkong seeds. The session wrapped up with a simple question and answer session. Those who answered the questions well had reasons to smile as they walked away with some healthy-looking potted plants!

"It's freezing! Let's stay together to keep our bodies warm!"

To end the eventful day, the children were introduced to butterflies at the butterfly lodge. Our guide took us through the butterfly’s life cycle, from miniscule eggs deposited on host plants, to the caterpillars’ metamorphism, their pupation and finally their transformation into beautiful butterflies. The children were fascinated at the sight of an Autumn Leaf caterpillar crawling up the leaf of a potted plant whereas some eager enthusiasts stayed closely at it just to catch a better view. A butterfly quiz had the children vying for plant prizes including some butterfly host plants.

"Look at the caterpillar crawling on the leaf!"

All of us, young and old had an exciting and fun-filled time exploring the beautiful butterflies up close and personal. It was truly an interesting place worth visiting and an experiential learning venue for all of us! To top it off, the participants were each given two packets of leafy Kangkong home accompanied with a folder of activity worksheets for the children to attempt the quizzes to reinforce what they’ve learnt at the farm back at their own homes!

Parents’ Education Workshop: ‘Playtime! An Interactive Workhop on Good Manners’

be — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:42:15 +0000

Actions really do speak louder than words and parental role modeling helps teach children to be caring and kind. In fact, parents have the power to nurture, guide, show and instill kindness, responsibility and gentleness. Young children do not automatically use manners. Like apologizing and sharing, learning to use manners is part of a child’s social development and is best learnt through modelling and coaching, not by force. When children are polite, kind and honest, they develop character and also make their parents look good!

Good manners are important skills children should develop when they are young. After all, manners are beneficial for the rest of their lives. For children to be successful in life, they need to have social skills as well as academic skills. And if parents help young children learn polite and caring behavior, they will continue to use good manners and become more socially aware as they get older. Children become what they absorb around them. Be what you want them to become, and treat them the way you wish them to learn to be with others.

As such, Blossom organised an interactive ‘Playtime’ workshop on ‘Good Manners’ to help parents learn to educate their child with this ‘lifelong survival skill’ and learn tips on how to make learning manners fun! The workshop was conducted on the morning of 23 July 2011 (Sat) at Blossom Creative Centre (Bedok branch). The trainer, Ms Rosalind Yeow, is a trained facilitator for Parenting with Confidence and Playtime programs. She is passionate about proactive parenting and encouraging families to set a good foundation especially while their children are young.

All participants, young and old had loads of fun as Ms Yeow offered great advice for our parents and engaged the children in a myraid of fun activities to promote good manners among them. Besides having fun, she also gave parents some tips on how to instil good manners in their children. During the workshop, we learnt that teaching young kids manners is an on-going process. Try to be patient, and keep our expectations in line with what our child is capable of achieving at his/her age. Our time and patience will be rewarded every time he/she says “please” and “thank you”. The session ended with parents taking home valuable knowledge and tips for practising good manners with their children.

Every child is capable of age-appropriate manners. We cannot expect young children to be perfectly well-behaved all the time but we can get them in the habit of practising polite behavior early on. Children become what they absorb around them. Be what you want them to become and treat them the way you wish them to learn to be with others.

Learning to Count and Recognise Basic Shapes in Nursery 1

bdc — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:56:29 +0000

Let's count 1, 2, 3!

Counting and recognition of numbers are basic Mathematics skills. As such, children should be encouraged to participate in various types of counting activities in order to pick up these skills successfully.

Here are just some of the many activities you can try at home! Example: Tossing a die and getting your child to count the number of circles that appear at the top of the die.

Another simple idea to introduce rational counting and number recognition is through the use of a picture book. Count the number of pictures seen in the book. To make it more fun, add an action to the activity, for example: If your child counts 3 bears, encourage him to clap his hands at the same time, clapping 3 times while counting aloud. Repeat the process for other numbers and participate in your child’s learning by clapping along with your child.

"Hmmm...what other shapes can I feel and pick out of this 'Mystery Bag'?"

Next up, recognising shapes! Children usually have an innate understanding of basic shapes and once introduced, they are able to recognise them easily.

To introduce shapes in a different yet fun and engaging way, try using a ‘Mystery Bag’! Put some basic shapes inside the bag eg:circles, rectangles, squares and triangles. The child simply needs to reach into the bag and through the feeling of touch, pick out one shape at a time to identify and name it. You can even teach your child to match same shapes and sort sizes!

So you see, with these simple and easy to prepare enjoyable activities, learning Mathematics can be engrossing, delightful and can help your child learn numbers and shapes as easy as 1,2,3!

Learning Together….Laughing Together: Blossom Edugroup’s Annual Staff Workshop

Linn — Thu, 19 May 2011 08:13:43 +0000

Blossom Creative Centre's staff boogied into the judges' hearts with their tambourines, egg shakers and retro moves!

Focusing on improving on our curriculum and the all round development of children is of utmost importance here at Blossom Edugroup. More than that, Blossom also aims to develop camaraderie and good relationships among all its staff spread out across 4 different branches.

It is with this in mind that a staff workshop is conducted for the staff annually, where we come together to share ideas for improvement, get to know each and every staff and work hand in hand to seek continual improvement for all our centres.

Part 1 of the workshop was held at Blossom Educare Centre where the staff maintained a positive atmosphere of continuous learning. Each teacher had the opportunity to share with the rest, one lesson they have carried out in the class including the songs, visual aids, games and learning materials used. After listening, the rest of us took turns to share our comments and give suggestions on great lesson ideas and suggested improvements. Sharing ideas with one another also encourages teachers to try out various teaching methods and learn to be confident in their very own lesson deliveries!

Part 2 of the workshop was fun, fun and more fun! Over the years, we have had a retreat, an ‘Amazing Race’ like competition and a barbecue. This year, the teachers let our hair down and sang our hearts out at a Karaoke session. All the centres prepared a song and dance number which included 1 group performance and 1 solo item by a nominated budding talent! . Each
performance displayed creativity and immense unity among members of the group. Everyone had a blast watching their colleagues shed their usual proper and straight laced images into funky dancing and singing divas!

The highlight of the competition was the individual singing segment where each centre had their representatives strut their stuff. Miss Jin Xue from Blossom Educare and Teacher Susilawati from Blossom Creative Centre were no doubt, the shining stars of the day! The group prize was taken home by the staff of Blossom Creative Centre for their outrageous retro dance steps, led by lead singer, Teacher Susila as she belted out ‘Dancing Queen’ by Abba!

At the end of the day, everybody had loads of fun and totally agreed that it was good for the staff, teachers and the management to take time out to relax, laugh and bond with one another, in order to work cooperatively and get along harmoniously!

学会生活, 使生活更精彩!

bec — Thu, 12 May 2011 05:02:40 +0000

用我的小手将水果串一串。哇，水果真好吃！

生活本身就是大课程，不论是在日常生活中还是在模拟的生活情景中，从小引导孩子学习自己动手做事、动脑思考解决问题、学习与同伴合作、共同分享等等，都是非常重要的，这样慢慢地让他们学习如何独立。我们的生活课程包含：个人自理能力、自理活动、烹饪、小肌肉动作的技能以及品德教育。

烹饪——人们都说嘴巴馋是孩子的天性，我们认为，吃是人的第一需要，吃什么、怎么吃，可就大有学问。这个学问就要让孩子们从小就懂得探寻。我们通过烹饪课程，不但引导幼儿学习涂抹、搅拌、煎、榨、等技能，让幼儿学习自制三明治、水果、蔬菜沙拉、果汁、煎鸡蛋、煎饼等，还使幼儿了解这些食品的营养成分，教育幼儿从小认清绿色食品，吃健康食物。

瞧！我的小手很能干吧！

玩沙、玩水——孩子是非常爱玩沙和水的，因为它们可塑性强，能发挥孩子的创造力。玩水游戏可以让孩子认识水的性能，丰富有关水的知识，获得愉快和满足。玩沙幼儿可以激起幼儿的想象力和创造力，以及解决问题的能力。通过玩沙、玩水，不但可以加深幼儿对沙和水的感性认识，还可以引导幼儿的玩的过程中，练习各种技能，如：摇、舀、等，更好地发展幼儿的小肌肉技能，从而让我们的教育真正体现在轻松玩，快乐学。

品德教育——孩子们在成长过程中，会遇到各种各样的问题，从小树立他们的自信心、在与他人一起时懂得轮流，懂得尊重他人、知道和同伴如何保持积极互动的关系，我们一般通过讲故事，表演故事，模拟日常生活情境等方式引导幼儿学习。生活是一种实践、一种参与，也是一种体验。教育要利用生活，教育要使幼儿学会生活，教育是为了生活得更美好。

食品健康讲座

bdc — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 04:25:27 +0000

小朋友们，要多喝牛奶，身体才会棒！

哦！我知道了，哪些食物要多吃，哪些食物要少吃。

3月16日我们托儿所组织孩子们去参观食物与健康讲座，目的是为了让孩子们了解更多有关健康的食物，知道吃什么食物能促进我们的身体生长，对我们的骨骼有益。

这是老师在向孩子们讲解健康与食物的知识。经过老师的讲解，我们知道多喝牛奶对我们的身体有什么好处；远离那些不健康的食物，会使我们的身体更健康。过后老师提问，大家赶快举手抢答，答对了还可以上台领奖呢！我答对了！太棒了！

这些都是健康的食物，哪些要多吃，哪些要少吃，我要牢牢记住！天气太热了，老师给我们发了一些牛奶和冰激凌，嗯！太好吃了，比妈妈买得香甜多了！可是小朋友们要记住，注意环境卫生，不可以把垃圾丢到地上呦！

通过今天的参观学习，使我懂得了，现在我们正处于长身体的时候，不可以挑食，要多喝牛奶多吃蔬菜，这样会对我们的骨骼有好处，要吃健康营养的食物，这样我们才会长得高高的，壮壮的！

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《瑞兔迎新春》

bdc — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 05:34:35 +0000

表演好精彩啊！

炮竹声声辞旧岁，又是一年新春到。春节的历史很悠久，关于“春节”的起源有一种传说是：有一个叫“年“的怪兽每到特定的一天，就会到人间吞噬牲畜危害人类。

为了驱赶这个怪兽，大家想了很多办法，最后知道这个怪兽最怕红色的东西和炸响。从此每年的除夕，家家户户烛火通明，守更待岁。

这个风俗广泛流传，成为全世界华人们最隆重的传统节日。

新年的食品，好丰富啊！

今天就是迎接新年的前夕，我们在中心里举办了“瑞兔迎新春”的活动。

小朋友们跟着老师一起学包饺子。

在活动中老师给小朋友介绍了新年的来历起源，以及准备了新年的食品，并一起学习节日里要说的吉祥话，例如：“恭喜恭喜，新年快乐”、“兔年吉祥，大吉大利”、“身体健康，万事如意”。并通过图文并茂的图片，介绍在新年里一些传统的节日活动，例如：舞龙、舞狮。

每到除夕的晚上，家家户户贴对联，贴年画，以及贴窗花，燃放爆竹等。最后大家围坐在一起品尝美味的年夜饭，还一起动手包饺子。

新年有新气象，新年有新希望。希望各位家长与我们一起分享新年的喜悦，一起走进充满希望的2011年。

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