For those interested in viewing the short film we've been enjoying about the people living on the steppes of Mognolia.

It's difficult to express just how fulfilling our days are here at kindy - for both the children and staff. We get to witness so many triumphs, both large and small, on a daily basis. That moment when an idea is connected with understanding. Or when empathy is evidenced in a relationship. When unlikely new friendships are formed, or we watch how relationships grow deeper and children become woven more tightly together. And once you have witnessed the miracle that is the learning and discovery that happens daily, and evidenced the growing confidence, competence and self-esteem unfolding in a four year old, nothing in life will ever be viewed in quite the same way again. We are truly blessed to be able to work with families and guide our little charges each and every day! In our day today, we watched as the girls and boys each found their own inner strength and outer physical skill to ascend the ladder and find their way to the fork in the tree. We could see them clearly thinking about how to manage risk safely when, prior to the actual climbing, we discussed safety measures. They competently organized turn taking and were quick to adopt the fair ethic of only having a turn at climbing after you had held the ladder steady for others. We marveled at the co-operation, and design and engineering talents that were used to construct a very detailed "hide out" from blocks. We danced to the beats being made by our drummers. We laughed and laughed at Edwina the Emu (and discovered that emus have GREEN eggs). We watched as Pickles the Parrot made yet another mess with his food - and were touched to see the children picking up the discarded bits and pieces of fruit and veggies and either hand feed them to Pickles or place them back into his feeding bowl. We were able to encourage a deeper understanding of the diverse ways that people live all over the world - especially those in Mongolia. (We've been watching a short, beautifully made film that has no dialogue, so over the course of several days, we've gone back to the beginning and, as a group, worked out what was happening (training eagles to hunt the herd predators that threaten the livestock). We discovered the different sorts of livestock - camels, sheep, horses and yaks with very shaggy hair. Some children noticed the clothing of the people was made from the skins of the animals. Others noticed the bright and colourful interior of the yurts and we discussed the dual purpose of the couches/ beds, the handle-less tea cups and the source of the food that the people were eating. The Teacher's version of the Serenity Prayer seems particularly appropriate today - "God grant me The Serenity to appreciate the unique gifts of each child. The Courage to challenge them to always do their best. And the Wisdom to help them to become all that you created them to be."

How exciting does this look? For those of us privileged to see the unfolding of this adventurous play, it was a wonderful example of how competent, capable and confident our children are becoming. It all began with a problem - the rope swing became tangled in the tree trunk and how to get it down became a quest for a couple of children. They tried a few ideas out -jumping to try and reach it, throwing things to dislodge the rope, pulling on other parts of the branch and even putting long sticks to work. However, the rope remained stuck. Then Mr. D remembered that we have a supply of rope in the shed. He quickly armed himself and set about finding a way to use the rope to scale the trunk and, just maybe, from there, he could get the swing down. He had such fun testing his skills and becoming more and more confident with each try that the goal of freeing the swing was soon forgotten in the joy of his new accomplishment. It did not take long before those who had collaborated and helped him wanted a turn. To see and hear how the entire group exchanged suggestions, gave - and heeded advice, encouraged one another and celebrated successes was a proud moment for the watching staff. What beautiful, caring and empathetic children they are becoming!

PLEASE NOTE: THIS SESSION WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 19th, NOT JULY 20th, AS PREVIOUSLY ADVISED. As some aware, the operating model and hours of operation for our kindergarten service are currently being discussed. QLECS wish to serve the families of Kingaroy in the ways that are most suited to their needs, and are considering options that might work best for families. We hope that you will be able to come along to hear of the options and to have your say regarding your preferences. This invitation is being emailed to current families, and those on the 2018 Waiting List. However, if you know of other families that may not have put their child’s name down yet, but would be likely to be affected should any changes occur, please pass an invitation along to them.

Ever since we did the earthworks for our Yarning Circle and future Bush Tucker Garden, there has been very little rain. However, overnight, we had just enough rainfall to make the mounds of dirt delightfully muddy! Thick and clayey soil clung to shoes and feet and made thick paste coatings on the knees and elbows of clothes today! There were a few children who absolutely gloried in the experience, while others were not at all keen to squish! We discovered that some of the strawberries in our strawberry patch had been well and truly nibbled by ants... so the children thought that Pickles might enjoy what was left. He sure did! Pickles has a very healthy diet, with lots of fresh fruit and veggies (snow peas and green beans are particular favourites). We're keen to encourage the children to help to give him his food each day, so the strawberries were a good start! As strawberries are so delicious right now, we're planing to feature them in our cooking this week too! Miss B brought her wallaby joey back for another visit today. She has certainly grown since we last saw her, and she's become confident outside of her pouch too. What a delightful visitor she was - and the prettiest of eyes, with long, long eyelashes!

Look who has his own perch at kindy now. Yep, Pickles the Alexandrine Parrot is going to come and spend some time with us every day that the amazing Mrs. Barb is here! He was a little reserved today, but we are confident that he will soon become used to the noise and hustle and bustle of our days! Please say Hello to him when you see him - he's very tame and friendly! It's hard to believe that we already find ourselves in the second half of the year. However, that said, we can certainly see huge differences in the children who returned from their break today to those who began with us early last February. Most of the children oozed confidence, had wide smiles and were so eager to re-connect with their friends, re-visit familiar favourite play and songs and stories. We quite deliberately leave our plans for the first week after a break very open to allow the girls and boys to settle back in before we move on to new things. As a result, we read a book about the Creation Story that we had only briefly looked at earlier in the year. We discovered lots and lots of rhyme, some very funny illustrations and that most of the girls and boys were able to confidently predict the words. Called "7 Days of Awesome", it's a great book, and it's fairly certain that we will re-visit it in the next few days! Miss R. was anxious to be able to show her new puppy to her friends this morning. She is the softest, cutest little pug dog, called Frankie. Many of the children thought she should be called "Pig", like the hero of one of our favourite books "Pig the Pug".