Today we went on a trip to Wat kra Tum as part of our learning all about Buddhism in Thailand.
The children really enjoyed the trip on a minibus to the Thai temple. Angus said "It was fun going on the mini bus to the temple."
We took our snack which we ate first at the temple. Then we took part in a several activities at the Temple including:
As our learning theme for this half term is Amazing Thailand we have learning about what it means to be a Buddhist. Today we were visited by 18 Monks and were able to offer alms to the monks. We gave dried food, tinned food , rice and some fresh food and flowers to the monks. The children had learned the correct way to offer food to the monks and were very respectful in their offering of alms.
We have also been learning the five precepts that Buddhists live by. In the creative area we have drawn pictures of typical Thai fruits using pastels.
The children from 1L, 1E, 1J and 1G had a fantastic morning visiting the outdoor classroom. this area is located at the side of the school playing fields and is an area that is totally wild with a large pond, lots of trees and tall grass. We set up a rotation of six exciting activities for the children in order for them to explore some of the hidden wildlife in that area. Activities included pond dipping, digging in the earth, swishing large nets in the long grass and reeds, leaf rubbing,hiking out on a trail around the pond and using i pads and cameras to capture close up shots of plants animals in the area. The children had an exciting time and discovered lots of interesting wildlife including water nymphs, snails, fish, tadpoles, spiders, worms , frogs , toads, grasshoppers, dragonflies, bees, centipedes ants ladybirds and lizards. We are now going to compare this very wild habitat with an area in Soi la salle and also our school grounds.Ask your child to tell you about some of the mini beasts they may have seen.
This week we have made a great start on finding our more about Amazing Thailand. We have identified Thailand on a map and looked at the countries which surround it. We have started to research aspects of life in Thailand and write facts in our information texts. In addition we have started to look at Buddhism and what it means to be Buddhist.
We were visited by a Monk and the children wrote some interesting questions they wished to ask the monk about his life as a monk and his daily routine. We even had a time of meditation with the monk and also tried chanting just as the monks would do.