Little SY

05/05/2008 (Monday)

a) A sad news
This morning was a windy one with cloudy sky; as if to respect little SY’s father. Just then, little SY called up. At that moment, I saw Pik Xia’s emotional face turned red with tears. Little SY said, “I can’t come to school today……because my father had passed away.” It must have taken her lots of guts to inform us. Because of her guts and responsible attitude, I decided to share the sad news with her friends. I whispered in my heart, “God…..please guide me through the way, thank you.”

b) Corner Playing and Individual Focus
The kids enjoyed the cloudy weather. They ran around the kindergarten, laughing and feeling exciting. ZY ran 5 rounds and was still asking for more….ha ha ha. However, we went up earlier due to the drizzle. I brought the constructional blocks games for them. They constructed buildings, cars, and guns. Meanwhile, I called the kids individually to paste the words “Plastic, Glass and Paper” onto their hand-made Recycling Bin. They looked for the letters from the newspaper cuttings which they did last Friday.

c) Games and songs
Next, we gathered and formed a circle. We played their favourite game, “How strong are your ears?” This time round, they swapped very fast and more independent. Then, we sang the Hokey Pokey song. They learnt to identify their left hand and left leg. They enjoyed the actions especially when turning their body around.

d) “What I like to do with my mother?”
Next, I drew a picture of my lovely mother which they giggled. Then, I told them about her. I told her that I like helping her to sweep and mop the floor as her knees are not that strong anymore. Then, the kids took turn to share things they do together with their mother. For each kid that stood forward, I drew their cute face. J said he liked baking Apple Pie with his mother. EG said that both his father and himself will cook together with his mother. JN, ZY and M said they like helping her to sweep the floor. Meanwhile, SYu said she likes helping her mother to water the plants. They learned to appreciate their mother.

e) The Life Cycle
After tea break, we gathered. I drew a goldfish which my friend, Jennifer used to have. She named him John. One day, John jumped out from the bowl and died. Then, I asked them to guess how my friend felt. “Sad” was the answer! Then, I told them about SY’s father who had passed away yesterday. They were quite serious and YW said, How can people die. JN said, people die because of old age. YZ said my father died at young age. So, I drew a few pictures and they guessed them. We started with a baby, a toddler, a child who goes to school, a teenager who goes to Secondary school and an youth who starts to work, an adult who gets married and having children and how they old-aged, and an old man. They laughed at the moustache, at the bigger hands and feet and also the hunchbacked body. So, we talked a little bit of how to live longer. We should drink milk, eat healthy food and exercise.
I asked them to think of what we can do for our little sad SY. They said, we can give a present. So I suggested we draw pictures which can make her feel happier. They agreed!
Before drawing, we said a little prayer for little SY. Everyone closed their eyes and said after me despite various religions. “Dear God, Please bless little SY to be stronger. We are sorry to hear about her father. Please guide her father to heaven. Please let little SY know that we will always be there for her. Thank you.”

f) A Supportive Gift
The kids chose either a yellow or orange colour paper. They drew their pictures. Some drew a rainbow, a happy sun, garden, animals. ZY drew how he spent time with little SY. They swept the floor together and poured drinks together. Meanwhile, I called the kids individually to stamp their handprints; as the cover page of her present. While drawing, I could hear them talking about this.
“SY’s father had passed away.”
“Oh….he has gone to the heaven.”
“My mother says, the dead people will be reborned.”
“SY must be sad....”
We really hope that this little gift could lift her spirit.