HJIS Sendai Aoba Class Blogs 2025-26: Week 2

Theme of the week : My Family

Hello Seahorse friends and families!
Welcome to yet another blog for week 2, its amazing how time flies and we are now saying goodbye to week 1. It has been such a great week having our little ones roam around in our classroom and also get familiar with our routine. The best part is, I am now noticing that they are making friends and also greet each other by name in the morning! Wow, it melts my heart to see them develop socially and forming emotional attachment. Anyway , Let us dive into our interesting week updates.
Curriculum highlights
This week was more of a reminder as we are still reinforcing our routines, class rules, morning activities and park rules as well. We were constantly reminding them of how we do our things ( routine). Our main focus was on their gross motor development , literacy , and giving them a self awareness on their immediate surroundings, that is their family.

On Monday, We did a little bit of name tracing with markers. This was a woow moment for me. They had to carefully follow the lines of their names with a marker, any color of their choice. For this activity, I wanted them to be able to recognize their name and help them follow through a line, any line for that matter using a foreign language (marker). This activity develops fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and letter recognition , all crucial for future literacy development. It also boosts confidence and helps toddlers understand their identity.
On Tuesday, we engaged in sensory play! The tong picking activity is important for them to establish autonomy and work out their fine motor skills. The act of opening, and selecting a fish, or sea creature, picking it up and closing the tong on it shows a great deal of hand-eye coordination and helps our little ones to focus more. It is also important for them to have good fine motor skill ( finger movement and control), as it will help in the future form penmanship. This seem like repetition, but for toddlers it is a skill that is acquired over time, and they do require more practice regularly in order to achieve it.
On Wednesday, We had a coloring activity. They were coloring their family members. The highlight of this activity , was for them to be able to name each family members , that is ; Mummy, Daddy, Sister, Brother and Baby. It was a way for them to also substitute each individual in the picture with their family members. I loved this activity for them, as some of them actually were mentioning their parents and siblings! Talking about family photos can introduce new vocabulary and communication skills.
On Thursday, they had to do some shape sorting. This time our main focus was on two shapes only, the simple ones circle and square. It was not only about sorting but also shape recognition as well. Also, objects around them that have a similar shape in the classroom. By recognizing and naming different shapes, they develop their visual perspective skills, which are fundamental for reading, math and other learning areas!
On Friday, We had a little hand print exercise. Since we are diving into the sea, we had to make our own sea creatures using paint and our hands. The way for our toddlers to really connect with their activities, is to let them explore using their hands and adding paint, is just the cherry on top. Hand print art offers multiple benefits for toddlers, including improved fine motor skills, sensory exploration, and creative expression. It also fosters cognitive development, enhances hand-eye coordination, and can be a source of emotional expression.