AYSIL'LA MASAL ATOLYESI

Bu hafta Thursday Thinkers'in bir konugu vardi. Ustelik oyle herhangi biri degil, yaninda bir suru guzel masal ve soruyla gelen bir konuk. Tanimayanlarimiz onunla hemen tanisti, kaynasti. Sonra da masal atolyemizi baslattik...

Aysil bize baharin gelisini mujdeleyen serin meltem ruzgarinin masalini anlatti. 

Herbirimiz masallarin dunyasina ayri ayri yollardan gittik:) Herkesin vardigi yer ayri bir guzel olmali ki, uzun sure kimsenin oradan kipirdamaya pek niyeti olmadi...

Serin meltemin masalindan uyaninca hepbirlikte kendi masalimizi uyduralim dedik. Aysil'in bir cumle ile baslattigi masali sirayla tamamladik, tamamladikca bu ise alistik, alistikca daha da guzel uydurduk:) Bu masalin guzelligi herkesin hayal gucunun cekistirebildigi yere kadar gitmesinde mi, orada diledigince kalabilmesinde mi, yoksa hepbirlikte uydurmamizda miydi tam bilemedik ama biz bu atolyeyi de Aysil'i da cok sevdik:) 

Sevgili Aysil, bize katildigin icin sagol varol. Arayi acma, yine gel, yeni masallar da getir.  Seninle birlikte herkes masalci olabilirmisi gorduk, ne guzel oldu...

GOOD WISHES LITTLE FISHES...

THURSDAY THINKERS

ABSOLUTELY CHARMING WORLD OF CHARLIE AND LOLA

"Every time we read to a child, we're sending a 'pleasure' message to the child's brain" according to Jim Trelease. "You could even call it a commercial, conditioning the child to associate books and print with pleasure." 

This reading "commercial" is critical when competition for a child's attention is so fierce. Between television, movies, the Internet, video games and myriad after-school activities, the pleasures of sitting down with a book are often overlooked. In addition, negative experiences with reading - whether frustrations in learning to read or tedious "skill and drill" school assignments - can further turn children off from reading. (www.readaloud.org)

So we gave "Reading Commercial" a go by entering into the absolutely charming world of Charlie and Lola...

After reading the book, we sat to watch the cartoon of the same story but our internet connection was far too weak to see the entire show:( 

Why not watch an English episode of Charlie and Lola with your child at home for just 10 minutes? Most of them are available on youtube. I bet you will fall in love with the charming Charlie and adorable Lola...

Our next exercise was about loving ourselves:))) I guess there are instructions (!) too about how to love yourself but we only asked our members to write 5 things they like about themselves.

They have all taken their lists home - so they must be somewhere in the depth of their school bags:) 

(This is the picture of Thursday Thinkers reading curiously the lists prepared by each other.)

AFTER ALL, WE HAD SOME TIME FOR

 too...

LETS NOT LEAVE WITHOUT AN USIE CAPTURING OUR GOOD TIMES TOGETHER...

Love,

Thursday Thinkers

WE ARE HAVING A MOVIE AFTERNOON!!! PASS THE POPCORN PLEASE...

Today, Thursday Thinkers viewed a film, shared laughs and ate popcorn together...

Seeing Aristocats all in English was a bit of a challenge but we did so well:) 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a school movie night with all the kids and parents?? We  think that it is a great way to get closer, build a community and raise money... 

HASTA LA VISTA:))

THURSDAY THINKERS

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TOYS

Hello Parents,

We had a heavy agenda today full of TOYS and IDEAS... (No, we haven't (yet) read Baudeleire's "The Philosophy of Toys"!!)  We just answered a few juicy questions involving TOYS and hopefully helped one another to open new doors in our curious minds... 

TOYS

Girls toys vs. Boys toys : 

Does it have to be that way? 

Our members strictly disagree. All of them seem to think that they love to play and experiment with different toys. 

Toys for Children vs. Toys for Grown Ups: 

Why do children need more toys than adults?

• children have more TIME  (Ada)
• playing with toys help children grow up (Derin)
• play is as important to us as a meeting is for a grown up (Emma)

Are toys just for children? 

• you can be a grandma and still play with toys (Flora)
• my dad's friend still has her own toys like legos, barbies or soft toys (Irmak)
• my big brother built a robot (Mavi)
• me and my mum sometimes play barbie together (Gulizi)

Play vs. Work: 

Would it be good to play forever? 

• We can play forever (Derin)
• We can always play even when we grow up (Irmak)

Living vs. Not Living:

What can count as a toy? A pet or a stone?

• We can have living toys like a dog or a cat and we can have them in our games (Emma)
• We can play stone skipping (Omer)

What is living, what is not living? 

• When I was in the States, I had a dog that I took wherever I went as if it was a real dog. I also had a toy parrot that I pretended it was alive (Ada)
• I sometimes think that my toys are talking to each other or doing something when I am not at home (Flora)

(A clip from Toy Story was just spot on at this point!!)

Traditional vs. Modern:

Are toys better now than 100 years ago?

• Yeaahhhh

Growing up - outgrowing toys:

Can you get too old for toys? 

• Nooo, never:) 

What are the features of toys that we are too old for now? 

...

Favourite toys:

Can you love a toy like you love your parents or friends?

• No (Emma)
• I have a toy dog that I see as a member of our family (Derin)

Unfortunately, we didn't have time for the following questions but you can discuss those at home if you like.

Imagination - Imitation: 

Why do we pretend? 

Do toys help you pretend? 

Can you pretend without toys? 

As always, we didn't let the day go without some fun and games...

 (Special thanks to J. Bukley for some of the discussion ideas here.)