Patter of little feet

We're not quite twiddling thumbs here, but it's just frustrating that we cannot start operating as yet even though we are all set up and ready to go. All of us who are in this profession derive our energies from the laughter of young children and the patter of little feet. We feel rather listless when there is no contact with children for a prolonged period of time.

So we are thankful for the two families who brought their lovely little girls to view our premises during the past two days, and even more excited with the afternon visit of three young ladies and their parents.

The girls came over after their schoolday. They didn't get to come in when they dropped by a few months back during the early days of the renovation works, but today we are able to host them under more hospitable circumstances.

After a tour of the premises, the girls were ushered to our Art Room where Mrs Poh and Ms Wong introduced them to kinetic sand, which looks like real sand, works like real sand, and is used for indoor sand play.

The kinetic sand occupied them for quite awhile, after which they were able to show the interesting things that they created with the plastic moulds. It's almost like we're at the beach!

Together with a few more of their friends, Sofia, Gwyneth and Ailey will be performing a song item for our forthcoming Open House. Today, they gave a rather shy rendition of the performance, but they will be boosted by the presence of their friends on the actual day.

A group photo to end a really enjoyable day of catching up. We'll see you again during the Open House.

As always, thank you to the parents for their contributions to our growing collection of books, toys and resources. These are in excellent condition (and some are brand new too).

As well as outdoor toys like this 3-wheeler that we picked up from Ailey's home a week earlier.

Works of Art

Our walls were feeling a little bare, so the teachers sent out an S.O.S. request. Within a few days, Mr and Mrs Tan (parents of Shayanne, Tricia and little Claudia), came by with several works of art from their precious collection. These artworks were done by Shayanne and Tricia (who are now 8 and 7 years old) over the years. They certainly added a dash of colour to the otherwise drab walls.

The teachers immediately went about putting up these delightful masterpieces all around, where they will be on display for now.

At the library corner.

At the Parents' Rescource corner beside the entrance.

We also picked up several art pieces that were done by Kie Ren, who is now in Primary 2, and Kae Lyn, K1.

The children were either delighted or amused by the idea of having their drawings displayed.

The smaller pieces go on top of our hosereel box.

Dinosaurs invading the Music Corner.

And here's the contribution from Xiao Laoshi's daughter Lu Jia, herself a Mothergoose alumnus, who is now in Primary 3. And no, Lu Jia didn't draw this picture just recently, in case anyone is wondering.

It Takes A Village 2

Over the weekend, we made our way to the home of the Chuah's, whose daughter Megan was previously enrolled in Mothergoose. Mr and Mrs Chuah very kindly offered to contribute some appliances, shelves and children's books to Orion since they were moving house.

Anticipating a hard day's work, we enlisted as many helping hands as we could to assist in transporting the items. Ms Kiang helped to arrange for a lorry, and also came to help with the moving. Our friends from Rose Running Club also turned up to provide some muscle. And not forgetting Mrs Poh, who although not quite the heavy lifter, turned up to help with the odds and ends.

Mr and Mrs Chuah were busy giving instructions to their movers, but we managed to grab them for a moment. From left: Mrs Poh, Ms Kiang, Mrs Chuah, Mr Chuah, and Mrs Low (also ex-Mothergoose, mother of Ezekiel and Eleree).

And then it's time to get down to serious work. We were really grateful to have the strong people from the running club, especially in loading the heavy items such as the refrigerator, washing machine and dryer, onto the lorry.

And they also took care of the delicate stuff, ensuring that the smaller items were properly secured before loading up.

Arriving back at the school, the refrigerator was placed in the kitchen and switched on. Finally we can have cold drinks!

The other items will be sorted out in due time.

The running friends still looking as fresh as they were before we started. That hardly broke a sweat!

We'll probably have to say this over and over again, but we're really thankful for the contributions and support from the Mothergoose community of parents and friends. Every contribution helps us in managing our expenses especially at this initial starting-up stage. More invaluable though, is the encouragement that we get from knowing that we remain in the thoughts of parents and children.

The teachers show their appreciation for the contributions that we received, including the washing machine and dryer. The real beneficiary is Aunty Chai Hong, who will be quite relieved that she will henceforth not need to wash the floor towels by hand every day, as was done previously in Mothergoose.

It Takes a Village 1

Mrs Jen Hoult, mother of William, Edward and Lachlan, described Mothergoose as a "community for those of us with children who attend it." Looking back, we were really fortunate at Mothergoose to be able to rely on the goodwill and network of relationships with parents and families, that have been built up over a period of 26 years.

Orion Preschool, while inheriting a large chunk of the Mothergoose DNA, will now embark on a journey to build a name for ourselves. As we tread along a path that is unfamiliar and at times daunting, it gives us great comfort and encouragement when old friends turn up along the way to cheer us on, be it in terms of material, physical, or even just words of support.

Even before the dust has settled on the renovation works, we had an impromptu morning visit from Mrs Khee and Evann. Evann was previously attending Nursery One at Mothergoose, before the school ceased operating. Making their way carefully between piles of construction debris and tins of paint, they thus became our first visitors to tour the school premises!

Evann posing for a photo with mummy in front of the school building. Like many parents, Mrs Khee has always kept in touch with messages of support and encouragement throughout this time.

A few parents have informed us that they will be contributing used toys, books and even kitchen equipment to the new school. Mr Yong, father of Ryan and Keith, patiently waited more than a month for our premises to be ready, and then personally delivered the materials to the school last week.

Mr Yong brought a whole carload of things that Ryan and Keith have outgrown, including furnitures, toys, books and DVDs. It'll take us some time to sort through these stuff!

Fortunately (or unfortunately), Mr Yong arrived just before the lorry came to deliver our new school furnitures, and was therefore unwittingly roped in to help unload the packages from the lorry. As the delivery was confirmed at short notice, we had only managed to find another gentleman to come and assist with the heavy lifting. Interestingly, Wee Siong, who readily answered the call for help, also has links with Mothergoose. He is the uncle of two Mothergoose alumni.

BEFORE: Our unloading crew, posing quite happily before the lorry came. They still don't know what's to come! From left: Xiao Laoshi, Mrs Poh, Mr Yong, Wee Siong.

AFTER: Spot the difference. The same team, after unloading 46 packages from the lorry.

These are just part of the 46 packages. How did preschool furnitures become so huge and heavy?

There will be many more parents and families to acknowledge and thank by the time we get our licence to operate. But, even if you just happen to be in this area, do pop in and say hello!