Nursery Minutes of Meeting - 20 April 2013

Present: Rochelle, Simon, Allan, Jannie, Wi Min, VK, Juliana and Elaine

1. Nursery Church Events

The following was agreed:

• Rochelle will lead the play and coordinate with Austin for the Family Service
• To try to include singing by the children

2. Policy for using Planning Centre

The following Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were agreed:

1. Click "Accept" when you receive notification from Planning Centre
2. Leader should check that helpers have accepted notification on Monday of the week
3. Find own replacement in case of sickness/absence
4. Let Simon if you need to update planning centre of any swapping of duty you have arranged
5. Simon will check that technically it is working, to input the lesson number

3. Songs-repertoire

The following are the 10 songs agreed:

1. Deep & Wide
2. Give Me Oil In My Lamp
3. God Made The Big Round Sun
4. If You're Happy & You Know It
5. Jesus Loves Me
6. I've Got Peace Like A River
7. I've Got the Joy Down In My Heart
8. My God Is So Great
9. The Butterfly Song
10. This Little Light of Mine

Please see this link for lyrics and tune:

http://fibcchildrensministry.blogspot.dk/2013/04/fibc-nursery-10-songs-repertoire.html

• Juliana volunteered to download of songs & save it into CD
• The copy of CD will be placed in the Nursery room
• Teachers can play from laptop or iPad

4. Structure & Routine

The following were discussed:

1. To have  a similiar structure and routine for class
2. To incorporate regular singing activity every week
3. We did not have time to agree on the sequence of the structure and should be discussed in the next quarterly meeting (e.g. Singing followed by Snack, Bible Story and Craft Activities?)

5. Knowledge Sharing

The following ideas were brainstormed and agreed:

1. Share lesson plan and PowerPoint presentationon FIB Nursery Blog (Lesson Plan can be posted by each Teacher directly. Powerpoint presentations can be emailed to Elaine, who will share in the blog)
2. Visit other churches to see how they run the nursery
3. Conduct 1-day workshop by VK & Wimin

6. Guiding Behavior In Children

The following guidelines were agreed:

1. The Nursery will use the Guiding Misbehavior and Disciplinary Strategies by Janice Hayhood shared by VK & Wi Min.
2. Add Time-out for teachers
3. Teachers should be focusing on conducting the lesson and not parents could take more responsibility of own child in the nursery by being there to assist
4. Get the Nursery Helper to go to the Sanctuary Hall to get more help when needed (e.g. on days when there are more attendance from children)
5. Allocate 5 min debrief after class
6. Teacher, Assistant and Helper on duty to help clean up the Nursery after class.

The following roles were agreed:

1. The Leader's role is to focus on conducting the lesson.
2. The Assistant's role is to keep the order of the class.
3. The Helper's role is mainly to help with the practical things (for example help with accompany the children to the washroom)

Juliana shared 2 useful books in dealing with behavior of children:

• Taming the family zoo - maximizing harmony and minimizing family stress. By Jim and Suzette Brawner. Forward by Gary Smalley.

• The treasure tree. By John&Cindy Trent and Gary&Norma Smalley

7. Nursery Room

The following were discussed:

• The use of professional cleaning is an option considered.

8. Supplies

Jannie will look into buying sanitizer

9. Regular Fellowship for the Nursery Team

The following ideas were brainstormed:

1. We should not solely be co-workers of the Nursery but family.
2. The aim of fellowship is to build closer bond with one another as a family of God serving together in the Nursery.
3. Juliana encouraged us to read Ch. 19 of "Purpose Driven Life" book
4. Some fellowship ideas include:
• Pizza evening: where Rochelle makes the dough and we bring toppings and make the pizza together on an evening (e.g. Friday evening)
• Cook together or bake together time on a Friday evening for example
• Retreat: we camp overnight with the children in the garden of one of us. The children will love it.
5. It should be spontaneous and does not have to be formally planned.
6. It should be ok to pick up the phone to call one another, before sending an email to ask if we can call.
7.There can be girls' time together or boys' time together.

10. Next Quarterly Meeting

Date: 24th August 2013
Time: 2 pm
Place: Jannie & Allan's home

Proposed Agenda for the next quarterly meeting:
1. Nursery Structure
2. Training of Helpers
3. 10 Minutes tips on Blog
4. Review the Nursery Guidelines for Handling Children's Behavior (What work, what don't work, etc.)

Nursery Minutes of Meeting – 26 January 2013

Dear all,

Please find below the meeting minutes of today's meeting, which was held in the Lord's spirit and kept within the time allocated for the meeting.

Meeting Notes for Saturday 20 October 2012

Present: Rochelle, Simon, Allan, Jannie, VK, Wi Min, Juliana and Elaine

Babysitter: Thanks to Cecilia for baby-sitting

Agenda:

"1. To discuss to use the old nursery room for Pre-school as temporary solution until the fireplace room is cleaned up and ready for use. To discuss the needed practical arrangement to use the old nursery room. To discuss the possibility to restart Sunday Pre-school from 27th Jan using the old nursery room."

Decision: We decided to use the old nursery room as a temporary solution until the fireplace room has been properly cleaned up. We resume classes tomorrow, Jan 27th.

"2. To discuss the yearly Spring Cleaning of fireplace room, for example the date and the practical arrangement."

Decision: We decided to ask the Connect group to help clean up the fireplace room sometime when we are sure the room will no longer be used as a shelter for the homeless. We see no urgency for this as the old nursery room can function until the fireplace room has been cleaned. Date has not been set, but Simon Coote volunteered to coordinate the yearly Spring Cleaning of the room.

"3. To fix the teaching schedule for the next period from 3 Feb 2013 onwards"

Action: the new teaching schedule has been agreed upon and will be uploaded to Planning Centre by Simon Coote. Also, Elaine will upload it to our Nursery Blog. Helpers are kindly asked to verify the schedule, once uploaded, and find replacement for those dates they are not available (swap dates).

"4. To discuss and agree on the ground rules for all the teachers and helpers, for example, duty swapping rules, Sunday Pre-school cancellation rules and who to contact to make announcement in the church service regarding the lesson cancellation for that Sunday."

Decision: the rules proposed by VK were unanimously accepted. They are as follows:

1. Teaching schedule is agreed and fixed at each Quarterly Meeting.

 

2. Once the schedule is fixed, the teacher assigned to the Sunday on duty is responsible to initiate the swapping with another teacher if anything unplanned happen later on. After the agreement is reached, the teacher is responsible to inform Schedule Coordinator to update the Planning Centre.

 

3. The teacher on-duty is empowered and fully responsible for all the decision making on the Sunday on duty if something unexpected happen. Any issue cannot be resolved and decided by the teacher, he or she should take the initiative to discuss the issue with Austin immediately and make the decision together with him.

 

4. Cancellation of lesson should be the last solution, in the circumstances after the attempt of swapping with another teacher or finding substitute is not successful.

 

5. In the case of cancellation of lesson which is known in advanced, the announcement should be published at the bulletin at least one week in advanced and it should not be published on the actual Sunday. This will allow the parents to have time to decide on how to handle their children when there is no Sunday Pre-School in the following Sunday. This shall be done by email by the leader of the upcoming lesson to Ann-Boye Hansen before the Wednesday will ensure it is included in the announcements.

 

6. Cancellation of lesson due to the teacher is sick on the Sunday he or she on duty and after failing to find any substitute at last minute is an exceptional case. In this situation, the teacher needs to call Austin as soon as possible so that he can make the announcement during the service.

"5. To discuss tasks delegation and empowerment in the Sunday Pre-school ministry, for example, who is responsible for supplies, yearly spring cleaning, communications, Christmas special project, set up teaching schedule, enlisting, training new teachers and helpers and the like."

Action: All involved parents assumed one or more roles. These roles can be swapped as we go forward but for now, they are as follows:

Teaching Schedule Coordinator: Simon Coote

Supplies Coordinator and Shopper: Jannie Silfverberg
Christmas Project Coordinator: Rochelle Coote
2nd Project Coordinator: Juliana Hans
Nursery Team Communication vs Church: Simon Coote
Spring Cleaning Coordinator: Simon Coote
Curriculum Coordinator: VK & WM Tan
Quarterly Meeting Coordinator: Allan Silfverberg
Training of Teachers and Helpers: VK & WM Tan
Enlisting of New Teachers & Helpers: Simon Coote
Pre-School/Nursery Website: Elaine
Attendance Lists: VK

For the record: Simon has decided to take a more administrative role for the Pre-School/Nursery and will not be leading classes, although he will continue to serve as a helper.

"6. Next Quarterly Nursery Meeting"

Date: 20 April 2013
Time: 2.30pm-4.30pm
Venue: @ the Silfverbergs, Pilegårdsparken 14, 3460 Birkerød

Agenda points will be collected by Allan Silfverberg and submitted to all in due time before the meeting.

Thanks for your faithful participation and commitment to putting the nursery/pre-school on God's agenda for our kids!

Blessings,
Allan

Nursery Minutes of Meeting - 20 October 2012

Meeting Notes for Saturday 20 October 2012

Present: Rochelle, Simon, Allan, Jannie, Wi Min, VK, Juliana, Martin, Sarma, Chen Ying and Elaine

1. The Nursery/Preschool Vision Statement

The Nursery/Preschool Vision Statement was summarized into one sentence following inputs from everyone:

“To support parents in guiding their children with developing a personal relationship with God so that the children will come to know Christ.”

which is in line with the FIBC’s Family Ministry Vision Statement:

To encourage and equip families to be disciple-making disciples – living out the “Great Commandment (Matt 22:36-40)” and the “Great Commission (Matt. 28:16 – 20).”

2. The 3 Nursery/Preschool Mission Statements (Goals)

The 3 Nursery/Preschool Mission Statements (Goals) according to UP, In and Out principles were developed:

 

a. God made me and loves me so much and I want to love God (Upward focus)
b. I am of great worth to God and what I do matter to God (moral heart: right and wrong) (Inward focus)
c. All people are precious to God and I can help others around me (Outward focus)
which are in line with FIBC’s Kids Ministries Goals:

a. I can trust God no matter what (Upward focus)
b. I need to make the wise choice (Inward focus)
c. I need to treat others how I want to be treated (Outward focus)
 

3. UP, In and Out principles Diagrams

The UP, In and Out principles illustrated in the following diagrams by Rochelle and Juliana:
 

It means that the children knowing their identity in God (Up) which gives them their self-worth (In) would enable them to go out and serve others (Out).

VK mentioned that the easiest to teach is IN, since children are naturally self-centred, and the most difficult to teach are the OUT (to think of others) and the UP. We should not forget the UP and OUT and focus on the IN. We should remember to strike a balance and not only emphasize or concentrate on just one dimension when teaching the children.

4. Targets

The targets we expect our children to achieve when they leave the Nursery/Preschool were developed:
 

Upward Targets:
• God created us and that He is still here listening to us and we can talk to Him.
• Praying to God is talking to God.
• God is in their family.
• To respect God

Strategies:
• Pray fervently for the children we teach and parents we serve.
• Consciously incorporating these targets when planning our lesson plans
• Work alongside and support parents as role models
• Highlighting other people in the church as role models
• Help the children to experience God’s love as a family.

Inward Targets:
• They (the children) are special because God loves them.
• Their identity comes from God, which give them their self-worth and thus they should be self-confidence and brave not conform to the standards of the world.
• To Know right and wrong according to Godly principles.
• To develop a moral heart that is inward driven to make wise decisions that are guided by God’s moral principles.
• To be like Jesus who is our role model.

Strategies:
• Pray fervently for the children we teach and parents we serve.
• Using puppets for role play to give the children opportunities to express themselves.
• Giving opportunities for the children to perform and increase their self-confidence during normal class time and special projects or FIBC combined worship.
• Be sensitive to grabbing teachable moments during conversation with the children and take advantage of them to teach that they are special and to teach right and wrong.

Outward Targets:
• All people created by God and are special and we should appreciate one another’s differences.
• All people are and important to God and we should consider the wishes of others (to move from “self-centredness” to “other-centred”).
• To treat others the way they want to be treated.
• To be kind and help others.
 

Strategies:
• Pray fervently for the children we teach and parents we serve.
• Be a good role model to the children in helping others.
• Incorporate stories about what Jesus did to help others (Jesus as a role model).
• Providing opportunities for the children to serve one another when planning our lesson plans
• Work alongside and support parents as role models
• Highlighting other people in the church as role models

 

 5. Eight different kinds of smarts

VK shared with us the 8 different kinds of smarts exhibited by different children – Word smart, number smart, picture smart, body smart, music smart, nature smart, people smart and self smart.
 

6. Preschool Lesson Plans

Working in two teams, we practiced to develop preschool lesson plans that incorporate different learning style – Show me, Tell me and Let me try and learning levels – Discovering, understanding, re-stating, interpreting and translating.

VK reminded us that we are sowing seeds – we may not see the fruit now, but we have to trust that the children are learning.
 

7. Three Special Projects

Three Special Projects were discussed:
 

Nativity Project:
We would write a little nativity scene (Rochelle would be happy to do this) and one adult will be the narrator and another will help the children get to the stage or steps when their part comes up. We will dress the children as Mary, Joseph, Lamb, Angel, inn keeper, shepherds etc. This should last approximately 5 to 10 minutes. We will have to start practicing with the children soon and help will be needed from all to make costumes.

Christmas Shoebox Project:
Children give presents (giving away a present they receive or making something together) and put them into a shoe-box to send to the less unfortunate children who have no means of getting a Christmas present. Through this activity, we will teach the children the the best gift that God gave us - Jesus.

Palm Sunday/Easter project:
The sunday school children will be the narator, while the one of the nursery children will sit on the donkey (adult dressed up as donkey), and the other nursey children will wave using the palm leaves.Juliana agreed to look into compiling 10 Christian children songs that we could all use during singing time in class. This could be made into a CD.

8. Puppets (see attached doc. for pictures)

We discussed about getting hand puppets of Biblical characters and multi-cultural characters. They are quite expensive. We could decide whether we should get them. If we choose to get them, Elaine would be happy to coordinate and make the buying. If we choose to buy them, there will be custom duties, VAT and service fee for buying outside of the EU.

Here are some Biblical puppets and multi-cultural children puppets from Amazon US:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dtoys-and-games&field-keywords=biblical+hand+puppets
 
Here are some biblical puppets from The Puppet Store:
http://www.thepuppetstore.com/Biblical_s/62.htm

Here are some community Helpers puppets from Lakeshore. At the moment, they are offering 20% off:

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/ca%7CsearchResults~~p%7C2534374302222474~~.jsp

9. Next quarterly meeting

Next quarterly meeting will be on Saturday 26th January 2013. Allan and Jannie have kindly agreed to host it. Elaine will draft the agenda and send out to the rest.

 

We thank Rochelle and Simon very much for their hospitality for making this meeting such a cozy fellowship, and VK for training us in this meeting. We also want to give a warm welcome Juliana and Martin to the FIBC Nursery/Preschool.

Blessings,

Elaine

Nursery Minutes of Meeting - 22 May 2011

Nursery Minutes of Meeting

Date: 22nd May 2011

Present: Rochelle, Glory, Wimin, VK, Allan, Gina, Teddy, Zainae, Stephen, Mark Van Domelen, Emma, Elaine

1. Attendance List

a. Rochelle has prepared an Attendance List showing Child’s name, Age, Parent’s Name, Telephone number for the nursery

b. Glory will be in charge of typing in the regular children and parents in the attendance list so that parents can just tick it off, instead of writing the information each Sunday.

c. Rochelle would make a list of regular parents to be on stand-by.

2. We agreed that the main mission/purpose of the nursery: Build the faith and foundation of the kids

3. Nursery Proposed Routine/Structure

a. Teachers to arrive 15 minutes before to prepare and set up the room. Bring a jug of water.

b. Mark Attendance List

c. 3-4 activity station based on the same theme set for the week for the children to select (as it would be difficult to get the children to work on one activity together in a group, since children have different interests)

d. Sit in a circle

e. Pray and say grace

f. Snack Time

g. Sing along time

h. Clean up

i. Sterile toys with wet wipe

4. Sunday School Training Workshop attended by VK, who gave a briefing on what he learned:

a. The instructor mentioned that kids’ attention span for this age range is very short (0-5 years old).

b. The instructor is of the opinion that colouring activity is not so creative for the kids.

c. If we still would like to have colouring activity, instead of giving the children a printed picture to colour, it is better to give them a blank paper for them to draw for creativity, with adult guiding them.

d. The instructor commented that the toys lying around is current a distraction in the current nursery set up.

e. The instructor suggested to pick a phrase a week, not a long story. Example, the key word in the phase is help. Then ask if they help the mother to do cooking. Then pull out the kitchen set. Then cut pictures from magazine and paste it, or use play dough. Puzzles are very helpful. Kids have different preference in their learning, some hearing, visual, hands-on. Activities should carry these different variety. Have different station for activity, for example, a basin with water for bathing the baby doll.

f. The instructor is not a fan of soft stuff toys or fabric toys.

g. It is better to take out the toys only for the lesson, and keep the rest.

h. After the first half an hour, children lose their attention, so it is not possible to have too many activities in a lesson, but it is good to have activity back-up just in case.

i. The instructor is not pro cartoons in children’s books.

j. Important to keep repeating the theme of the lesson, for example, Keep repeating God loves you.

k. In the past, we do story-telling, because we think that every kid likes story. However, children have different interests. Some are visual, some sensitive to touch, some active, some more quiet, etc. Thus, it is better to have 3-4 different activities/activity centres with the same theme for the children to choose, play and learn.

5. Organization and Stocking Up of the Nursery

a. Mark is helping to buy the things, and we should give Mark a list.

b. There are many things to purchased, and Elaine would like to help to contribute, if the budget from church is insufficient.

c. Some places that Elaine could help source for things are IKEA, Tiger and the second hand children’s flea market.

d. Elaine would be able to help to sort and label the toys with a tagging sticker labeling machine

e. There is a limitation in having shelves, as we may not be allowed. But Ann is our coordinator between the church and FIBC.

f. It is suggested that if possible, the sofa in the nursery be put away.

g. The fire place and the corner is a safety hazard.

h. The rugs in the nursery are fraying. Would try to tape that down.

6. Things to Acquire for the Nursery:

a. Shelves to act as room partition as well for organizing and storing toys and supplies

b. Transparent plastic boxes, baskets, etc. to sort and store toys

c. Sterile wipes to clean toys after use

d. Play dough + Plastic/wooden kids’ size table and chairs for children to sit and work on activities such as play dough and crafts (added after meeting)

e. Bible theme wooden or board jigsaw puzzles

f. Bible board games for young children

g. Water-colour paints

h. CD player

i. CDs (already some CDs in the old nursery)

j. Duplo Lego set

k. Wooden building blocks

l. Blank papers for drawing and colouring

m. Safe kids’ scissors and glue for cutting and pasting

n. Kitchen play such as cutting fruit toys

o. Animal and insect figurines

p. Household containers with beans, containers with lids, etc.

q. Baby doll and basin for washing baby doll

r. Wooden train and track set (added on after meeting)

s. Rangles, stack-a-ring, shape-sorters, cause-&-effect toys, baby board books, etc. for younger babies

t. Balls (added on after meeting)

u. Push carts for babies learning how to walk (added on after meeting)

v. Theatre play stage and Christian character puppets (added on after meeting)

w. Science: Kids’ magnifying glass and microscope to view God’s creation (added on after meeting)

x. Kids’ musical instruments such as bells, tambourines, toy drum, xylophone, etc. (added on after meeting)

y. Books and bean bag cozy corner with appropriate children books from 0-5 year old for children who like to sit and read (added on after meeting)

z. Drawing boards, multi-coloured letters and numbers magnets, for playing with words and phonics (added on after meeting)

7. Lesson Plan

a. Rochelle will plan the theme for the lessons for the rest of the year for us to access in a file.

b. Parents will plan the lesson plan.

c. Mark and VK suggested 40 sets of life-like pictures with a lesson, rather than cartoons.

8. Duty Roster

a. Volunteers to help twice a month in order to give stability and an environment where the children feel safe.

b. Each person to be on duty for two weeks to carry on the consistency of the lesson from one Sunday to another Sunday. Wimin and VK for one week. VK and another person for another week.

c. Good ideas would be able to be passed on from one week to another week.

d. The teacher on the second week will be the lead for the week.

e. Parents who are able to serve the nursery twice a month or more to give their names to Rochelle. So far we have:

i. Rochelle

ii. Allan

9. Cleaning

a. Church Youth group could help with washing toys.

b. Rochelle to set up date on a Saturday for all of us to come and clean the nursery.

c. Allan and Elaine can make it from July

10. Orientation for New Helpers

a. Policy of the church: Fill in a 1-page background form agreeing to background check for new helpers, Sunday School Teachers.

b. Mark will get the form for Rochelle. Rochelle will send the form out.

c. New helper will always be paired with a full group of 3 people for their first week.

11. Setting Nursery Policy

a. SMS the parents to inform them when the child could not be consoled or when the nappy is soiled.

b. Parent with baby 6 months and below should accompany the baby in the nursery.

c. For babies 6 months and older, should there be more than 2 babies in a week, the parent of the third baby should be requested to stay in the nursery with his/her baby.

12. Next Quarterly Nursery Meeting

a. First week of September

b. Send an email to Rochelle on vacation plan, and email Rochelle so that she can plan the roster

Minutes taken by: Elaine Friis