World Bee Day - May 20th 2022

Friday May 20th was World Bee Day. Bees have a special place in our hearts, not only because a bee is the Mini Maestros mascot, but because they do so much for life as we know it!

Did you know the honeybee is the only insect that produces food eaten by man? Another interesting fact is that a honeybee can fly for up to around 10km and as fast as 24km per hour.

A queen bee has her work cut out for her! She lives for about 2-3 years and is the busiest in the summer months, when the hive needs to be at its maximum strength, and she lays up to 2500 eggs a day! The queen may mate with up to 17 drones over a 1-2 day period of mating. Talk about a busy bee;) Thankfully, while she lays 600-2500 eggs each day during her lifetime, she is constantly fed and groomed by attendant worker bees. These pamperers possibly have a harder task than the queen because they only live for about 4 weeks in the spring or summer, but up to 6 months during the winter. It would seem it is exhausting no matter your rank in the queendom of bees!

It is so important we protect our clever little pollinators, we need them more than we think!
Visit the world bee day website to learn more.

Interesting Musical Facts from 3MBS

Peter and the Wolf

This "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The intent was to introduce children to the individual instruments of the orchestra. The narrator tells a children's story, while the orchestra illustrates it by using different instruments to play a "theme" that represents each character in the story. It is Prokofiev's most frequently performed work and one of the most frequently performed works in the entire classical repertoire.

Peter tries to defend a duck, a fat cat and a bird from a threatening wolf with each character in the story being represented by a particular instrument and a musical theme.

Mini Maestros Friendships

There have been numerous studies about the importance of social and emotional development, including the forming of early childhood friendships, so it fills our heart when we see friendships forming in our classes. The photos above are of Tiarna and Annabelle. They have formed a beautiful friendship in Lisa's Doncaster classes.

Here are some benefits of childhood friendships;

• They support children’s emotional and social development.
• They increase a child’s capacity for empathy and altruism.
• Having friends boosts happiness, well-being and self-confidence, and promotes a positive outlook on life.
• Having friends lessens stress.
• Forming friendships entails practising communication skills.
• Positive friendships can help encourage good behaviour.