So far so good!!!

It has been a great second week of school! 

Routines are going smoothly.

We are starting to get our routines down as we have visited the music room and met our music teacher, Dr.Grant. We have also gone to the library where we met our school Librarian, Mrs. McGee. (We have our library bags now too!) We have also met Mr.Orique, who comes out with us for outdoor play. We even had our first fire drill the other day and our students did a great job!

We have explored our room, learned to tidy up and play well, made two crafts for our bulletin boards, and played in the gym and outside. Your child now knows what to do on entry in the morning, is able to wash their hands, get out their snack and make decisions as to what to eat. They can repack and put their lunch bag in the proper spot for lunch pick up and can repack their lunch bag into their knapsack independently.  It is a wonder!!!

Circle Time Books

This is your second week with the Circle Time Books. I hope you are enjoying the time you’re spending with your child. Please feel free to review other songs or poems that your child enjoyed previously. One fun activity we are doing with these poems and songs is finding rhyming words, and finding common sight words. We make it fun and give them strategies for finding them.  Already I’ve had a JK student show me the word ‘you’ in a different chart than we learned it! It’s pretty exciting. Don’t forget to sign the pages your child reads to you… they will get a prize for reading this book to you on a weekly basis.

Learning learning learning.

It's only been two weeks and already we have talked about graphing, and have been learning how to use words such as "more, least, less than, more than, and equal" when talking about our results. Through art and math we are discovering and identifying our hair colors, eyes, and what makes us look the same and different from our peers as we are all the same yet different. 

Calendar/Number of School Days

Everyday we practice the names for the days of the week and count to the next number on the calendar. We also make a chart to keep track of the number of days we’ve been in school.  On Monday it will be 10 days!!! That’s pretty exciting!

Terry Fox Walk and Pledges

By now you'll have gotten a pledge sheet in your red folders.  When you are done filling out your sheet please send it back to school so we can collect it and send it to the coordinators. They won't be due until after Thanksgiving. The Kindergarten classes will be walking a much different path from the rest of the school so we invite you to walk with your child as we walk around the school.

Snuggle Up and Read Program

By now everyone in the class has their Snuggle Up and Read zip lock bag and recording book. Instruction are pretty clear on the bag, (I hope) Let me know if you have any questions or would like to see how I would do a reading session with your child to maximize learning and keep them interested. Please read every night, record the book with your child in the recording booklet and return it to school the next day. At school your child will exchange their book and put it in their knap sack to read again that night.

One thing that might fill up that recording book is that you can write down all the books you read to your child and all the books your child reads. Remember your child will get a prize when they fill up their recording book. They will get a new recording book after that. We usually have plastic medals for students who finish 4 recording books... 100 books and other prizes for 150 and 200.

Class Schedule

As you probably know, our school is run on a 5 day cycle. There are certain activities we do on each day. You’ve been notified about Library days but I will send you an email telling you which day your child has library as the students are divided into two groups. For now just return the library book when you are finished reading it. I have posted a daily schedule at the entry/exit door so parents know what is happening and what day it is. Please feel free to peek in to take a look.

Number and Colour Groups

Every year I organize students into 5 groups. Each group has 5-6 students in it, with an equal amount of juniors and seniors. There are many activities I plan in the class that revolve around the student groups. Often students groups rotate through 5 different language and math activities a week. This year we are using the colour groups, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. Your child might remember which group they are in and what number group that is but if you want to make sure, just check their book bag for the star colour, or their books as it’s on them.

Class helpers and Show and Tell.

For one day a week your child will have the opportunity to be a special helper and to stand in front of the class to tell us about themselves or tell us a story. Your child’s show and tell day number is the same day as their group number. So if your child is in group 1 then they are special helpers on day 1 and present their show and tell that day. Ok so some show and tell rules. Your child can bring in something they have made- a picture, craft etc, they can bring in something they have a story about – a stuffed animal they love or a photo of something or someone, and your child can tell us a story about something they’ve experienced, a book they’ve read or had read to them etc.. The only no… is toys. Please do not let your child choose to bring in a toy for show and tell. I will not be able to let them present it, which might cause tears. The reason? I don’t want show and tell to become a “Who’s got the best toys?” event.Your child will learn to ask and answer questions during this activity. We will focus on questions that start with Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.  Please help your child to know the answers to possible questions so they will be successful. This Show and Tell will start on Tuesday with Group 1 - Red group, Group 2 - Yellow etc... 

That’s all for now…. Please tell your child the secret word is “Jump” and please remind them that they can’t tell anyone else.

Take care

Jennifer Hall