Newsletter #21

 February 19^th Edition of

The Kindergarten Class News

Hi Everyone!

Here are some highlights from our week: 

 

Monday the school was closed for Family Day. I hope you all had fun in the snow!

 

On Tuesday the class was excited to share snow stories and wrote in their journals about what they did on the long weekend. We also worked more on compound words and went to Music class. Everyone was happy to play in the snow during recess, lunch and forest play!

 

On Wednesday we played a math game using dice and counters, we also started the C.A.R.E. kit and talked about how each person in the world is special and unique. The class visited the library and, understandable, many children forget it was library day. Please send in the books next week if they were forgotten.  

 

Thursday, we had another visit from Quinten and this time we painted our fish paddles. They look great! We also had Music class and the kids continued to enjoy playing in the (very wet) snow.

 

Friday was a school day and PJ day! Whenever Monday is a holiday, Friday runs on a Monday schedule (this includes Show and Tell). We worked on printing, combined art and math in a snowflake activity and began a story telling workshop. The kids loved it! They will be creating their own books, stay tuned! 

 

Next week we will be starting a writing blitz supported by Mrs. Lamirand! This is part of a school wide project called the EPIC project and is designed to help kids learn more about writing in a fun and collaborative way.

 

March 4^th will be an early dismissal day for the Parent-Teacher meetings. I will be contacting the parents who I need to meet with to arrange a time. If you don’t hear from me, but have something you would like to discuss about your child, please reach out. Priority will be given to those I didn’t get a chance to meet with the last time.

 

Important dates to remember:

February 24 Pink Shirt Day

March 4 Early dismissal 

March 12 First day of Spring Break

March 29 School back in session

 

Warmly,

Ara Van Riel

avanriel@sd64.org

Heading out to the forest in the snow.

Finding animal tracks!

                                       Playing a chase game.

Working at the new desks.

Math!

                                          Centres time!

Check out the sorting.

Making snow forts.

Counting cones.

Quinten showing us his paddle.

Snowflake math.

Story workshop.

Forest play

                      

Newsletter #20

 The Kindergarten Class News

Greetings Everyone!

It was an exciting week at school for the kids with the little bit of snow and our Valentine’s celebration. I was pulled away from the class a few times for meetings and the kids were very well behaved for the Teachers On Call.

 

Monday was a full day. The children continued their printing practice, made Valentine’s Day cards and had an extra Music class. The weather really took a dip down below zero, so thank you for sending the kids to school in warm clothing.

 

Tuesday, we had another session of our Oral Language Groups and we started learning about compound words. The kids rocked this! We also worked in our journals and went to music. I was away for the afternoon attending a Changing Results for Young Children session which focuses on Social Emotional wellbeing. 

 

On Wednesday we wrapped up our unit on penguins, made Valentine’s mailboxes and the kids went to the library to sign out books. Later, we welcomed Janet Hoag in to do a math assessment with the class. The kids were thrilled to play in the falling snow. 

 

Thursday was our Valentine’s Day celebration! The kids were excited to fill up each others mailboxes and look forward to reading the cards at home. It was nice to see so many children wearing the Valentine’s colours, it made it feel festive. The kids also had fun doing a Valentine’s Day themed math activity and we welcomed Quinten in to lead us in a paddle making activity. Later the kids went to music and then had a little extra special Valentine’s treat before our fun in the frozen forest. 

 

Next week I will start teaching a program called, “The Care Kit”. This will encourage children to develop respect for their bodies, learn their boundaries and the boundaries of others. If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to ask.

 

Also, if you know of any children who will be turning 5 this year, Kindergarten registration for the 2021-2022 school year is now open until the end of the month. 

 

Important dates to remember:

February 14 Valentine’s Day

February 15 Family Day (no school)

February 19 School in session

February 24 Pink Shirt Day (to support anti-bullying) 

 

Warmly,

Ara Van Riel

avanriel@sd64.org

Valentine writing centre

                                               Reading break

Math games

Word puzzle 

Fun with cars

Outside time

Newsletter #19

 February 4^th Edition of

The Kindergarten Class News

Happy February Everyone!

It was an eventful week.

 

On Monday we worked on our printing, talked about story sequence and did a writing activity. Later we worked on our reading and learned a new “Word or the Week”! We also talked about the Lunar New Year. In the forest, the kids found special items to create wind catchers and had free forest play.

 

Tuesday was our Oral Language groups where we continued our work on segmenting sentences into words. The kids had fun creating “silly sentences”. Later we wrote about what we like about ourselves in our journals and I was impressed by the level of independence many of the children are developing! The afternoon was spent in music class and in the forest.

 

On Wednesday we continued our work with measurement and learned more about penguins. The children went to the library and then we made some love heart art. It was sunny, yet cold out in the forest! 

 

Thursday, we worked on number recognition, had buddy reading with Ms. K’s class and were excited to observe the salmon eggs that have arrived upstairs! As always, the class went to music and then we spent the afternoon in the forest. We observed the seasonal changes taking place as we notice flowers shooting up and buds forming on bushes and trees. An early spring perhaps? 

 

With Valentine’s Day coming up, we are planning a little class celebration on Thursday, February 11^th. We will have a card exchange and the kids always love this. It is encouraged that children make a card for everyone in the class. Here is the list of names again:

Arlo

Desmia

Ella Mae

Eva

Gia

Josey

Lia

Linden

Lula

Mateo

Rory

Rosemary

Stella

Will 

 

Important Dates to Remember:

February 14 Valentine’s Day

February 15 Family Day (no school)

February 19 School in session

February 24 Pink Shirt Day-wear pink to stand against bullying.

March 4 Early Dismissal Day 

March 12 Spring Break Starts

March 29 School Re-opens 

 

Warmly,

Ara Van Riel

avanriel@sd64.org

 Checking out the Chinese New Year themed sensory station.

                               

                                         Drawing time

Searching for special items in the forest for the wind catchers.

                                  

                                         Misty garden...

                     

              Centres time!

                                

                                         Letter matching

                                       Number towers

                        Measuring with blocks! How long are we?

Forest play

Discovering our traditional cedar bark weaving. A special spot.

                                    Finding words is fun!