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!

      

 

  

 

Newsletter #18

 January 28^th Edition of

The Kindergarten Class News

Hello again!

What a funny week with the threat of snow teasing us on and off. A good reminder to be ready for cold weather! On that note, I have exhausted my supply of spare pants for the kids and am in need. If your child came home in borrowed clothing, please wash and return it. Also, please send spare clothes to school if your child has worn their spare clothes home. The ground is slippery, muddy and wet. Thank you! Today alone, 5 out of the 14 kids had to change into spare clothes.

Here are some highlights from our week:

 

On Monday the kids worked on the lowercase letter ‘j’ in printing, made mitten art inspired by the Jan Brett book, “The Mitten” and practiced reading. Outside, we made bird feeders our of pinecones, peanut butter and bird seed! A special treat for the birds.

 

Tuesday, we worked on writing in our journals had our Oral Language groups. The class went to music class and we explored the forest. 

 

On Wednesday we continued our penguin study, went to the library and practiced measuring things with non-standard units of measurement. We also worked on reading and collected special items in nature to make a wind mobile.

 

Thursday, the class practiced adding one more in math. Later, we went up for buddy reading with Ms. K’s class and enjoyed seeing the salmon eggs they just received! After music, we cleaned the class and spent the afternoon outside. 

 

Next week will be “Pp” week for Show and Tell.

 

Important Dates to Remember:

February 14 Valentines Day

February 15 Family Day (no school)

February 19 School in session 

February 22-25 Kristen Lewis will do a dance workshop with our class.

 

Warmly,

Ara Van Riel

 

avanriel@sd64.org

Math fun!

                                                   Making bird feeders.

                                 

                               

Centres

                                           Measuring activity

Buddy Reading

                                                     Centres