Swimming Lessons

This week we begin swimming lessons on Friday.  Please make sure that your child has all their forms in and if you can volunteer please let me know if you haven't already.  Your child will need to bring the following:

1. Swim Suit
2. Towel
3. Swim goggles (if your child wears them)
4. Water shoes (if you would like your child to wear them)
5. Plastic bag to store wet things

Our Trees

Last week we went outside to sketch our very first tree.  We went out in the front of the school and looked at the biggest tree we could find.  We talked about the trunk of the tree and how the bark felt (hard, bumpy, rough).  We then looked up and talked about the different branches that were coming off the tree.  Very carefully we all touched leaves still on the tree and talked about what they felt like (soft, smooth, cold).  After this we sat on the grass and sketched what we saw.  There was a wide variety of trees.  There was also a wide variety of details added to the background.  Some of the students added the helicopter we saw while others added themselves.

Cutting and Learning about Printing

Yesterday we started experimenting with scissors.  We tried to cut straight lines, around triangles as well as a circle.

To help us with this we sang a song to remember the steps for holding the scissors properly.

Today we learnt about the different lines to use when printing.  There is the top baseline, bottom baseline and middle dotted line.  They have the most fun when labelling the middle dotted line as we move our bodies back and forth.  Then we practised printing a row of Tall Vertical lines.  It would be a good idea to practise this at home as well as it can be very tricky to stay on the lines.  After they completed an entire row they were asked to circle the best one.

Walk to Bowness Park

We took our very first field trip on Wednesday, September 16th.  During this outing we had many different tasks that we worked on.  The first one was a scavenger hunt to find different things in nature.  It was interesting to see how the different groups completed this task.  In the morning we worked with grade one/two students and in the afternoon we did this on our own.

The next part was to complete different books that talked about the senses that we were using as we explored the park.  What could we see, hear, touch and smell.  Some of the students said they could hear the wind and children screaming they could see trees, clouds, airplanes, ducks and smell grass and my hair.

Drawing what he can see while sitting on the grass.

Starting the senses books on the picnic table as a big group.

After completing the books to the best they could they were sent on a collection journey.  We are working on trying our best and being okay with that.  I will often say,  "Try your best"  and "It is okay to make mistakes.  That helps us to learn."  They collected different objects they found in nature.  Everyone had a ton of fun.  Thank you to all the volunteers that joined us and made the trip possible.

FIrst Library

We had our first trip to the library this week.  The librarian read us a story "Green".  We were able to take out one book and do a colouring in the library.  We will be going to the library every Tuesday unless we have a field trip or something else that would take us away from the school.  If possible please make sure that all books are returned on Monday so they can be checked in and your child can take out a new book on Tuesday.

Bottle Drive and Parent Teacher Conferences

If you are having trouble booking a time for Parent Teacher Conference please contact me.

BelPark School Council Bottle Drive! At Conferences, please bring your bottles into the school for the BelPark School Council Bottle Drive, which goes to supporting our BelPark Students! The School Council made $250 on the bottle drive in the spring, and the money goes to support students in activities like field trips, etc.

The Five Senses

Today we continued our talk about the five senses.  The sense of touch we practiced by closing our eyes and touching the ground.  What does it feel like? (cold, hard, smooth)  We continued to keep our eyes closed and used the sense of hearing.  What can you hear?  (a door closing, a teacher talking) We talked about not using our sense of taste until there was some real food around and not to eat off the floor.  We then opened our eyes and talked about the different things we could see in the classroom.  For the sense of smell we took in some deep breaths and someone said they could smell strawberries.

Practicing Lines

This week we learned about a four different lines that we can use to make any letter or draw almost anything.  We then went to the art room to practice making the lines as a large group.  There was a lot of laughs and giggles as we made large motions and coloured all over the paper.  If you are looking for something fun to do this weekend have your child try and draw something using these types of lines.  I would love to put up new drawings around the classroom.

 

Wavy Lines

Straight Lines

Zig Zag Lines

Circles

Early Dismissal Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our first early dismissal.  It will be the morning kindergarten students turn to come in. They will stay until 11:15 and be dismissed with the rest of the school.  There is also a field trip walking form coming home.  We will be going to Bowness Park next week.  If you can volunteer and have clearance please let me know.

Comparing Books

Today we read two books with the titles "Ten Friendly Fish" and "10 Hooting Owls".  We then talked about what was the same and what was different (the chart is below).  We worked together as a team. We called these number or counting books.  Do you have any books like this at home?

The other thing we had a lot of fun doing was going to the gym.  We did some running games as well as playing a game called "still waters".

Our Family Wall

Please send in a family photo.  I am going to create a family wall for us all to share.  It will give the children a chance to talk about their families and create a connection with one another.

Week One

Wow!  We had a very busy first week in kindergarten.  We slowly met new friends with our staggered entry.  The highlight for many of the children was playing on the playground and exploring the different centres in the room.  We began decorating our space by adding our handprints to the door.

We used paint and were able to pick our own spot.

We also started to learn new routines like morning message, calendar as well as changing our shoes and finding our hooks.  Please make sure that if you forgot to send indoor shoes this week that you send them in as soon as possible.  We also started using our special kindergarten door on Friday (down at the south end of the school).  We had some time to explore different materials as groups at the table.

Singing different songs and reading stories were enjoyed by the children throughout the day. We started to learn our five classroom carpet rules (which we also sing).

Rule # 1 Sit on your bum

Rule # 2 Use your listening ears.

Rule # 3 Eyes on the teacher.

Rule # 4 One person talks at a time.

Rule # 5 Hands off your friends.

Just a reminder that there were a lot of forms sent home please fill them out and return them as soon as possible.  I have also created a lost and found page.  If you could check it to see if any of the items belong to your child and then email me I will make sure they are returned.  I will also be looking for volunteers very soon.  If you would like to come in and have clearance from the office email me and I will you put you on a list.  If you did not fill out the clearance forms please go to the office as soon as you can as I would not like to have to turn any one away from the fun we will have this year.