Language

We are beginning to gather information for Report Cards and we continue to work on our vocabulary in Kindergarten. A main reason that NWSD decided to increase Kindergarten time was to give us additional time to increase vocabulary and just talk between students, student to teacher and to the class.
Taking the time to really talk to your child and see what they know will show you many things about what your child understands and how they process speech. When you talk to your child do they answer in full sentences? Do people around them know what they are talking about and if they are unsure are they able to explain themselves so that they are clear? Do they use proper word or grammar choices?
Language can be extended in the following small ways.

• Ask your child about something and really listen to what they tell you. Ask them to explain ideas that are not clear.
• Tell them about something you like and get them to tell you something that they like.
• Read a story to them and then have them retell it to you.
• If your child uses improper word or grammar choices then model the proper language in a non threatening and low key way.
• Instead of asking for a yes/no answer, ask them a question that requires a full sentence or more complete response.
• Use a big word that they may not know and when they ask what that is, then explain. Give them praise when they use the word properly in their everyday conversation.
• Continuously explain, describe and talk about what your child is doing (cooking, playing games, getting ready for school or bed, etc).
• When your child gives a response expand the sentence to be more complete ("Its bed time." " Yes, its time for bed because you have a big day tomorrow.")

Taking the time to increase your child's opportunity for language has huge rewards as studies have shown that children who have a better grasp at language at an early have a greater chance of being a better reader and writer in the elementary grades and beyond.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Doctors Office

The Kindergarten class are enjoying the Doctors office that we opened last week. They make sure to clean up the Doctors office each day ('cause thats what their offices are like.)We have had broken arms and legs, blood, and lots and lots of needles.
They make sure there is a doctor and a nurse and make sure to check hearts and breathing are good with the stethoscope. They write charts to make sure we know what is wrong with the "patients" and then they dictate the charts to me. What looks like gibberish to you and I is actually notes of the actual visit as they are able to tell me what it says. They make sure the "patients" are comfortable and are sure to reassure them that all will be OK.
They are setting it up as they are going to use it. I was watching the students today and they had set a chair up to act as a lab and were "taking blood" complete with the tie to slow the blood in the arm.
I am so proud of Kindergarten for taking this for their own.

Spiders

What started as a very innocent conversation this morning sparked a discussion that had all my little scientists hurrying to look for information. I asked the studensts what they noticed outside the room. They quickly told me that they saw a spider web and they had a discussion about whether or not the spider web was real. I told them that they could get their microscopes ("cause that is what real scientists look with") and they were off.

They looked carefully and with discussion decided that a person must have made the web. They said that,"it is made out of yarn - can you see that?" and that "there are staples holding it together."

And we were off to the library. The students asked Mrs. Shirtliffe for "books about spiders. Real books" and she helped us find some. We brought them back to the classroom and started to look. I let them use sticky notes to show me where they could find information(pictures) about webs. They researched about the webs with pictures and they are excited to continue.

One of the boys told me that he knows where webs are made from? When I asked he told me the webs come from the bum (he said the last word in a whisper) and I told him that he was right.

Pretty good investigative work Kindergarten. We will keep working on it!

We love the Fire fighters!

A big thanks goes out to Shane, Shane and Jeff from the Brittania Wilton Fire Department who came to visit our school this morning. The Kindergartens were paired with the Grade One class and we got to meet our local firefighters who taught us all about fire and what to do in case of a fire.

They taught why we have smoke detectors and how to take care of them.

They taught us what to say when we call 911. Be sure that your children know how to call 911 and what to do if we have to call them.

And the BEST part!!!! They showed us their new fire truck and we got to see the new gadgets on board!

Be sure to practise your fire escape plan and change your fire alarm batteries.

A Wasps Nest

For the last week or so, there has been a wasps nest in our room. The first morning that it was out, the students wanted to know what it was. Was it a duck nest? A bird nest? A piece of junk? These are all things that they wanted to know.

This morning one of the boys told me that he knew it was a wasps nest. He had asked at home and he was sure that is what it was.

At centers today I brought the wasp nest down to kid level along with magnifying glasses and a lamp and magnifying stand.

It was a rush to see who could check it out first.

They had lots of theories as to what it was and what the various holes were for and they started to talk. Could the holes let in light? Were they there to get the "bees" in and out? Were they just cracks?

They wanted to know what the nest was made of? Some said the paper was like a feather and another thought that the nest was made of wood and junk.

One of the students noticed that there were "bees" inside. They wanted to get them out. I let them use the kid tweezers and they soon discovered that they were too big. They asked if they could get smaller ones and soon two of them were off to find some smaller ones from the Science lab. They came back and after some trial and error they found they could get them out.

They looked at the "bees" under the magnifying stand to see what they look like.

We will continue to leanr about the "nest" in the coming weeks so I hope your child comes home with some questions or things that they have learned.

If you have interesting things from nature that you would be willing to donate to the room for us to look at and learn about feel free to let me know.