Christmas Concert

Thanks to all the parents who came to support the Christmas Concert.  The kids were so excited and I was so proud of them.  They did an excellent job and not much got them fazed though the donkey at the front was a little concerning to some. 
One of the students asked me what the donkey was doing at the front of the gym so we had a little talk about the Christmas story.. so if your child came home asking about Mary and Joseph that is where it came from...
Have a great weekend and see you Monday!

Funny for Friday

This morning as the kids came into the room they quickly noticed that I wasn't feeling good.  They were all so concerned.  One little girl told me that she had her cold still but she felt better.  I then told her, "I got my cold from you."  She looked very puzzled and then replied, "No you can't cause I still have mine." 
Enjoy your Friday.  See you tonight for the concert!

Eating

I have had some of the parents ask about lunches and eating.  I try my best to make sure they all eat and then I came across this website.  It is all dedicated to healthy eating for kids even the picky ones.  I have used some of the ideas for my own kids and they responded well to it. 
When you get to the website go to the Kids Blog section.  It is well laid out and has lots of good information. 
Super Healthy Kids
PS - The reason I was missing today was that I had an allergic reaction and had to take medication that knocks me out.  I will be back Monday.
Have a great weekend.

Monday Morning Funny

This morning the kids were gathered around a table learning about a new game we would be playing.  A little girl was pulling a marker lid off and when it came off hit a little boy in the eye. 
After the tears stopped running I said to him, "You can tell your mom and dad that you got hit by a girl at school." 
He quickly replied, "No I will tell him that she stabbed me." 
The class had a little giggle about that one. 
Have a great Monday.

Go Riders go!

Couldn't resist!  Have a wonderful Sunday with your families and can't wait to see the kids on Monday with all their Grey Cup stories to tell. Here's hoping we don't have to practise counting to 12 and not 13 tomorrow.  Go Riders!

Our morning

This morning we had a visitor to our room.  This year we have a exchange student who is joining us one morning a week.  This morning Ale came with us for two classes to help out where she could.  The students were excited to have another helper with us and I quickly became old news. As we went about our normal things Ale helped out with names and colouring and making sure thate the work done was correct. 

She helped us do a craft that the kids are taking home tonight. 

We are doing a Hawaiian song for the Christmas concert and are looking for two small guitars (ukeleles) for the boys to play.  If you have one to lend please let me know.  As well I will be buying grass skirts and leis for the girls (if you have one at home for your daughter to wear please let me know as I will not buy one for them.

Funny for Friday

In class we have been reading lots of books and as I do everyday I try to discuss interesting words that we come across.  Earlier in the morning one of the kids told me that the car had stopped while carrying mom and brother and herself  to their destination that morning. 
"What did your mom do?" I asked.
"She screamed and screamed," was the reply.
As we read the book, the word hysterical came up.  I asked the kids if they knew what it meant. 
The same little girl put up her hand and replied, "Well I know if we had a tire (a flat ) this morning that my mom would have been hysterical!" 
You can't tell me that they don't know what is going on.  They really are a riot!

What the kids are saying

You may have noticed that I have been sending home art and activities that have writing written on or attached to it. Why?
Whenever I have the chance I record what your child had to say about a certain activity exactly as they say it. If they dont have much to say I will encourage them to tell me more. But the recordings are exactly that. Recordings. Exactly what your child said.
When your child brings an activity home ask them what they did or what they can tell you about a page or project. Are they talking in full sentences? Are they about to explain clearly what they did? If they are unclear to you it makes conversation and descriptions very difficult. If they are unclear take the time to expand on what they are saying and tell them what you know or see.
Enjoy your weekend! I am sending home 14 very tired children who survived 4 days of Kindergarten this week!

Red Blue and Yellow

Sorry in advance if some of your children came home with paint on their faces, clothes or other parts. See below for an explanation!

We have spent a good amount of time this year painting but all the painting so far has been very prescribed with an end result in mind. Today I put red, blue and yellow paint out and told them to go to town. I did a short tutorial on what you could do with all the supplies and then I told them to have fun. And the fun they had!

They rolled marbles in paint, they blew colours out of a straw, they stamped things and they had a ball creating and telling. Pretty soon they learned that out of blue and red and yellow come a whole bunch of colours.

• Red and yellow make orange!
• I made purple!
• See my castle!
• See how high my tower is!

Some had to be reminded that when you are blow painting that you have to blow the paint not suck it up and that walking on paint makes stamps on the floor. They worked together to make sure the masterpieces would dry in one piece.

I hope that they come home to tell you all about their painting experiences and that their need for making messes is taken care of for at least a couple of days.

We had fun! The masterpieces will be home when they dry!

*** Blogger was not being my friend with pictures today. Sorry they are out of order and not all the ones I wanted got added.

Remembering

This week we have talked about Remembrance Day. This was a very difficult topic for them to grasp so the comparison we made was to love and remembering those who fought for us and to remember to be peaceful. As we remember those who fought for us to be free and continue to fight so that others can be free here a couple of videos you can watch.

A Pittance of Time

Highway of Heroes - the Trews

Highway of Heroes - Amazing Grace

Lest we forget.

Team Work

Today in centers the kids were showing me the entrance to a dog house that they were building. I asked them where the rest of the building was?
They didn't have an answer so I showed them that they could make a big building quick with the straws and connectors.



Once I got them started I let them go. They learned that you can get a wall done quickly if you work together and were soon telling each other how to be more efficient. One of the kids got ahead of the others and students in other groups were telling them how to fix the problems.

You could sense the excitement of the students when their tower got bigger and bigger. As I write this the back wall of the structure is about 5 feet tall and they are still going strong. I let them leave it up to continue next day.

Good team work Kindergarten!

What we Learned - Kids Eye View!

I asked the kids to tell me all the things they have learned so far. I left this very openended and the following are things they told me, in their own words.

• Do work when Mrs. Hunter says.
• Sit down after recess.
• No hitting people (no smacking too!)
• Hang your coats up.
• Listen to where you need to be.
• Clean up your mess.
• If you are bad you need a time out.
• Don't cut your hair with scissors.
• We are five and we put our coats on ourselves (this is really what they said! No editing.)
• If its winter, wear ski pants.
• If there's a fire, we have to go outside to the big yellow slide.
• Don't go on water if it is not cold enough because it can't hold your weight and it will break!(learned that lesson the hard way I guess!)
• Put your name on your paper.

I found it very interesting that not once did they tell me they learned letters or counting. They are learning these and that is clear in the everyday activities that we do.

I love that they are able to actual use all these rules and need few reminders. They really are getting to better at self reliance.

Good job Kindergarten!

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.

Counting to 10

We have nearly finished learning our numbers to 10. These are some of the things that you can do when you count.

• Show that number on our hands.


• Find out how many are left until we reach 10 (they look at how many fingers are left down)


• Draw 10 things.


• Count 10 things. We have to make sure to count and touch each object as we count. (This is hard!)


• Draw the number.

If you are looking to increase your child's awareness of number these are some of the things that you can do. Taking time to show your child all the things that you can do with a number makes it all the more interesting!

Remember to have fun with it!

Center Time

Many people ask why we have centers? Do they really need to play that long?

As I sit and listen to the children as they work through the centers I see all the things they are learning.

They are learning to get along with others, to plan how they are going to plan and compromise when two people have different ideas, they are playing imaginatively and playing together with others. They are working on fine motor skills, making and creating and playing in ways I have never thought possible. They are learning to clean up when they play and to make sure to do their fair share. And all through this they are talking. Back and forth, discussing and making plans.

I am proud of the gains that the have made already and I love to see them blossoming into exciting little learners.

Enjoy your weekend.

A Funny

I was talking to the students about the sounds of the day which happen to be the c/k sound. I asked them what sound the letter k makes and they all said "k".
"What sound does kleenex start with?"
"K", they all said.
"What sound does the word cat start with?"
One little boy pipes up, "I know, I know!"
"What does it start with?"
"Meow" was his answer.

Once I stopped laughing, I thought, "Different word next time!"

Terry Fox Run

Terry Fox Run is on Friday morning. If you are interested in joining us we would love to have you. Please be sure to dress your child in layers and in running shoes too. Here's hoping for a great day to walk!

So Far

This year is off to a roaring start and we are already in the midst of learning!

So far this year we have learned the letters S A T I P .
We are following the Jolly Phonics program. The actions that we follow are seen on this site.

As well we are learning and relearning the number 0-10.. Taking the time to play simple counting and number recognition games will help your child with a greater sense of number.
These can include such things as counting utensils for supper or how many socks in the laundry. There are also many math games that can be found to play on the Internet.

Taking just a few minutes a day playing these games or reviewing what they have learned can have big rewards!

Team work

Today the Kindergarten class really worked well together. When something was hard someone else made sure to help. This was evident when we did lacing practice and even when they worked hard to finish a puzzle. This helpfulness is obviously something that is practised at home. Thank you!

All the students seem to be settling in well and are generally quite happy little people at school. Most of the students called me teacher the first day but have quickly learned what my "real" name is. Here are some pictures of some of the activities we have done so far.

Back to School

After a much too short summer we ready for Kindergarten. I have started to meet with all of the students and their enthusiasm is infectious. First day of Kindergarten will be Tuesday August 31st. Be sure to send your child some healthy snacks as they will be ravenous! Please feel free to contact me at home or school if you have any questions. I will be adding pictures throughout the year and adding posts when we are doing interesting things. I am excited for this year!

Our Mini Field Trip

The past couple of days the school yard has been abuzz with the directional drillers who are added fiber optics cables to the school. The kids were told to stay away and not to bother them but you could see it was killing them. So today at noon I asked the head driller if we could come and check out what they were doing. The Kindergarten class was excited to see what the red truck was doing. Our tour guide told us what the machines did and why he was digging a hole. He even let us check out the hole. Then the class had to check out the track hoe and the holes that are all the way up the hill. Thanks to the guys at MC Campbell and Mr. Moles Directional Drilling for your patience. The kids loved it.

Spring is in the Air

Yesterday the Kindergarten class went outside for a spring walk. We wanted to see what we could see from all areas around the school. We climbed to the top of a "mountain" and I asked them what they saw. They could see a tractor, the top of the school ( "its red you know" one child told me) and lots of water. They thought they would like to check out the water but I said that we would maybe check that out on another day.

After going back to the school I let the kids go for a little run. Just like colts on a warm spring day!

The walk ended at the gravel pit north of the school where I let the kids pick out a rock. Some on them immediately thought they would like to dig for dinosaur bones. They had a great time looking and came to tell us all the rocks they found. The kindergarteners were allowed to take back as many as they would like.

On the way back the kids realized that their pants had "freckles". I assured them that the freckles were in fact burrs and wouldn't hurt them. When we got back we picked them off and put them under a magnifier. They were a big hit.

Kindergarten Orientation

Orientation has been set for Monday May 31st. All playschool students and other children born in 2005 are welcome to attend. More info will be sent home with the Playschool students or at the office. I am so looking forward to seeing all the new students that will be a part of my room in the fall!

Kindergarten students will be going to the Dare to Care program in Marshall on Thursday May 13. We will be leaving as soon as all busses arrive and returning to the school around 10:40. Please be sure to send a small snack that can be eaten on the bus.