Once again, a fantastic week, thank you to all our volunteers!
We celebrated learning to be responsible in kindergarten at Friday's sharing assembly and congratulated Christian, Harrison and Leena for their efforts. The next sharing assembly will be Friday, November 23.
Both classes had great reading buddy visits and are looking forward to their next time together. Like most class events, this will happen according to our five day cycle not days of the week. The morning class see their buddies on Day 1 and the afternoon see their buddies on Day 3, barring other school events that may interrupt our schedules. Our week's activities will remain the constant until the PA day in November for interviews. Once again, a missed day means everything shifts over!
Indoor shoes are becoming a must as the weather changes. We have the space for each child to keep a pair of shoes in the class so that when the playground is muddy we aren't bringing that dirt into our class. On rainy and inclement days the rain boots are lovely but not to wear around the room for two and a half hours. If you can, please send a pair of shoes that will stay in the class. Labeling them is always a good idea - permanent marker or stick on labels such as from "Mabel's Labels" are great. (My 18 year old is away at school and without Mabel's Labels I'm sure he'd have no clothes left!)
As the weather changes it also takes us longer to dress. We encourage and need independent dressing at school in order for the children to get the most they can out of their school day. If your child is not yet independently able to take on/off coats and do zippers/buttons/snaps please make time to practice with them and encourage caregivers to do the same. Standing behind your child gives you the same view they have of fasteners and lets you show them what those little fingers need to do! Zippers can often easily be enhanced with key ring loops to give the child a better grasp as they're pulling up, again my children used this tip until their fingers got a little longer and stronger. Our putting coats on trick is to lay it on the floor with the "tag to your toes" - it looks upside down to the child but when they reach into the arms and flip it up over their heads it works perfectly! Pick one item and work on it when you have time and aren't rushing, it's confidence building to be able to show some independence and definitely makes outings more pleasant for everyone.
Interview time schedules will be available to parents beginning November 5. All families are entitled to and encouraged to have an interview at this time even though only Senior Kindergarten students will take home a progress report. If for any reason you are unable to attend or have difficulty with this process please let me know. I have a variety of before and after school times as well as Thursday evening (Nov. 15) and Friday morning (Nov. 16) available so that you may find the best time for your schedule. Your child may or may not come with you, however; it is an interview meeting not a playtime and class activities will be closed. Interviews are 10 minutes long and stacked back to back to accommodate everyone so being on time is crucial.
Halloween! The children are counting down with great anticipation but here are a few tips to make the morning/afternoon go smoothly -
1. No weapons at school.
2. Come IN costume but be sure to have a backpack as costumes/parts often come off very quickly once the students have finished their parade. I'll do my best to be sure parts go in the appropriate backpack but again labeling is VERY helpful!
3. Individually wrapped treats for sharing with classmates is the way to go as I'm not equipped to separate and wrap items for sending home while the children are in class.
4. Be conscious of allergies in the school environment when choosing/sending treats for sharing.
5. Talk with your child about costumes and dressing up before Wednesday, try the costume on before Wednesday. They may feel unsure about dressing up and you don't want to find this out Wednesday! Also, as we parade around the school there will be a variety of costumes to see, some of course scarier than others as we do have students up to grade 8 where "the gorier the better..." so lots of talking about pretending is good.
6. Face paint is always easier and safer than masks that may actually hinder your child's vision.
This week:
Monday - Afternoon Library
Tuesday - Morning Library
Wednesday - Halloween Parade 9am outside if weather approp./ 12:35 with other kindie classes
Thursday - Mystery Readers
Friday - AM computers, PM Reading Buddies
