Thank you as always to our volunteers! Many, many volunteers help out with so much of what happens at LKS...we are very lucky!
**JUST announced - Blue and White Day for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Go Leafs Go!
Congratulations again to our co-operation certificate recipients at this month's Sharing Assembly - Kaitlyn, Jackson, Margaux and Scott - your co-operation every day is very much appreciated! Next month's assembly has been moved to accommodate a full day workshop which all your kindergarten teachers will be attending. The assembly will now take place Tuesday, May 28 at 9:00 and 12:35 to celebrate the character trait of integrity...a tricky one to teach young children but we think of it as doing the right thing even when no one else is around to cover the moral issues and not doing things you don't want to, to encompass the be true to yourself side.
Earth Day activities and our clean-up were enjoyed by all this week - check Ms. Caddel's blog for a picture as she caught our AM class out cleaning up! The children are having a great time learning about earth, space, the solar system...even Isaac Newton has come up when we wondered how scientists knew the weight of the earth!! Keep spurring on those "I wonder" moments with books and computer access at home. Learning the rote facts on any subject is no longer good enough to promote successful life and career skills in our ever and so quickly changing world...it's all about wondering, risk taking, initiative and problem solving - just consider the case of 17 year old high school boy Nick D'Aloisio who is now an app developer working for Apple and a multi-millionaire because he wondered why no one had created an app to summarize printed material (a high school student with lots of reading homework hahaha!) and decided he would try to fill the gap!
Springfest is quickly approaching! Thanks to those who have already sent in items for the baskets, they're looking great! The tombola committee is still looking for donations and if you can help out any amount can be sent in and for every $5 we accumulate our class earns a leaf. I've donated $50 worth of books for the tombola prizes - $25 a class to be fair - and hope to see everyone out on Saturday, May 4 playing the games and having fun! 10 am to 2 pm, be there! Remember, these activities create funds which allow us to purchase smartboards, buy computer access such as RAZ, IXL, have scientists and artists come to visit, and so much more!
LKS helps out! The initiative of our older students continues and we have two worthwhile fundraisers going right now driven by grade 5 and 6 students. Both drives can help clear out some clutter and help children who may not have access to some of the things we enjoy. Please send in what you can.
Sports equiptment - gently used, jerseys included, can be sent in and will be passed on to schools in need
Books - gently used, can be sent in and will be passed on to those in need
May calendars were sent home with both classes on Friday, be sure to pull yours out of those backpacks. A few changes were made to our routine to accommodate our upcoming special visits; as well the AFTERNOON snack and leader calendar has been revised to accommodate our new students. We have had 4 new students come to us from 4 different parts of the world in less than a month! We welcomed Emma and her family this week, please introduce yourselves and make them feel at home. Our class is now at 17 students and your old snack/leader calendar does not reflect this. Please look for and follow the green one.
May Scholastic orders came home on Friday, they are due back to me with a cheque by Thursday, May 2 if you wish to order something. Thank you!
Student placements for next year are a hot topic right now...Ms. Caddel has posted some tips for how this is handled on her blog. Basically, there is no such thing as a teacher request as we can't guarantee any particular teacher to be teaching a particular grade/class until September comes along. Even then changes can always happen! Your teachers work to create balanced groups of children - boys, girls, ability, needs etc that can then be matched up with a teaching style to be successful students in their new grade. We often see different behaviours than parents would in the large group classroom setting - obviously different from home! - and from the knowledge we have of your child over the past year in this setting, we think carefully about which peers to place them with as well as which teaching style would be most successful. As a teacher who has taught from JK to grade 5 and had her own children successfully navigate the grades to high school graduation, I can tell you the single most important aspect of this process is parental support - support your child, their teacher and keep positive about schooling. You are the single most influential people in your child's life at this point and they will look to you to see how they should feel and behave...Be positive! Change is part of life, approaching changes with a positive attitude is so critical.
This week:
Monday - Mystery Readers 10:55 and 2:45
Tuesday - AM Computers, PM Reading Buddies
Wednesday - PM Library, **JUST ANNOUNCED -Blue and White Day - GO LEAFS GO!
Thursday - AM Library
Friday - AM Reading Buddies, PM Computers
Saturday - Springfest 10 am to 2 pm, rain or shine
Have a great week!
