Thank you as always to our valued volunteers! We heard from many parents how much they appreciate the small mailbag readers we send home, many thanks to those of you who come in to swap them for the kids! We will start on new sets this week that should last us to the holiday break. (No books go home over the holidays.)
It was a pleasure to meet with you all over the course of the week! Ms. Mosun and I would like to thank you all for taking the time to come in and talk with us about your child. They are all wonderful and we enjoy them immensely. So much growth has happened already, it is amazing! For juniors you begin to see what they are capable of and how they adjust to new challenges, for seniors we see the confidence and capabilities which will bring them success in grade one and going forward! Well done kids! Well done parents!
You should know that while we share our classroom and most of the things in it with the Before and After Daycare program; you should realize how wonderful and careful the staff - primarily Alejandra who works in our room - is and encourages the children to be also. They take care not to disturb things we have set up or on the go. They wipe tables down when they are done and wipe out toy bins far more often than Ms. Mosun or I would get around to doing!
The daycare mandates are very different than Kindergarten, meaning Alejandra has new activities and materials weekly for the big block and drama/home centre areas. These materials (drama and block) are left in our class for the week and ALL the children have opportunities to play with and use them, not just daycare kids. Our class has REALLY enjoyed this! The puppets were a HUGE hit! I have a great puppet theatre but not puppets and now we have some. It has been great! Having firefighter, construction worker and police dress up materials in the home centre has been awesome. This week the home centre was set up for a party...balloons, loot bags, table necessities and all...you can imagine the interest that created! The doll hair salon was another huge hit!
We do have to concede the use of our space, planning and organizing for the class before and after
school looks different than in other classes and we do ask you to respect that once the school day is over at 3:05 the classroom space is theirs and to please not intrude on their time and programming but also recognize that we have benefitted in many ways from the relationship! Several parents have asked about the playground as last year we were asked to vacate as quickly as possible for B and A groups to come out and play. Their schedule is different this year and they are coming out later, giving you time to let your child have a bit more outdoor time if you wish.
With respect to our playground, please also know that you are more than welcome to come into the space and be at the door if you need to speak with us at the end of the day. Having the majority of adults, strollers, scooters, siblings etc (for both Mrs. Hall's class and ours because our doors are so close) wait outside the gate has eased the congestion at pick up time but shouldn't stop us from communicating!
On Friday the school has "Moustache Day" to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer research. In anticipation of this annual event, I purchased moustaches when the Halloween costumes were on clearance! I have a stick-on moustache for every child who would like to wear one. You may send donations with the kids on Friday, they will be collected by our Student Council. Thank you!
This week we will enjoy Pizza Lunch, thank you to those volunteers! Next week, Wednesday, Nov.
30, we will have our Sharing Assembly. There are a few mid-week assemblies over the year to fit with Ms. Caddel and Ms. Norton's schedules - same routine, same place, just a different day! For the character trait this month we think about and celebrate "empathy", being able to put uourself in someone else's shoes...a trickier concept for the young egocentric minds in Kindergarten! We use book and real life situations to teach and think about these character traits and you can too. Receiving certificates this month will be our Matthew and our Everett, two truly caring and empathetic students who have done a great job of looking out for everyone not just their close friends. Well done boys!
This week looks like:
Monday - Mystery Reader AM
Tuesday - Mailbags, Day 3 LIB/IT PM
Wednesday - Reading Buddies AM, Mystery Reader PM
Thursday - Day 5 LIB/IT AM
Friday - Moustache Day(see above), Mailbags, Music AM, Pizza Lunch
**The December Scholastic order will go out next Tuesday for a next Thursday return just in case anyone is looking for gifts/stocking stuffers - we should have no problem filling the order and receiving it for the holidays!
Have a great week, Ms. I.
