Thank you as always to our valued volunteers. Many thanks to those who have sent in donations for our Stonegate Family basket also. We have collected three baskets full of our love and good wishes to share with this family in need, well done! If you would still like to send something in, PLEASE DO on Monday morning as I will wrap and tag everything for delivery after that.
On Friday morning the kids were treated to a visit by author Kari-Lynn Winters and had a great time! You should know that Parent Council funding - from your donations - is one way author visits, scientists in the school, artist programs and so much more are made possible for our kids! Again, thank you!
At this time of year it may feel like there is always a group asking for money - there probably is - but you should know that all of those dollars and donations make a difference somewhere and we make no judgements on who or what you choose. We respect and honour the idea that "fair is not always equal and equal is not always fair" and that true equity and acceptance is everyone getting what they need not necessarily getting or giving the same as everyone else. This is a rule from my house with 5 adult children - everyone gets what they need and typically no 2 get the same but the love and support is always there.
The hour of coding this week introduced the kids to the idea of algorithms or a sequence of "moves" to complete a task - nothing new to our tech savvy kids with games and screen time readily available to them. Parents often ask how much screen time is too much - again, that is a household decision but in general screens are another tool, another means of learning, teaching and also being entertained hopefully never to the exclusion of face to face interactions. All of these new gadgets...when I tell the kids there were none of them when I was little they are appalled and quickly jump to "did you have lights? Or "were there cars?" Hahaha but these tools can only do what we allow them to do so if they are presented as a resource with a specific purpose they are often easier to manage than having no boundaries whatsoever. These are 4 and 5 year olds we are dealing with - they don't know what they don't know - and we can't expect to take the lead from them...good parenting is good guidance but bottom line you are the parent.
Many of you have mentioned that snowpants are a difficult topic with your child. Please know that we go outside every day, generally for three 40 minute periods, no exceptions. There is NO place to stay inside when the class is outside. In cases of illness, children should not be at school if they cannot participate in the program which includes going outside for physical activities. Snowpants make independent dressing and undressing slower and getting to be first in line (behind the leader of course) trickier but there are no prizes for being first! Again, children don't know what they don't know, such as 40 minutes is a long time and much longer if you are cold! Decisions like these, that can impact the health and well being of not only your child but everyone in your family when illness comes in the door are why we parents have the ultimate say. Allow a longer dressing time so there is no rush and there will be less frustration and less resistance. Next week is said to be a cold one!
Friday will be our December pizza lunch day and our December Sharing Assembly. The children are asked to wear a "seasonal hat" of some kind - think reindeer antlers, elf hats, Santa hats, Dollarama! As always, we begin at 9:00 in the gym to present our seasonal song and the certificates this month are to recognize kids who consistently display kindness and caring in the classroom. We celebrate our Paige, Olivia and Matthew for always watching out for and thinking of others. Well done Paige, Olivia and Matthew!
The week looks like this:
Monday -
Tuesday - Music, Mystery Reader AM, no gym- concert set up for grade 6-8 evening
Wednesday - First day of Hanukkah! Reading Buddies AM, grade 1-5 evening concert
Thursday - PM Lib day 4 yellow group, gym
Friday - Sharing Assembly 9:00, AM Lib day 5 orange group, Pizza Lunch, PM Mystery Reader
**Friday's mailbag will be the LAST little reader book and poetry book sent home before the holidays. We will try to keep mailbags IN class over the break so they are ready for use the first Tuesday back. Have a great week!
