Each week in kindergarten, we will highlight one letter to help us practice letter formation and become more confident with letter/sound relationships. This week we learned about the letter P. Children practiced printing this letter in their journals and drew pictures of things that begin with this sound. Ask your child to show you what our action and song is for this letter! See if you can find any items around the house that begin with the letter P.

 

We spent time this week talking about how each family is unique! Children shared about their favourite things to do with their family and drew pictures of what each family member looks like. Our expertise with drawing shapes helped us to progress beyond drawing stick people! Yaaaay!!! 

One of the most important skills we practice in kindergarten is self-regulation. We spend a lot of time talking about how to be conscious of our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. When we're able to identify how we are feeling, we can use strategies to help us work through them. We read a beautiful story called My Magic Breath that taught us about the power of breathing to help us feel calm. Children created their own magic breath paintings and shared about how their breath can help them when they're feeling upset.

 

"My magic breath helps me to feel like I'm relaxing." Alice

"My magic breath helps me to feel calm." Maddie

"My magic breath helps me to blow away all the bad feelings." Magnus

 

 

Head over to Mrs. Seddon's blog to see what happened on Math Monday!

Classroom Information and Reminders

1. Next week, we will be learning about the letter H and talking about the homes in which we live. Children will be sketching their house and sharing a bit about their home with their classmates. If possible, please send in a picture of your child standing in front of their home. Feel free to send me the photos through email if you like (taroberts@cbe.ab.ca). We will need photos by Tuesday, October 2. Thank you SO MUCH to those of you who have already sent in your photos!!!

2. Remember to sign-up for email notifications for these blog posts so that they will be delivered directly to your email inbox each week :) Easy peasy! Please let me know if you're having difficulty.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Miss Roberts :)

 

 P is for PINK!

It was so wonderful meeting with each of you over the past couple of days. Thank you so much for taking the time to engage in these important introductory discussions about your child. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations we shared.

We continued our investigation into what it means to be an artist. We practiced drawing triangles this week (a surprisingly challenging shape to draw) and some students even started adding letters to their work!

We call this beginning stage of writing "kid-writing." Children may add random letters to their pictures or begin to identify the beginning letters associated with what they have drawn. If you see your child begin to experiment with letters at home, please be supportive of this HUGE developmental step. Encourage risk-taking and experimentation rather than perfection or fixing mistakes. All attempts at writing are a success!

 

Students worked SO hard at using their scissor skills to create a picture using shapes. Look at this concentration! As this is a brand new skill for some of our little ones, a bit of extra practice at home might be helpful :)

 

 

Looking at how children choose to represent  themselves through drawing is such a beautiful thing. There's a little piece of each of them in these gorgeous self-portraits. 

Sorting continued on Monday with Mrs. Seddon. Click here for details :)

Classroom Information and Reminders

1. The school-wide Terry Fox Run will be taking place on Thursday, Sept. 27 from 2:45 to 3:15. We will be running at Green Park, across the street from the school. Parents, siblings and grandparents are welcome to participate! All are welcome! As this is an afternoon event, morning students are welcome to join us for the run, as long as they come accompanied by a parent / guardian. Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather on that day. Children are welcome to bring in a Toonie for Terry if they wish to donate this important cause. 

2. In the next couple of weeks, students will begin investigating the communities in which we live. If possible, please send in a picture of your child standing in front of their home(s) so that they may share a little bit about where they live with their classmates. Feel free to email me the photos (taroberts@cbe.ab.ca) if that is easier. We can easily print them off at school. Please send in home photos by Tuesday, October 2. 

Have a fantastic weekend! See you on Tuesday!

Miss Roberts :)

  

 

To all who come to this happy classroom…WELCOME! 

Here you enter a place of wonder, curiosity and everyday magic. 

We’re so happy you’re here!

 

I am filled with joy after having spent the past 2 weeks with your children. I can already tell it’s going to be an incredible year. My heart is bursting with pride over how much effort and thoughtfulness your kiddos have demonstrated throughout our first days together. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this beautiful time in your child’s life.

 

Learning to represent our ideas through pictures and drawings is a very important part of being in kindergarten. As an exciting introduction to this concept, we spent a lot of time this week talking about what it means to be a REAL artist. Students were very excited to have an up-close look at some of my paintings from home and enjoyed the opportunity to begin making art of their own from the very first day of school.

 

We talked about how artists become experts at what they do and learned the importance of persistence and practice, even when something seems tricky at first. We spent time drawing circles and squares this week and quickly discovered that with just a few simple shapes, we can learn how to draw almost anything! Our kindergarteners were very excited to try out their drawing skills in their fancy new artist sketchbooks. 

 

Check out Mrs. Seddon’s blog (mrs-seddonyyc.blogspot.com) for the exciting things that took place on their first magical and math-filled Monday together!

Classroom Information and Reminders

1. Would you like each week’s blog post delivered to your email inbox?! Enter your email address under “Follow by Email” on the right hand side of the page. If you're viewing the blog from a mobile device, you will need to scroll to the bottom and click "view web version" to see the menu on the right. 

2. Our first Parent Teacher Meetings are happening next week. You are invited to book a time to come in for a 10 minute chat on Thursday evening or Friday morning to tell us a little bit more about your child and how we can best support them this year. Online booking will be available through PowerSchool early in the week. Children are welcome to attend this interview if you like.

3. Due to Parent Teacher Interviews, there will be no school for morning or afternoon students next Friday, September 21.

4. Please return your child's school forms if you have not already done so.

5. Please remember to send your child’s folder to school every day, even if there is nothing inside it. Taking out our folders is one of our important morning routines.

We look forward to meeting with each of you next week!

Miss Roberts :)

 

 

 

Check out our first collaborative abstract art piece!