We're wild about dinosaurs in kindergarten this week! Many of our kiddos have been talking about dinosaurs A LOT and it was time to dive a little deeper into this incredibly engaging topic. Not surprisingly, these 4- and 5-year-olds know more about these prehistoric giants than their teacher. We're having so much fun learning alongside each other. 

We're learning to conduct simple research by making observations and asking thoughtful questions. These kindergarteners are getting very good at sharing what they SEE, THINK and WONDER when looking through dinosaur books, pictures, models and artifacts. 

We've chosen to start our new year with a focus on mindfulness. We read stories and watched videos about what it means to be aware of our thoughts. We're learning that thoughts are like bubbles and we have the power to pop the ones that aren't helping us. Children reflected on some of the thought bubbles that float around in their mind from time to time.

"I wish for love."

"Cooking with my mom."

We're learning new strategies each day to help us feel calm and at peace. On our early dismissal Friday, the morning class learned about the process of creating mandalas. These simple, repetitive patterns are meditative and very relaxing to create (I'd highly recommend it). The children were challenged to complete their drawings in silence and they totally rocked it! 

Many children chose to create a New Year Wish during centre time and added it to our Wishing Tree. Here are some of the wishes added so far...

I wish for corona virus to be over.

I wish I could learn how to read this year.

I wish I could go on an airplane with my family.

I wish it could be Christmas all year long.

I wish I could be a real-life power ranger.

I wish for a unicorn. 

How amazing are those wishes?! We've got some incredibly thoughtful kindergarteners. 

This week’s letter focus was G (a tricky sound for many to remember). Ask your child what our action is for this letter. 

We read one of my all time favorite stories, The Gruffalo, and created some pretty adorable little gruffalos during centre time :)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I am over the moon to be back with your littles again...IN PERSON!! 

Miss Roberts :)

Here’s a math update for this week from Mrs. Planden...

In math this week we continued to explore measurement concepts. We used non-standard measuring units (noodles!) to measure and compare the heights of different flowers before ultimately arranging them in order of tallest to shortest. We discussed the importance of having our units be the same size and ensuring we do not have gaps or overlapping with each unit.

Kiddos were introduced to the concept of weight and compared many fun objects at one of our new centers. 

Mrs. Planden