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.  

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 show off their drawing skills in their fancy new artist sketchbooks.

Each week, children are invited to engage in a variety of activities to strengthen their fine motor skills. This week, each child received their very own playdough and we practiced using scissors for the first time. Ask your child what colour of playdough they chose. Try out some scissor activities this weekend and see if your child might need more help with this brand new skill!

Did you know that September 15th is International Dot Day?! It's a day to encourage us all to embrace our creativity and honour the artist that lives within each and every one of us! We had so much fun celebrating this occasion together. We started our day by reading Peter Reynold's book, The Dot, learned about an incredible artist named Yayoi Kusama (who happens to reeeeally love dots) and created some collaborative art inspired by Yayoi’s Obliteration Room. This was SO MUCH FUN! 

Here are a few more photos of our centre time activities this week. Ask your child what their favourite centre has been so far…

Here’s a note from Mrs. Planden about what the kiddos were up to in math this week:

We have begun our weekly number study! This week we dove into learning about the number 1. We practiced writing the numeral, learning how to say it in sign language and in Blackfoot (ni’tookskaa), made the numeral out of play dough and loose parts, searched for it in magazines, determined whether we could fair share it and then practiced our skills in subitizing it (which means to recognize it at a glance, without counting) Thank you so much to everyone who brought in things that represented the number one. To name a few items, we had loonies brought in, a picture of a podium finish with one of the students on the first place podium, even a Frida Kahlo doll with her infamous 'unibrow'! 

Next Monday, please support your child to bring in items that represent the number two for our next number study! If you did not receive my e-mail about this from last week, please e-mail me (jpkerr@cbe.ab.ca) and I can try to figure it out. 

We also began exploring the world of mathematics through the question “Where is the math?” Students carefully looked around the classroom for evidence of math. We will be broadening our idea of math from just numbers and counting to patterns, spatial reasoning, comparison, geometric shapes, data, etc. We are very excited to watch this work unfold, and loved seeing the children’s excitement as they used their detective work to try to find all the math in our room! ~ Mrs. Planden

Classroom Info and Reminders

1. Our first Parent Teacher Meetings are happening next Thursday and Friday. You are invited to book a time to come in and tell us a little bit more about your child and how we can best support them this year. Please contact the office if you have any questions about booking. 

2. Due to Parent Teacher Interviews, there will be no school for kindergarten Thursday Sept. 22 or Friday, Sept. 23. Children are more than welcome to attend these interviews with you!

3. Have you heard about our popsicle stick system? When we see children displaying helpful behaviours, kindness towards others and spectacular listening, we reward them with a popsicle stick. Each time they collect 10 popsicle sticks, they choose a prize from our treasure box. We go through quite a few prizes at this time of the year and gladly accept any donations for small treasures! We generally find the prizes at the dollar store and buy things that come in packages of 8 or 10 for $2. Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

We are looking forward to connecting with all of you next week! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Miss Roberts 💛