Important Dates:
Hi Kindergarten Families,
It has been another exciting and successful week in Kindergarten. Students have settled into our school routines nicely and are eager to share with us all they know.
Students this week have been busy. Centres have been a hit as we learn how to play with others. Many have enjoyed this a great deal. We have also done a lot of drawings and even added some labels to our drawings trying out our printing skills.
Our Terry Fox Run is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29th. Students have just started learning who Terry was and what his run means. We will take this topic up next week and have a couple of school events to celebrate our run. Our run will look different this year as due to COVID restrictions, each class will be running outside during their PE time by themselves instead of altogether during a common time. For our Mon/Wed students, we will still participate in all the lead-up activities and hold our own run on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
Just a reminder that there is no school tomorrow as it is a Professional Learning Day for staff.
School conferences will be held next week on Thursday and Friday. You can book your conference time using the MyCBE account. If you are unable to book through this account, please call the school at 403-777-6830 and speak to our secretary Mrs. Pulfer and she will assist you.
This will be the last post on this platform as we now transition to Google Classroom. We are moving to this platform for several reasons. The first reason is that should we be forced to move to Scenario 2 or 3 due to COVID, this is the platform we would use for content delivery. Secondly, within this platform, we will have the ability to post more of the students' work and photos as this will be a private classroom instead of a public blog. Finally, it will serve as an additional means of communication with your child's teacher.
Each of you will have received a letter in your child's messenger bag with their email address and a separate school messenger with their password. We would encourage each of you to log into the classroom to ensure you can access it. If you should encounter any issues, feel free to email your child's teacher and we will help you work through it.
We hope you have a wonderful weekend! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us. We are here to support you and your family.
Important Dates:
Hello Families,
We had a great week in Kindergarten with all of our friends as a whole group.
Messenger Bags/Folders
Thank you to the many families that check our messenger bags each night. We often send home important notices and paperwork through this channel. Please continue to check each night. If you still have the first of year forms at home, could you please complete and send back to school next week.
Soft Entry
Students have been doing a wonderful job of coming into the school and getting into their classroom. We have been very pleased with their easy transition into the school and our new routine.
Handwashing
We have been very pleased with how well students are washing their hands and how seriously they have been taking it. They have obviously had some support at home and we greatly appreciate it.
Labels
Thank you to so many of you that have labelled everything. It has made returning items to students much easier. We would also invite you to label your child's masks as these sometimes find their way to our lost and found.
Ask me!
This week we looked at families. We talked about all kinds of families and then drew a picture in our visual journal. Ask me who I included in my family and what else I may have drew in my visual journal.
Fire Drill
This week we had our first fire drill practice. The students did a wonderful job following instructions and staying with their teacher. Ask your child about fire drill expectations and you could review a fire safety plan for your home. *Only AM and T/Th Kinder had a fire drill this week. We will do another one with our M/W Kinders.Independence
One of the biggest goals in Kindergarten is to build our independence. This is a wonderful skill to practice at home especially as we get closer to cooler weather. Encourage your child to put on their shoes, clothing, jackets, and snow pants independently. Another tricky skill is turning sleeve right-side-out, please practice this at home to boost your child's confidence.
Hand Sanitizer
Students are encouraged to bring their own hand sanitizer and hand lotion, at your discretion, to use in class but it must be kept in their backpack and needs to be unscented.
Food
In our classrooms, we have different bins for garbage, compost and recycling of containers. This is a nice opportunity for students to practice their sorting skills at home as well.
Playdough
Thank you to those families that have already sent in Playdough. We use playdough on a regular basis in Kindergarten to enhance creativity and strengthen fine motor muscles. With changes due to COVID, we are asking each family to send some playdough with their child. This will be used only by your child and will be stored in their supply bin. It is best if it is stored in an airtight container that your child can open independently. If you need a recipe, please ask as we have a few good ones to share. Please label the container with your child's name.
Change of clothes
It is helpful if your child has an extra set of clothes in a Ziploc bag in their backpack in case of accidents or spills.
Birthdays
We have many birthdays just around the corner and we love to celebrate birthdays with a special song. As we cannot share food at school, please do not send in special treats. We will celebrate summer birthdays at the end of the school year.
Google Classroom
To ensure we are able to transition quickly between in-school learning and online learning, we have created a Google Classroom for each Kindergarten class. You will receive your child's email address and password early next week. Please try logging in using the Google Chrome browser and ensure any other Google accounts have been logged out. If you have any difficulties with logging in, please contact your child's teacher so they can assist you.
Important Dates:
Hello Kindergarten families,
What a remarkable start to our year. Although there are many new routines to school (wearing a mask, extra handwashing and limited to no sharing of materials) our students are crushing it! Every child is making a sincere effort to meet these new expectations on top of learning the routines of Kindergarten. We are so impressed.
We have been so impressed by the level of independence with this group of students. They transition from outside to inside really well and can put on and take off their shoes with limited to no help. They are engaging in learning tasks with simple directions and with little to no adult support. We are off to a tremendous start on this front and look forward to the amazing things they will do.
A note on masks. Managing masks is always a tricky affair especially when we are transitioning from inside to outside and vice versa. Making this extra tricky is when your child happens to be wearing clothing that does not have pockets. If students are using a lanyard or fanny pack this does not pose a problem. However, if they are not, we would encourage them to have a plastic bag (Ziploc style) that would allow them to manage their mask with greater ease.
For our Mon/Wed and Tues/Thurs groups, we know that lunch/snacks may be coming home partially eaten or some things untouched. Please do not worry. Students are sorting out what to eat when and are progressing just fine. As things become more routine, this will subside and students will let you know if you are sending too much or too little.
We would also ask you label everything. This means water bottles, shoes, lunch kits, etc. They have done really well so far but we have already had a couple of unmarked items show up.
Overall, this has been a fantastic start to Kindergarten and we have been blown away by their readiness to learn and grow. We are looking forward to an amazing year.
Just a reminder there is no school for AM Kindergarten this Friday. The only group attending is Mon/Wed with surnames A - K ONLY. As well, it is a half-day that runs from 8:00am to 12:00pm.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to your child's teacher by email kcmckay@cbe.ab.ca or ktnewman@cbe.ab.ca. Check out our Twitter account @curious_kinder as we post daily reminders and pictures from our days.