Thursday, February 27, 2014

EMERGENT WRITING - For Your Information

http://www.parentingtimes.ca/from-holding-to-scribbling-to-writing/

Click the above link to read a short article about the progression of how children learn to write.


If these types of articles are of interest to
you, a free subscription to "Parenting Times"
e-newsletter is also available when you follow the link.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

OLYMPIC CHEER!

This Friday we are asking that everyone wear RED and WHITE clothing  
and/or any items that highlight our national flag



to patriotically cheer on CANADA's olympic teams! 

"GO CANADA GO!!"


Monday, February 17, 2014

Happy Family Day!

Hello,

I am so happy to be making my first post to the Kindergarten blog! After two weeks of working with the Blue SK group, I wanted to introduce myself and thank all of the parents and students for being so welcoming.

I have been teaching for 11 years, working with students from Grade 3 to Grade 6. I am very excited to have this new opportunity to work with SK students! I love having this chance to find and use great resources in the class, and then bring some of them home, to work with my daughter who will be starting JK in September!

So far, we have been reading stories related to our monthly theme, and making predictions about, and connections to, the stories. We have been working on our popcorn words and our phonics; and through our center activities, examining measurement, quantity and even practicing some keyboarding skills!

I have to say that I am loving every minute of the block that I get to spend with your children. They are so excited to learn and the time seems to fly by. Their energy and enthusiasm is incredible. Sometimes, I have so much that I am focused on accomplishing that I forget things, like handing out my valentines! Whoops! My class valentines will be handed out and put in the mail bags on Tuesday!

I will be posting on this blog to help keep parents updated. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I check the mail bags every day. Also, if you have a great book that connects with our current theme, that your child loves, feel free to send it into the class and I will do my best to include it in our daily activities.

Have a great day!

Mr. Skinner

Sunday, February 16, 2014

FRIENDSHIP and COMMUNITY HELPERS

THE FOCUS FOR UPCOMING GROUP DISCUSSIONS WILL BE:

JUNIOR Kindergarten classes will be continuing with the "FRIENDSHIP" theme. We are discussing what it means to be a friend, how to listen to our friends and accept another's opinions, needs, and wants.

The laughing and playing are the easy parts of friendship.

True friendship is about caring, sharing, communication, compromise, acceptance, (even tolerance),  and finding acceptable ways to resolve conflicts.  It is also about determining when it is okay to be assertive and stand up for yourself, while at the same time discovering what are the appropriate ways of doing that.

These are extremely important skills for our little ones to understand and attain.  Learning how to behave appropriately, not only at school, but in life in general, is absolutely fundamental to the next steps in academic learning as well as simply being happy.  

COMMUNICATION and COLLABORATION are the two most important skills for all future learning and are also the most important skills in FRIENDSHIP.

              _________________________________________________________

SENIOR Kindergarten classes will be expanding their discussions beyond friendship to also include "COMMUNITY HELPERS", such as firefighters, police officers, health professionals, plumbers, electricians, etc.

PROFESSIONALS WANTED!!
If any parent would like to come into the class for a few minutes (approx. 15 min.) to talk to the students about their job and explain how it helps us in the community, please contact Mme.Blahout as soon as possible so we can schedule your visit.
(Please call the school (# 591-3256) after 3 pm)

Using magazines, flyers, newspapers, and the internet, we would like all SK students to find, cut out, print off, and bring in photos of various community helpers.  We will then use those photos to create a giant "Community Helper COLLAGE" to post in the classroom so everyone can see how many people it takes to make a community successful and happy.

Thank you, in advance, for your support and assistance in this regard.




Friday, February 14, 2014

HAPPY LOVE DAY FROM ALL OFF US!!
MAY YOU ALL HAVE THE BEST FAMILY D
DAY!
GOD BLESS!
Copy and paste link into the address bar to see a love heart of all your beautiful children.

Have a great trip, Aiden!! We will miss you! Send us some pictures or a post card! 

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=750132a09a&view=att&th=144310462f0f5ac6&attid=0.1&disp=safe&zw


Wednesday, February 12, 2014

CAKE RAFFLE FUNDRAISER this week!

As a way to raise money for the Gr. 6 June activities,  the Grade Six class will be holding a 
Cake Raffle on Thursday, February 13th

Tickets are $0.50 each, 5 for $2.00 or 12 for $5.00 and can be purchased at school. 

There is no limit to the number of tickets a student may purchase, however each student will be eligible to win one prize only.  

All cakes and prizes will be sent home on Thursday.

Thank you very much for your support!
The Grade 6 Class

Monday, February 10, 2014

VALENTINE'S DAY on Friday!

On Friday, February 14th we ask that your child wear RED, WHITE or PINK clothing for a Valentine's Day celebration. 

Students are invited to bring in their valentine CARDS in a labelled bag as soon as possible so that they can distribute them into our decorated bags prior to Valentine’s Day. 

Please ONLY include YOUR CHILD'S NAME on 21 valentine cards.  
[Please DO NOT address them to individual students. This allows for simple distribution and ensures that no one is forgotten.]


Wednesday, February 5, 2014

HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS

POPCORN WORDS = high frequency words that often "pop up"

Please practice these words whenever they come up in books or whenever they "pop up" in text.

High frequency words build the "foundation" to reading!

Simply recognizing these words instantaneously is key to building a child's confidence so that they can think of themselves as "readers". If they believe they 'can' read then they are more willing to take the necessary risks to attempt to read.

Which words are "popcorn" (high-frequency) words?  Most of these words are 2 to 4 letters in length and constantly pop up in text.  I will highlight specific "popcorn" words in the classroom and in structured lessons or mention them in upcoming newsletters in Senior Kindergarten.

Most JK's (3-4 yr olds) will need to focus on letter names and letter sounds but if your child has a solid grounding in blending together or sounding out sounds then they are ready to move on to learning "popcorn" words --- as this is how they travel down the road to reading.

Monday, February 3, 2014

FEBRUARY NEWS!

Click here for the JUNIOR Kindergarten NEWSLETTER.

Click here for the SENIOR Kindergarten NEWSLETTER.

It is "Friendship" month.
The focus is on what it means 
to be a friend.
  • SHARING  =   PARTAGER
  • HELPING   =   AIDER
  • PLAYING   =   JOUER
  • LOVING     =   AIMER