Sunday, May 31, 2015

PROTECT our OCEANS!


June 8th is proclaimed: "World Oceans Day" and we encourage everyone to stretch out the celebration over the lead up week to this day.  Explore and appreciate the many images of different creatures and plant life that live in the ocean and help us to live too. Caring for our oceans means caring for life!




Consider it as: "World Oceans WeekJune 1st to June 8th 

Saturday, May 30, 2015

JUNE NEWS

All Kindergarten students thoroughly enjoyed both the visit by "Little Ray's Reptiles Zoo" at school, as well as their field trip to the Museum of Agriculture, better know as the “Farm”. Thank you again to all volunteers who made this animal adventure a great success!

In June we will naturally discuss summer/ l’été  with a focus on insects, water safety, and summer activities. We hope to help children develop a sense of awe and respect for some of God's smallest creatures, an awareness about water safety, and an overall appreciation for the beauty and relaxation of our summer season.

Monthly French vocabulary includes:
Insect / insecte            caterpillar / chenille         bee / abeille       fly / mouche

ladybug / coccinelle           spider / araignée            play outside / jouer dehors          

          It is hot. / Il fait chaud.            This is summer. / C'est l'été.       

 It is beautiful. / Il fait beau.            swim / nager           vacation / vacances

June / juin             July / juillet           August / août           bicycle / bicyclette 

water / eau               beach / plage            fish / poisson            cottage / chalet 

sun / soleil               cloud / nuage              sand / sable                travel / voyager 

PHRASES:  Je veux ;  Je voyage ;  Je vais ;  J'aime / Je n'aime pas

~   ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~   ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~     ~   ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~  

Later this month, the SENIOR Kindergarten students will begin the transition into the regular afternoon recess, (1:25-1:40) in preparation for Grade 1. 
[All outdoor toys (ie. balls) should be labeled.]  
JUNIOR students will be staying indoors and enjoying small group inquiries during this time. 

REPORT CARDS

Final report cards will be sent home the last week of school. Just a reminder that as listed on the developmental key, a 'DE' indicates that your child is "developing as expected", = meeting the Kindergarten program expectations as outlined by the Ministry of Education. Children who are demonstrating skills (< in class) that are significantly above ministry standards would merit a WD’, which signifies “the skill is well developed”. A 'BD' indicates that a child isbeginning to developthe skill in question and requires further reinforcement. A 'NT' signifies "needs more time and experience", as the skill or expectation in question has not yet begun to develop or is not being demonstrated at school. Information regarding next year's entry will be included with the report card.

FYI:

We will be celebrating all  our summer birthdays  this month along with those on the corresponding dates in June. Please send any summer birthday invitations prior to the last week of school.
(The last week is crazy busy with lots of things going home, so invitations often go missing.)

We would like to extend our appreciation to all parents for their generous support throughout the year. We hope that you have a wonderful summer!

Sincerely,
The Kindergarten Teams   


Wednesday, May 27, 2015

HELP DEVELOP your child`s LANGUAGE SKILLS!


Yesterday we enjoyed a close-up investigation of a 

variety of exotic creatures from "Ray’s Reptiles"!  

Those who were brave enough had the opportunity to handle a few as well.  It was very exciting!

Please encourage your child to recount this event (and any others) in order to check their language skills. We are listening for words like: First, then, next, last - for proper retelling with a beginning, middle, ending of a story. 

We are also watching that students use proper grammar and sentence structure when they are speaking. Parents often get accustomed to how their own child speaks and sometimes find it difficult to recognize errors. You can always check your child`s skills by simply repeating their sentences back to yourself (out loud) -- this way you will be able to hear any mistakes more readily.


Also, try to encourage the addition of details. Details will build vocabulary and help them recognize how to tell a better story. [One day in the future we hope this skill will then transfer over to their writing.]


Thanks for being the most important member of the educational team that supports your child`s learning!

Saturday, May 23, 2015

TIP: Teach Children NOT to Interrupt

Here is a story that explains a very gentle method I recently read about on how to teach children not to interrupt people who are speaking. 
While mom was chatting with a friend, a 3-year-old wanted to say something. Instead of interrupting though, he simply placed his hand on his mother's wrist and waited. The woman placed her hand over his to acknowledge him and continued chatting.  After she had finished what she was saying, she turned to him and gave him her complete attention
So simple. So gentle. So respectful  to the child and the adults involved. He only needed to wait a few seconds for her to finish her sentence and then he was rewarded.
No more, ‘Wait a second! ‘. No more, ‘Please don’t interrupt!‘ Just a simple gesture; a little touch of the wrist. That’s all.             Give it a try. 
It's polite, caring, and it works!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

SAFETY CONCERN!

SCHOOL SHOES need to be appropriate for athletic purposes, like running, jumping, climbing. 

Running shoes are preferred and certainly the safest. 

[Crocs can be a bit slippery on the climber and sometimes fall off. Please check them yourself.]

If children wear summer sandals, please ensure that they have a back-strap to keep them secure while running or climbing. 



For safety reasons, children should
NOT WEAR beach flip-flops at all due to numerous injuries we have witnessed with these sandals.



Naturally, we encourage the use of sunscreen & hats. We are outside 40 minutes before lunch (11 - 11:40 am) And an additional 15-20 minutes at the end of each day.

Monday, May 18, 2015

ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS are HERE!




CLICK HERE to find out about how to pay ONLINE!  


We are encouraging parents to PLEASE register for electronic payments.  
You will now be able to make all future payments online for anything that requires money for school items, such as your child's pizza order or student activity fees.  We would rather receive an electronic payment versus risking any misplaced or lost cash from a young child.




PLEASE register for this service!


Sunday, May 17, 2015

BABY NEWS!

MRS. BRADLEY`s SURPRISE!    ( - Click on this title for more info)


 
to both teachers and their families!

   MRS. BELAIRE had her baby boy, `HUDSON`
      only 10+ hours after Mrs.Bradley gave birth 
(& on the same day as Kate Middleton`s little princess, Charlotte, was born).  

Thursday, May 14, 2015

THANK YOU!

Just a small note to THANK our wonderful field trip VOLUNTEERS for supervising the students!!



THANK YOU so-o much for adding another wonderful element to an exciting day!

Sunday, May 10, 2015

FARM FIELD TRIP reminder!

Dear Parents,


On WednesdayMay 13th all Kindergarten classes will be visiting the "Experimental Farm"!

We will depart from the school at 8:45 and return by 11:30 AM.

Due to time constraints, we will not be eating a snack at the farm; so we will leave lunch bags & backpacks at school. 

Please note that our excursion will occur regardless of the weather conditions since most of the tour takes place inside the barns. Please have your child dressed appropriately for farm conditions.

 ~      ~       ~       ~        ~        ~        ~      ~      ~       ~       ~        ~        ~        ~         ~      ~   

To those who checked "YES" to volunteer >> we are expecting you to help supervise. Likely it will only be your own child and perhaps one other.

There may be a few empty seats on the buses - so please let us know if you are interested in travelling with us (seats will be given first to those who have already requested one and then on a first-come-first-serve basis according to availability.)

Otherwise, please meet the bus in the main parking lot between 9 - 9:15 am. (On Prince of Wales Dr.)
DIRECTIONS:
The bus usually travels by way of the Queensway (eastbound) to the Pinecrest / Greenbank exit. Then right (south) to the intersection at Baseline and turns LEFT (eastbound) onto Baseline Rd.  Continues on Baseline to the intersection at Prince of Wales and takes a LEFT (travelling north) until the parking lot on the LEFT side (before the traffic circle). See you there! 

Friday, May 8, 2015

MAY NEWS

This month our discussions focus on Farm Animals & Pets with the JKs and Wild or Exotic Animals with SKs. We are looking forward to our field trip on Wednesday, May 13th when we will experience a real farm! We are excited to share the fun with our classmates, as well as our recess buddies from the other groups! Rain or shine it will be an exciting event!

Class inquiries should include: caring for pets, animal needs, extinction, habitats and respecting God’s creaturesAnimals will be classified into groups according to physical and environmental characteristics. In math, we will sort them into groups according to various characteristics (e.g. with / without wings, two vs. four legs etc.) and also introduce the concept of symmetry; particularly in nature (e.g. butterfly wings)


We also encourage children to wear sunscreen and hats for safe outdoor play now that the warm sun has finally arrived. If you are putting a bottle of sunscreen in their backpack, please package it in a ziploc bag to avoid messy spills. Thank you.  
  
  JK French vocabulary includes: "Il y a _____ à la ferme"

             
animals/ animaux      farm/ ferme     farmer/ fermier- ière     dog/ chien     

cat/ chat       hen/ poule      chick / poussin     horse/ cheval     

sheep/mouton      duck/ canard     cow/ vache      goat/ chèvre        pig/ cochon


SK French vocabulary includes: "Je veux protéger ____."

lion / lion zebra / zèbre        giraffe / girafe    monkey / singe       

tiger / tigre    gorilla / gorille     fox / renard   

wolf/ loup  bear/ ours snake / serpent  elephant / éléphant

                               

One of the big highlights this month will be welcoming "Little Ray’s Reptiles"  to our class on Wednesday, May 27th.  We will take part in a close-up investigation of a variety of exotic creatures and those who are brave enough will have the opportunity to handle a few as well.  
(*Payment for this show will be provided by the Activity Fee fund.)  



READING: All “popcorn” / high-frequency words should now be practiced regularly by SKs and they should be making frequent attempts to read as many words as possible in their environment.  Continue to encourage them to read pattern books or read along with you whenever possible.    
   
Popcorn” Words to review:
I, is, in, it, a, am, an, and, at, my, me, we, see, he, she, the, you, yes, can, to, do, so, go, no, look, like, love, mom, dad, bus, was, went, said, come, that, up


WRITING: At this point in Senior Kindergarten we are expecting all students to phonetically write simple sentences to the best of their ability and to make attempts to include “popcorn” words wherever possible. Sentences should begin with an upper case letter, end with a period and include spaces between words. Please encourage labels on their pictures and help them to write lists, emails or cards.


MATH: We are now reviewing a variety of this year’s math concepts and putting a greater focus on simple addition and subtraction. Please reinforce this at home.


SCIENCE: Seasonal changes will continue to be a topic of interest. Exotic animal attributes, needs and habitats, as well as farm animals and pets will be highlighted. We will continue to investigate magnets and review the life cycles of the plant, butterfly and frog.


Please CHECK your child's backpack daily, and insist that personal toys stay at home, this includes Pokeman cards, Shopkins, etc.

The two exceptions to this rule are: ONE stuffy (for Quiet Time) and a labelled outdoor toy (such as a ball, skipping rope, or Frisbee) for RECESS TIME ONLY! We only permit outdoor toys that focus on gross motor development (those that use large muscles) during this valuable outdoor time. [NO ELECTRONICS please.]
 


Sunday, May 3, 2015

SEPTEMBER INQUIRY??

Are you moving soon?  Will your child be changing schools?

Please help us answer these important questions as we begin the planning process for September.

Please send us a note ONLY if your family is moving and your child will not be returning to Holy Redeemer School.  This is helpful in planning our classes for next year. 

Thank you for your help in this regard.



Saturday, May 2, 2015

FARM FIELD TRIP!

May 13th FIELD TRIP to the FARM!

On Wednesday, May 13th the Kindergarten classes will be visiting the Farm – also known as the Museum of Agriculture located on the corner of Experimental Farm Drive & Prince of Wales Drive. 

This special event not only expands and enriches our animal discussions but also provides a firsthand experience of Spring and new life on a farm. 

We will depart from the school at 8:45 and return by 11:30 AM.

The cost for this excursion, including student admission and busing fees, will be provided by the Activity Fee fund. 








Due to time constraints, we will not be 
eating a snack at the farm; so we will leave lunch bags & backpacks at school


Please note that our excursion will occur regardless of the weather conditions since most of the tour takes place inside the barns. Please have your child dressed appropriately for farm conditions.


We are seeking volunteers to help supervise children, so if you wish to join in, check the "YES" box on the permission slip and include $1 to cover your entrance fee. Also there may be some empty seats on the bus - so please let us know if you are interested in travelling with us. Otherwise, please meet the bus in the main parking lot between 9 - 9:15 am. (Off of Prince of Wales Dr.)


Please return your child's permission form to attend the field trip as soon as possible. 

Thank you.