Happy
New Year to all! We trust that your Christmas was filled with joy
and cheer; a time to reconnect with loved ones and share special
family moments together. We would like to extend our best wishes for
a happy and healthy 2014.
Winter
has definitely made its presence known. The snow is welcome
though…..so many fun things to do in the snow. When weather
permits, we will continue to spend time enjoying outdoor play. It is
a good way to develop creativity, to encourage group co-operation and
to learn constructive use of leisure time. Therefore, it’s very
important that your child come to school ready for outdoor play
(snowpants, jacket, hat, warm
mittens, neckwarmer). The
students, by the way, are doing an awesome job getting dressed
independently. Your continued efforts at home are paying off big
time!
In
January, our theme has been Winter – for obvious reasons! We’ve
discussed all the fun things to do in the snow; winter clothing; the
seasons; and animals in winter. The students wanted to find out
which animals hibernate? In this cold, hibernating sounds like a
great idea! We will continue our push with reading readiness for JK
and emergent reading for SK. SK students should know at least ten
sight words from our popcorn word list. Please let me know if you
need another copy! Also, here is an excellent site which will
encourage your child’s reading abilities. It’s fun and it’s
free! Check out www.starfall.com.
Soon, you will be receiving information about the www.razkids.ca
reading program. It’s an awesome online site full of ereaders for
your child to read or listen to. Each student requires his/her own
password to access. This will all be sent home in the very near
future.
February
is the month of feelings, friendship, and love. It’s the time of
year where both adults and children acknowledge those who are near
and dear to them. Thank goodness! We’ll need the warm tingling in
our hearts to get us through this cold weather! Mr. Groundhog will
make an appearance early in the month. Will he see his shadow?
Sounds like a great opportunity to graph our predictions! If he
doesn’t, Spring will be early.
January’s
math continued with geometry at the beginning of the month, switching
to patterns for the latter half. We explored patterns in our
environment. Investigating patterns helps students make
generalizations, develop reasoning strategies, and build a foundation
for more complex algebraic thinking. The students identified,
extended, reproduced, and created (SK expectation) repeating patterns
using a variety of materials, actions, and the Smart board! In
February, we’ll return to our unit on numbers. As the students
play games and participate in meaningful counting activities, they
develop concepts about counting that provide the foundation for
future mathematics learning.
At
circle time, we have put a big emphasis on the letter sounds. This
skill enables students (SK expectation) to sound out words they don’t
know. The students are doing a phenomenal job with our morning
message! Practising this at home will help to speed up the learning
of this skill. Repetition
and reinforcement are a necessary part of learning new skills. JKs
should be practicing the alphabet letters, writing numbers to 5,
recognizing numbers to 10, showing sets to 6. SKs should continue to
practice their popcorn words, letter sounds, writing numbers to 10,
printing alphabet letters, and recognizing numbers to 20.
Please use any opportunity
at home to reinforce the skills addressed.
Please
note that French songs and vocabulary as well as English songs have
been posted on our Blog.
Housekeeping
items:
During
the next few weeks, the K1
students will go to the library on Monday,
January 27th, February 10th,
February 24th.
Please return books and the library bag on
Monday, February 3rd, February
18th, and March
3rd. The K2
students will go to the library on Wednesday January
29th, February 12th,
February 26th.
Please return books and the library bag on
Wednesday, Februray 5th,
February 19th,
and March 5th.
Report
cards will be going home early February.
On
February 14th,
the students will be exchanging valentines. To
make distribution of valentines easier,
on that day, send 31 (K1) or 25 (K2) cards with
only your child’s name in
the
FROM section of the
card.
On
February 17th
school will be closed for Family Day. We’re hoping that your
Family Day holiday allows time for family leisure and fun.
We
appreciate your continued support. Should you have any questions or
concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at the school or send
a message in your child’s notetote.
Happy
St. Valentine’s Day!
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