We added some of our favourite Easter songs in the "songs we love" section.

Click and listen to the class singing!

                                         

January/February Newsletter 2015

January/February Newsletter – K1 & K2

Our new year has begun and students in both K1 and K2 have been busy getting back into our school routine. The new year has brought a new change to the K2 classroom with a change in teacher! Mrs. McGuinty has taken on a new role as Resource teacher at St. George, and so Mrs. Miller has taken over the English teacher role in K2. Mrs. Miller will now be teaching the English component to both the K1 and K2 classes.

As we approach Valentine's Day, we are all reminded of God's generous blessings of love and family and friends. February invites us to celebrate our many friendships that have blossomed since we started our year in kindergarten. We will be celebrating Valentine's Day in our classrooms on Friday, February 13^th and children are welcome to exchange cards on this day. Those who wish to share valentine cards with his/her classmates are asked to sign their names on the cards only (please do not address them to their friends). This will facilitate the distribution and it is a great opportunity to practice printing their names.

How many valentine cards should your child sign?

K1 = 30 students total in the class.

K2 = 28 students total in the class.

On February 12^th you will receive your child's report card. Parent/teacher interviews will be held upon request only by the teacher or parent if necessary. The children deserve great big hugs and applause for their hard work this term!

This months featured Apps:

Here are some of our favourite apps this month that we have been using in the classroom :)

1. Rocket Speller
   This app uses letter matching and sound knowledge to build words.
2. Endless numbers
   A collection of games to promote number sense. A free version is available with the option of in-app purchases.

We have also been using games on the SmartBoard during playtime from the website: www.abcya.com. There are many educational games to play that the students love!

Important dates for February:

Thursday, February 12^th: Report Cards go home.

Friday, February 13^th: Valentines Day Celebrations! Wear pink, red, and white clothing to school today.

Monday, February 16^th: FAMILY DAY (Holiday – NO school)

No matter how busy our everyday life is, let's not forget, especially this month, to say “I love you” to all those loved ones and to say kind words to the ones who need it. Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day filled with lots of love.

Sincerely,

Mme Dolgos, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. McDonell, and Mrs. McAteer

Please take a look at the Vocabulaire and Chansons que nous aimons sections. They have been updated!

The class is working on this play. You can practice at home with your child. They will get to play a few of the roles in french class.

Dear K2 Families,
It is with mixed emotion that I am leaving Kindergarten to take on the new challenge of Resource teacher at St. George.  I have tremendously enjoyed teaching your child.  It has been a wonderful experience.  I am looking forward to my new position and I will be certain to pop by and say hello to the lovely K2 class.  I know that they will enjoy having Mrs. Miller as their new teacher.
Thank you for all of your support and I wish you all the best for the remaining school year!
God bless,
Mrs. McGuinty

December

         

Dear Parents,

           

We were very happy to see many parents during our interviews on Nov.6th.  It was so nice to touch base with you to discuss your child’s progress in Kindergarten. 

Our focus for this month will be Advent and Christmas.  We will discuss the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate.  “Jesus is the reason for the season!”  Please check the section "Les chansons que nous aimons" for the French songs and vocabulary.  

On Wednesday December 10^th, you are invited to celebrate “Deck the Halls” here at St. George School.  It starts with a light breakfast, followed by the Performance Choir.  We are then inviting the K2 parents to join us during the children's snacktime followed by a Christmas songs and a story.

As mentioned in the St. George’s Newsletter, the grade 6's are hosting a Christmas Shopping Day on Wednesday, December 16th.  You can donate new or gently used items to the office as well as wrapping paper and ribbons before December 12th.  On December 16^th, students are asked to bring money to purchase gifts for their family members.  Items will be selling from $1.00 to $5.00 and will come home wrapped and labeled ready to put under your Christmas tree. 

A list of popcorn words were sent home to use as a reference when reading simple pattern books that repeat.  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.  The boys and girls have begun to write in their own journals.  These journals have been introduced as a way to encourage the students to write.  We emphasize the fact that writing comes in many different stages and so they are expected to write at their stage of writing:  pictures with scribed sentences, string of random letters, intial letters, etc.  SKs especially will be encouraged to stretch out the sounds in the word as they write the matching letters.  Like all beginning skills: practise, practise, practise!

In JK, we will continue with counting sets to 5.  Ask your child to ‘show you’ groups of 3, 4, 5 or more items whenever the opportunity arises.  Look for numbers on labels and containers. In SK we’ve been talking about what makes 5 using our five frame tool. Their use encourages counting strategies beyond counting by one or counting on each time they are asked to identify a number or work on an addition or subtraction type math story. These number relationships help build the foundation for the development of more complex mental computations. Students start with the five frames before moving on to ten frames and may explore double ten frames later to develop a better understanding of place value.  SKs, here is a great site to practise this skill:  http://illuminations.nctm.org/activitydetail.aspx?id=74 – five frames interactive website.

The playdough table has been very popular.  Therefore, we would appreciate any donation of playdough to keep this popular centre open.  Should you require the recipe, please let us know.  Store bought playdough is welcome too.  The students are not picky!

Friday, December 19^th is the last day of school before the Christmas break and we are back at school on Monday January 5th, 2015.

We wish you and your family a safe and happy Christmas.  Enjoy your time together.  The very best for 2014!

            

God bless,

Mrs. McGuinty, Mme Dolgos & Mrs. McAteer