December Update

Thank you for those of your who returned your library books yesterday! Yesterday was the last library exchange day until the new year.

Our Christmas Concert will take place Thursday December 17th. All the kindergarten classes will be participating in BOTH concerts.  The grades K, 1, 3, 5 concert will take place from 12:15-1:15. The grades K, 2, 4, 6 concert will take place from 1:45-2:45. Feel free to pick whichever concert you would like to attend or both. The kindergarten classes will be performing the same song at each concert.

With the Christmas concert taking up most of the afternoon and rehearsals for the concert taking place that morning, we have decided to have our Christmas party on Tuesday December 15th. This day will consist of a Christmas craft and a short Christmas film accompanied by snacks. I will be asking students to volunteer to bring some snacks to share with the class. If your child volunteers, you will receive a note in their agenda. Thanks in advance for your help!

If you have any questions about either one of these events, please feel free to contact me!                  

December

Hey everyone!

Thanks so much to everyone who came swimming with us! There were a lot of parent volunteers (and even four dads!!) and it really made the afternoon go a lot smoother and I felt like I could relax a bit more. I really appreciated the help!

December is fast approaching already! We will be carrying on with many of the same things we have been working on this month such as Daily 5 (Read to Self), the 7 Habits of Happy Kids, explorations with dinosaurs and the alphabet. In Math we are starting sorting and patterning which will carry on into the new year. We will also have some centres set up that will pertain to the holidays.

A few things to note:

The kindergarten classes will be participating in the Christmas concert this year! We will be singing a song about Pete the Cat. If you would like to practice the song at home you can find the link here.
http://www.thelearninggroove.com/#!pete-the-cat-saves-christmas/c18k4
It will also be posted on the "Songs and Videos" page of my blog (right hand side). The concert will be taking place December 17th. I will be sending home notices about the Christmas concert once we have more details about it.

We will also be having our class Christmas party on Thursday December 17th. More details will follow about that, as well.

Please remember that we do go outside everyday for recess. Students need to be bringing snow pants, hats and mitts to school everyday!

Our last day of library before the break will be Tuesday December 1st. Please don't forget to return books.

November

First of all, thank you to everyone for being so accommodating in regards to having the swimming postponed. I have contacted the pool and our new date is THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19. The staff at Ponoka Aquaplex have assured me that the kiddie pool will be open at this time. I will double check on the Monday before and will also be contacting parents to volunteer that day, as well. If you are available please let me know. It is supposed to be a mild day, but please remember we are walking to and from the pool so dress your child for the weather. Due to the nature of the circumstance, you will NOT have to sign another consent form.

We are continuing to work on lots of fun things in Kindergarten!

1. Early Literacy - We have just started to learn our letters. We use the Animated Alphabet program to assist students with remembering their letters and sounds. Each letter has a character that goes with it and an action. We are continuing with Daily 5. We have learned Read to Self. Students have learned that they can read books by "reading the pictures".

2. Early Numeracy - We are continuing with numbers 1-5. We are about to start sorting and patterning

3. Citizenship and Identity - We have just learned the rules for "Caring and Sharing". Ask your child if they can remember what the rules are and how they follow the rules at school.
The rules are:

• Say nice things
• Ask others to play
• Be helpful and work together
• Be a good listener
• Share and take turns

4. Environment and Community Awareness - Our new unit of study for centertime is Dinosaurs! We have a lot of activities, games, stories and puzzles related to dinosaurs set out for the students to play with and explore.

5. Personal and Social Responsibility -  We are continuing with the 7 Habits. We have done Habit 1: Be Proactive. The students know that they are in charge of themselves and are proactive by taking charge of their actions and doing the right thing. We will begin Habit 2 this month: Begin with the End in Mind.

6. Physical Skills - The students work hard on their fine and gross motor skills everyday by doing activities such as writing, cutting, drawing, coloring and climbing, hanging, running, and different movement games.

7. Creative Expression - For Remembrance Day, we made fingerprint poppies that will go up on the wall in the gym for our assembly. The students also have opportunities to paint, color, draw or work with Plasticine everyday during centers.

Reminders:
Please take note of our November calendar. Kindergarten will NOT have school Thursday, Nov 12 in lieu of parent/teacher interviews.

Parent/teacher interviews will take place WED NOV 18 and THURS NOV 19. Please call or email me to make an appt. or sign up below. Interviews will only be about 15 minutes long and will focus on how your child is adjusting to school.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4fa9a62aa4fc1-parentteacher

Tuesday/Thursday kindergarten students WILL have school on Friday, November 27 to make up for their missed day.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: RE SWIMMING

Hi parents,

I am so sorry to have to do this again, but we will be postponing our swimming date. I have just talked to Ponoka Aquaplex and the kiddie pool is NOT open as of yet. This is really a safety concern as I don't feel comfortable taking the students to the pool and having them use the big pool. I think it is best for everyone that we hold off until the kiddie pool is open. They have given me Saturday as the opening date, but I will get back to you with a confirmed date as to when we will be going. You will NOT have to sign another consent form due to the circumstances of the postponement. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience of this and the short notice.

- Miss Kenzie

7 Habits

We have started learning about the 7 Habits of Happy Kids based on the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. This is a program that is being used in schools to allow children to develop skills such as leadership, responsibility, teamwork and problem solving. Our school has taken this up as a whole so if you have other children in the school, you may have heard them speaking about the habits as well. Today we started Habit 1: Be Proactive. We talked about being in charge of our words and actions and being responsible. I encourage you to use the vocabulary with your child at home. Congratulate them if they are demonstrating proactive behavior, and remind them to be proactive if they are not. We have actions and characters that help us learn the 7 Habits. If you would like more information on the 7 Habits so you can reference them at home, please let me know!

On another note:

Two consent forms were sent home today:
1. Permission slip to go swimming on Tuesday November 3
2. Permission slip to have your child's photo posted in our blog (Please note that names will NOT be posted with photos)
Please sign and return both forms when you come to school on Thursday

Just a reminder, we do go outside everyday. Now that the weather is colder, please remember to pack coats, hats and mitts for your child and snowpants once it starts snowing.

Thanks!

Halloween Party

Our Halloween Party is fast approaching! We will be celebrating next Thursday (Oct 29). Please remember that your child is more than welcome to wear a costume to school. We will be watching a Halloween video and having snacks. If you would like to volunteer to bring a snack to our party, please sign up on SignUpGenuis (see link below)

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4fa9a62aa4fc1-halloween

Our grade 2 buddies will also be joining us at the end of the day!


Just a few reminders:
Our swimming date is Tuesday, Nov 3 (1-2pm)
Picture retakes will be held on Nov 9 (Am only)
Now that the construction on the east side of the building is complete, please use the EAST doors to enter and exit the building instead of coming through the main doors.

IMPORTANT: Swimming date changed

Hi Parents,

As it turns out Ponoka Aquaplex is doing some work on their kiddie pool. I also figured with the Halloween party being on Oct 29, swimming the same day might not be such a good idea. I have rebooked the pool for NOV 3, 1:00-2:00 pm. The staff at the Aquaplex are hopeful the work on the pool will be done by then. Please mark this date on your calendars.

Sorry about the confusion and please contact me if you have any questions or if you are free to volunteer!

October News and Events

We have had a great start to the year! I am really looking forward to the fun and exciting things that we have in store for October. We will be continuing with many of our learning focuses as well as starting some new things this month:

• I Am Unique (Citizenship and Identity)
• Numbers 1-5 (Early Numeracy)
• Pre-writing skills and writing our names (Early Literacy)
• Fall, Thanksgiving and Halloween (Environment and Community Awareness) 
• Buddy reading with Grade 2's (Mrs Wessner's class) (Early Literacy and Personal and Social Identity)
• Fire Safety week is Oct 4-10. The chief of the fire department will be presenting to our class Thursday Oct 8 on fire safety! (Environment and Community Awareness and Personal and Social Responsibility)

There will be lots of new things happening this month so make sure you are checking our blog regularly.

1. Library

This week we will be starting library! We will be going to the library every Tuesday morning and the students will be able to pick out one book to take home. Each student will have a library bag that will contain their book and their homereading book. The homereading is completely optional so don't feel like you need to complete the activities each week. It is very important that the students remember to bring their books back each week. If we find that many students are forgetting their books, the students will not be able to take their books home anymore. Please return library books EVERY TUESDAY.

2. Hot Lunches

The forms and information for hot lunches can be found on the PES website. The first one will be on Oct 20 from Subway. Please fill out and return forms to the school if you would like to order a hot lunch.

3. Halloween Party

Thursday Oct 29 will be our Halloween party. Students are free to dress up and wear their costumes to school. In the afternoon we will watch a short Halloween film and have some snacks, as well as play time.

Stay tuned for our October calendar of events!

Looking forward to November...
Congratulations to our class for raising the most money for Terry Fox!!! The prize for raising the most money is a free swim at the Ponoka Aquaplex. I have booked our swim for TUESDAY NOVEMBER 3, 1:00-2:200. We really need lots of parent  volunteers to come with us and get in the pool with us. Please let me know if you are available to help out! Your help is very much appreciated! Don't forget to pack a swimsuit and towel for your child to bring to school that day.

Terry Fox

Thank you to all the parents and volunteers who helped out during our Terry Fox Run! It was very much appreciated. Thank you also to those families who helped raise money for us! We had a lot of money turned in on Thursday. I was very impressed!

Another great week! The kids are really starting to settle into their routines at school. What a nice class we have this year!

This week we have been talking lots about how we are unique! The kids shared their special interests with the rest of the class. We have also been talking about how our names make us unique too. Talk to your child about why they have the name they do! What else makes them unique?

Our Terry Fox Run is fast approaching. It will take place the afternoon of Thursday September 24. If you would like to come with us, just send me an email or text and let me know you'll be there! Remember parent volunteers must have their criminal record check. We have been talking about Terry Fox and why we run for him. The students have been very insightful and understanding about Terry Fox and what he did for cancer research. I am very impressed!

Some students are still missing some forms that need to be returned to school. I will be sending extra copies home next week in case you've lost yours. Please remember to send extra clothes to school with your child as well, if you have not done so. Just in case!

Great first week back!

Thanks to everyone who attended the classroom visits last week and thanks to all the parents who have signed and returned to necessary forms for school start up! If you still have not returned these forms, please send them to school this week.

We had an excellent first week of school! Many of your children are already successfully writing their names by themselves. Keep practicing this skill at home with them. Encourage your child to use proper pencil grip and to start their name with a capital and use lower case letters for the rest of the letters.

Everyone is doing really well at learning the rules and routines at school. We have a great group of kids and I'm really looking forward to spending time with them this year!