Monday, September 30 - Letter of the Week

You may have heard that on Mondays, we have buddy time with the Grade 3/4 students in Rooms 4 and 5. To date, our buddies have assisted us with drawing shapes and, our self portraits.

On Tuesday, October 1, we will begin our ‘Letter of the Week’ literacy program. Our first letter will be the letter ‘S’. Students will practice the letter sound and, printing the upper and lowercase letter. The sharing aspect of the letter of the week will begin later in the year. You are more than welcome to review printing our weekly letter, and its sound at home.

As for sharing, we will continue with our Science artifacts. Our discovery of 'What is Science' is quite successful. Everyone is rather curious about our ever changing artifacts!

Wednesday, September 25 - Changing Weather

Please remember to dress your child for Calgary's ever changing weather. Even if it's raining, and cold outside, we will be going outside to practice/run our Terry Fox Run.
Today, we shared some science artifacts:
Pine cone with eight Ladybugs living in it
Rocks with crystals and a book about rocks
Vegetables and their roots from the garden- beet, potato, pea pods, herbs

Monday, September 23 - This Week

It was a pleasure to share our classroom learning with you at our "Meet, Greet, and Learn" school event.
Save the Date:
Tuesday, September 24: Treat day hosted by Rm 1. Please send in a quarter for your child to buy a treat. Kindergarten students will enjoy their treat during snack.
Wednesday, September 25: Library Book Exchange - Each student will choose two picture books to bring home, and share. All library books are due on the following Tuesday. By returning your child's library books a day before book exchange, Mrs. Kidd has time to run a book return report. Your child is welcome to keep their books for two weeks, however your child may check a maximum of two library books out at a time.
Friday, September 27: Fresh Air Friday #3 - Annual Terry Fox Run -  Kickoff assembly starting at 10:30 am; run to follow starting at 10:45 am. Kindergarten pick-up time will remain the same. Join Millenium Kidz N’ Kare and ride your bike to school and buy a hot lunch from a visiting food truck. Bikes may be stored in the gym.

Tuesday, September 17 - Meet and Greet and EYE-TA

• Our Meet, Greet and Learn evening is set for September 19, 2019 – 5 pm to 7 pm in your child’s classroom.  This evening will be a drop-in format for you to meet your child’s teacher, set learning goals, learn classroom routines, and see first-hand the learning your child has been engaged in during these first few weeks.
• Kindergarten will have information about the Early Years Evaluation - Teacher Assessment (EYE-TA) that I am administering. A brochure will be available that explains what the EYE-TA is all about. At our next interview in November, parents will receive a copy of their child's EYE-TA.  This assessment is a formative assessment tool, that looks at what your child needs to know by the end of Kindergarten. So please do not worry about this assessment, and remember that if something comes up we will work on it together.
• The annual Scholastic Book Fair takes place on Thursday, September 19 starting at 3:30 pm until 7 pm and again on Friday, September 20 from 8 am until 12 pm in the Learning Commons. Purchases can be made with cash, credit cards, or debit cards.
• Save the Date:  Tuesday, September 24, 2019 – our first Treat Day of the school year will be hosted by students in Room 1.  Treats are 25 cents each.  Funds raised will support a learning opportunity for, and decided by, the students in Room 1.  Watch for future Treat Day dates hosted by your child’s homeroom.

Monday, September 16 - Terry Fox Run and Buddies

This morning, we successfully practiced our Terry Fox Run.
Today, we met our Rm. 5 Grade 3/4 buddies. Our buddies assisted us with our 'First letter In Our Name' project. Our projects are on display in the hall.

Did you know:

inform | eye see eye learn® Eye See…Eye Learn® (ESEL®) is a program provided by The Alberta Association of Optometrists and the Alberta Government. Through ESEL®, doctors of optometry detect, diagnose and treat eye health problems in children as they enter the school system. Alberta Health Care already covers the cost of comprehensive eye exams for all children in the province. This program takes that one step further by providing free eye glasses to kindergarten students who need a prescription.

inform | FREE glasses Did you know?
Kids ages 4 – 10 receive a complete pair of FREE glasses once a year on select frames at the Real Canadian Superstore.
https://www.realcanadiansuperstore.ca/optical

Thursday, Sept. 12 FAF #2

Tomorrow is our second F.A.F., so please ensure your child is dressed for our ever changing weather!
Many students have asked me about taking our 'What is Science?" book home to read with their families. As of tomorrow, I will begin to send it home with a student. So that we can share our book in a timely manner, please ensure that you return our book after one or a maximum of two evenings. In the meantime, I'll try to find another copy for sharing.
Please send in some Science artifacts with your child to share!
Next week, Kindergarten will begin their Terry Fox practice jog around our soccer field. We will go outside, directly after attendance. Please ensure that your child wears running shoes, and brings a water bottle to refresh themselves.
Last week, I spoke to most of our Kindergarten families about bringing my dog, Soho to school for F.A.F.'s. Soho is a black Labrador that is very calm and well trained. He is excellent with children and makes a good reading, work and play buddy. I will begin the process of introducing Soho to the class next week, by reading a story to the class with Soho at my feet. I will follow our story with a gentle meet and greet with 2 to 3 students at a time. If you would prefer not to have Soho meet your child  or if your child has allergies to dogs, please let me know by Monday, September 16. If you have any further questions about Soho, please feel free to email me.

Tuesday, September 10 - Shapes and Library

Library for Kindergarten Wednesday

Wednesday 10:50 to 11:10 AM

September 11 - Meet Mrs. Kidd our Librarian/story

September 18 - Walk through for book fair

September 25 - First book exchange

This week we are learning our shapes, and how to draw them on our mini whiteboards.
Monday circles
Tuesday triangles
Wednesday rectangles
Thursday squares

Friday, September 6 - FAF #1

Kindergarten 2019/20 parents, if this is your first time checking my blog, please refer to my previous blogs for the 2019/20 class.

For our first F.A.F., we have many young scientists in Kindergarten! We read a story about 'What is Science', and went to the sun circle and the field to observe, and find some science artifacts. If any students would like to bring in a science artifact they are more than welcome to do so. Please ensure that your child's artifact is labelled, or inside a bag with their name on it.  We do have a science table to display our artifacts. So far we have 3 insects, grass, rhubarb and dandelions.
Monday, September 9 - Annual Start-of -Year forms are due. Please ensure that you check your child's demographic form and sign it. Some forms are for you to keep. Thank-you for taking care of this!
Next week, we will continue to get used to our routines and classroom expectations. Along with our ongoing science sharing we will be learning about shapes.
Parents who already have their security clearance, are more than welcome to volunteer. Especially for our F.A.F. adventures! Until our room parent is organized, you are more than welcome to email me your availability.

First Day of Kindergarten

We enjoyed a fabulous first day of kindergarten! Students were introduced to our schedule, sitting on the carpet, gym, mini centers, and how to do our work. In gym we had a great time moving around in different ways such as walking, giant steps, skipping, and 'like a mouse'. We also worked on bouncing and catching balls in our own space. Everyone did such a great job printing or tracing their name, drawing and coloring. 

Thursday, September 5 - Welcome to School Assembly

Friday, September 6 - Fresh Air Friday #1 - For our outdoor learning, please dress your child for the weather

Thursday, September 12 - 5 to 7 pm - Family BBQ