Room 110 News

We made it through the first week of Kindergarten!  A big thank you to our returning Senior Kindergarten students for being such good helpers with the Junior Kindergarten boys and girls and helping to make them feel comfortable and welcome in our class and school.

We have been working on establishing and following the routines of our classroom.  For example, our entry routines include:  finding our cubby spots; hanging up backpacks; handing in communication bags; locating and handing in our ‘name rocks’; standing for O Canada; and sitting down on the carpet with our legs crossed.  (And that all happens in the first 10 minutes of the morning!)

As our first class inquiry, we posed this question to the class:  How do you want to feel when you are at school? After some thinking and discussion, most children said they wanted to feel happy. After some more discussion, we decided that we also wanted to feel calm, relaxed, safe and excited. 

We then asked, what kind of class do we need to have so we can feel happy, calm, relaxed, safe and excited?  What kind of choices will we make so we can have that kind of class? After some more thinking and discussion, we decided that we want to have a nice class and a clean class. 

We have been reading various books to help us distinguish what kind of choices and behaviours will help us achieve the kind of class we want.  One of our favourite books is I Call My Hand Gentle.  It reminded us that when our hands do things it is a choice that we make.  We can choose to do good things with our hands like play, build and colour.  We can also choose not to make other choices like hit, break or steal.

This coming week, we will use our ideas to write our class promise.  We refer to our class promise, on a daily basis, as a reminder about the kind of choices we should try to make each day.

Pete the Cat

Have you heard about Pete the Cat, yet, from your child?  We have been enjoying reading the various books that feature Pete the Cat.  Pete is a happy, go-lucky character.  He doesn’t get bothered very much when things go wrong.                              “Just keep walking along and singing your song because it’s all good!” says Pete.

Pete the Cat will be visiting each child’s home this year.  Each week, Pete will be sent home with a child.  In Pete’s travel bag, you will also find some books to read together and a scrapbook to record some of Pete’s adventures with your child.  Pete will start visiting the week of September 19^th.

Helper of the Day

Each day, one child from our class is selected to be the ‘Helper of the Day’.  Throughout the year, each child will have about 4 to 5 turns to be the Helper. 

What are the duties of the Helper?  The Helper takes the attendance to the office with 2 buddies.  The Helper gets to be first in line throughout the day, and holds open doors for the class. What are the perks of being the Helper?  The Helper gets to sit on a special chair during carpet time, and he/she takes home the message of the day.  

It's good to be the Helper!

Birthdays

Birthdays are important, and we like to acknowledge everyone’s birthday in our class. We celebrate each child’s birthday by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to him/her and ‘How Old Are You Now?’.  Each child also gets to choose a small gift from the birthday box. (We also celebrate July & August birthdays. We will celebrate these birthdays near the end of the school year.)  

                                     

Our birthday box

                                                                                            

As you may have already read in previous communication from the school, we are not able to share any food treats (e.g., cake, cookies, etc.) at school. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this policy.

Reminders & Dates to Remember:

·  Friday, September 23^rd:  Trip to the Community Safety Village at Bruce’s Mill Conservation Centre. Please sign up on ‘School Cash Online’ in order to give consent for your child to go on the trip and to pay for the trip. We welcome parent volunteers to come with us to help supervise the children on trips.  Please remember, in order to volunteer at school/on trips/etc., volunteers need to have a current police check on file at our school.

·      

    If you have not already done so, please send extra clothes and running shoes for your child to keep at school.  Please label all clothing and shoes with your child’s name.

·  Gym Day:  our class will have use of the gym on Day 1 of the school schedule.  Our school operates on a Day 1 to 5 schedule. Here are some of the dates for the upcoming Day 1’s:

 Tuesday, Sept. 13^th …. Day 1

 Tuesday, Sept. 20^th …. Day 1

 Wednesday, Sept. 28^th…. Day 1

·  Monday, September 26^th: PA Day … there is no school for students that day.  We will be in the school if you need to contact us.

·        

   Curriculum Night/Meet the Teachers:  September 29^th.  More information about the evening will be sent home soon from the school soon.

Welcome Back to School!

Just two more big sleeps until we start another school year!  We have been getting the classroom ready for our first day on Tuesday, Sept. 6th, and we can't wait to see our new SK students and meet our new JK students!  

This year, a poster of Pete the Cat will be in our classroom window to let us know where to line up in the mornings.

Pete  the  Cat  says, "Welcome  to  Kindergarten  in  Room  110!"

On Tuesday morning, we will try to touch base with everyone to find out what your child will be doing at dismissal time on September 6th: being picked up, taking the bus or attending Fun on the Run.  In case we don't see you, please send a note with your child or call us and leave a message at (905) 303-1720 ext. 110.

On Tuesday, we will send home various information pages from the school and our classroom.  In addition, you will also find a parent contact page to complete and return to school.

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend, and we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday morning!

SK Students to Visit Grade 1 Class

On Wednesday, June 22nd, the Senior Kindergarten students in our class will visit a Grade One classroom.  They will enjoy a story with the class, snack time and then go outside to the big yard for recess.  Mrs. Mateo will also go with the students.  In the past, these Grade One visits have always been very exciting, and we're sure the SK students will enjoy themselves tomorrow.

Vaughan Public Libraries - Summer Reading Club

This morning, we attended a presentation from the Vaughan Public Libraries. We learned about their Summer Reading Club programme.  This summer's theme is 'Go Wild', and there will be weekly family activities at the various libraries. When your child signs up for the programme, he/she will receive a book log to track the books he/she reads.  When you return to the library with your book log, you'll get stickers. In addition, your child can earn ballots to win prizes. 

We hope you and your child take advantage of the programmes available at the public libraries over the summer!

For more information & to link to the Public Library website, click here   

June Reminders...

It is hard for us to believe, but the end of the school year is almost here.  It's that time of year again for us to start to collect and organize our books for next year.  To that end, here are some reminders:

• If you have not already done so, please return all school library books to school with your child.  If your child still has any outstanding books, notes were sent home with students on Friday.  If you believe that the book listed on the note was returned, please let us know, and we will let Mrs. Urback (the teacher-librarian) know; and
• We are also asking that you return all Borrow-a-Book book sets & bags this week.  We will check and return your child's book log or reading journal for you to keep.

We hope you and your child will keep reading over the summer break.  We are having a visitor from the Public Library this coming week to let us know about their summer reading program and summer events.  We will either post the information or send home the information in the next few days.

On Friday, June 24th, we will be having our Annual End of the Year Kindergarten Picnic to celebrate the end of the school year and all the gains the children have made. This year, we will be starting in the gym with a brief performance by our Kindergarten classes led by Mrs. Gordon-Rak.  If it is raining, we will remain in the gym.  If the weather is good, we will go outside for snacks and play time. Younger brothers/sisters, other family members and/or caregivers are all welcome to join us.  Please remember to bring peanut/nut free snacks for you and your child.  We hope to see you on Friday starting at 9:15ish a.m.
If you have any questions/concerns, please contact us.

Happy Father's Day!

To all the Dads and Grandpas in our Families,

We would like to wish you all a very 

Happy Father's Day!

We hope you have a lovely day with your children.

Busy as Bees

Have you heard the buzz around the school?  On June 1st, we had thousands of special visitors in the Kindergarten playground. A swarm of honey bees decided that one of our trees would be a good place to rest on their way to finding a new site for a home.

                                                                                                                                                                Ms. Guerriero was able to take some photos of them without getting stung because the bees were very focused on staying with their queen.

The bee visit had some of us asking questions and wondering about bees.  For the past week, we've been busy researching and learning about bees. We have learned that honey bees are the only insects in the world that make food that people can eat.  

We wanted to taste some honey in class on Tuesday, June 14th.  If you don't want your child to have any honey, please let us know.