We have invited the students to look for ways to be kind and helpful at home. If you notice your child demonstrating kindness for others, please write the good deed on a paper heartprint and send it back to school. (Please let us know if you need another sheet of hearts!) As a class, we will share and celebrate the ways kindergartners really can make a difference and help people feel good. During the coming months, we will see if all of our good deeds can add up to 100 acts of kindness. We will integrate math into our collection of hearts as we count from one to one hundred in French.
Near the start of the school year, we read Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler by Margery Cuyler. In the book, Mrs. Ruler challenges her students to perform good deeds for others. The acts of kindness are written on heartprints and posted on a bulletin board. Soon, the entire class is doing so many good deeds that their classroom isn’t big enough to show the many different ways that students can be kind to others.
We have invited the students to look for ways to be kind and helpful at home. If you notice your child demonstrating kindness for others, please write the good deed on a paper heartprint and send it back to school. (Please let us know if you need another sheet of hearts!) As a class, we will share and celebrate the ways kindergartners really can make a difference and help people feel good. During the coming months, we will see if all of our good deeds can add up to 100 acts of kindness. We will integrate math into our collection of hearts as we count from one to one hundred in French.
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Recently, our class read the well-known and heartwarming story Have you Filled a Bucket Today? This book describes how everyone carries with us an invisible bucket. The purpose of the bucket is to hold our good thoughts and feelings about ourselves When we are shown kindness, appreciation, and love, our buckets are full and we feel happy. Similarly, our own actions and words affect the well being of others. It is easy to be a bucket filler, and, interestingly, when children show concern for others, they not only fill the buckets of those around them, but they also fill their own buckets too.
When we see the students demonstrating individual kindness or showing care for our classroom and each other, we invite them to place a “petit bijou” into a pail. When we see examples of positive behaviour from the class as a whole, we invite someone to put a “grand bijou” into the pail on behalf of the entire group. The filling of the pail serves as a tangible reminder that we should all strive to be bucket fillers. When our pail gets filled three times, we will celebrate with a popcorn party! Bonjour !
We have had two amazing days! The children have clearly demonstrated great leadership and social skills. They were all so excited to see each other and have been interacting so nicely (e.g., using kind words, and calm voices and bodies in the classroom). The children have also been eager to keep the room tidy and follow routines. The hallway is so neat, as they ensure that their backpacks are hung up and belongings are kept together. We are so proud of their great work! Please remember to look inside your child's "sac de communication" every day. The information in this bag is so important to go through at the beginning of the year. Please sign and return the forms as soon as possible. Thank you for labelling everything! It is also very important that you read the "Bienvenue à la maternelle" booklet, as there have been changes to some of our routines. Our class Friendship List, Play Dough, and Volunteer Schedule are now on Google Docs for you to populate. Once we have received an email from you (please read booklet), we will send you the links. Merci ! We have sent home a sheet of paper with hearts on it. This is a continuation of our acts of kindness program. Throughout the week, we will continue to keep you updated! Have a wonderful evening! Bienvenue ! Dear Parents/Guardians,
We would like to welcome you and your child to the start of another amazing school year. We hope everyone had a great summer and is looking forward to an exciting year in Kindergarten! We are going to have an awesome year, filled with a variety of learning activities that will challenge and excite our bodies and minds. The first couple of weeks we will focus on school routines, getting-to-know-you activities, as well as creating a classroom environment that feels safe and welcoming to everyone. We are very mindful of learning with our head, hands, and heart ensuring that everything that we do is meaningful, active, and thoughtful. We will be talking in depth about “Filling our Buckets” and “Acts of Kindness” and things that we can do within our communities to achieve our goal of over 100 kind things that we can do throughout the year. A pink page filled with hearts has been sent home with your child. Please fill out one at a time when you have “caught” your child doing an exceptional act of kindness. Print their name and write down a brief description. We will read them out to the class and show how we can spread kindness everywhere! The idea is to fill one out at a time throughout the week/month. At least once a week we will keep you informed about our activities and learning on our classroom website/blog, also using Google calendar, and posting photos for your pleasure. Our website is linked to École Fred A. Hamilton’s website or you can go directly to www.mmetipler.weebly.com. Please ensure that you sign and return your child’s Internet consent form to view your child engaged in active learning. We run an excellent outdoor kindergarten forest/learning program and will be outside at least three hours a day. Please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather and is wearing shoes and clothing suitable for active outdoor play. Dressing in layers is a great way for your child to adapt to the changes in temperature. Please also send in a change of clothes along with extra socks (and mittens in the winter). Please ensure that you sign and return your child's walking form (blue) as soon as possible so we can get out and explore! Cooking and baking is another component of our kindergarten program, which helps to establish a sense of community in the classroom and is rich in learning touching all of the curriculum areas. Please inform us if your child has any dietary restrictions/allergies. Empowering our students to take responsible risks and try new things is very important to us. This year we will also be learning how to build various items using many different materials (e.g., recycled materials, wood, forest finds). Our students will learn the importance about safety when using tools within the classroom. We would welcome any scraps of wood, nails, screws, or nuts and bolts that you are willing to donate. We have included École Fred A. Hamilton’s back to school information that needs to be thoroughly read, filled-out, and returned. Please have your child bring their “Sac de communication” every day, since we will use this as a form of communication to send office information to and from home. Please remember that our classroom’s primary form of communication will be through email ([email protected]) and our website. If you do not have access to a computer, please inform us as soon as possible. We are very excited to start the year with you and your child and welcome any questions or concerns that you may have. We are open to communicating with you at any time; however, please respect the school’s policy of reporting to the office first instead of coming directly to the classroom. We may also have other commitments before or after school and may need to reschedule a time to meet with you. Always feel free to email. WE WOULD LOVE IF YOU LABELED EVERYTHING! J Please clearly label all of your child’s belongings. With brand new school clothing, children are not always able to easily identify their belongings. Therefore, when articles are found it is much easier to find the rightful owner if they are labeled. It may happen that school toys/supplies are brought home in your child’s backpack. Please place the items in your child’s communication bag and we will simply place it back on the shelf. This does happen, so please do not be alarmed. See it as a learning experience and just explain the importance of leaving toys at school for everyone to enjoy. J We also greatly encourage that home toys stay at home. École Fred A. Hamilton is very conscious of the impact that we have on our environment and we are excited to say that we have again received the provincial EcoSchool designation! Our school is also proud to say that our families are very conscientious of the foods that they provide their children and the limited amount of waste that they create by embracing the Boomerang Lunch Program. What is a Boomerang Lunch? Everything that your child brings for lunch (packaging, containers, and fruit peels) will go back into their lunch bags and returned home. The idea is to use reusable containers and less packaged foods, resulting in your child eating more nutritious foods, less waste, and as parents you will see exactly what your child is or is not eating. We are also trying to limit the amount of plastic straws and juice boxes that are damaging to our environment. Thank you so much for your participation and understanding! Together, we will teach your child to use their reusable containers and/or bag (material bag, washed milk bag, grocery bag) to put their leftover food/waste items and to keep their lunch bags clean. Through this program and several other activities, we wish to teach our students how to be impactful stewards of the environment. What a great way to teach curriculum through hands-on and authentic activities! Thank you so much for your support! We will be starting a mini composting activity this month, so please note that we will only be collecting organic materials for this science activity, so we can watch our food decompose and turn into soil. Merci ! Indoor Shoes – All students need a pair of indoor shoes at school. These shoes should be running shoes with non-marking soles that can be used in the classroom and in the gym. Please do not send shoes with laces unless your child can tie them independently. Please label all shoes. Extra Change of Clothing – All students will need a well-labeled bag of a complete change of clothing (shirt, pants, underwear, and socks). Please label the clothing inside the bag as well. Communication Bag – Please return the communication bag to school every day so important messages/papers can be sent to and from home (mainly from the office). Practise Getting Ready – Please practise getting ready with your child during a calm time of the day. Students need to be as independent as possible, therefore if they are able to zip zippers, button buttons, change their shoes, open and unload their backpacks, and pack them up again this will give them a great sense of accomplishment. Snowsuit practice too! Money, Orders, Forms – Please sign up for school accounting. This is a fast and easy way to pay for things from the comfort of your home. When sending money, cheques, and forms to school, please put the items into a clearly marked envelope with your child’s first and last name, as well as the activity. Please ensure that each activity has their own envelope, as different people may be responsible for the activities. Scholastics – Scholastic Book Order forms will be sent home about once a month. Scholastic books are a great investment to the literacy needs of your child. In addition, your purchases help to fill our classroom library. Play dough – We are in need of volunteers to make play dough for the class. If there is a month that works well for you, please let us know. A recipe can be found in the volunteer letter or online http://www.theimaginationtree.com/p/play-dough-salt-dough.html Donations – Any donations of the following consumable items would be greatly appreciated: Art supplies (paper towel rolls, googly eyes, glitter glue, small boxes, glass jars, picture frames, coloured paper, stickers, pompoms, old puzzles, games, etc…), recyclables, woodworking supplies, baking supplies, wet ones, magazines and greeting cards for cutting. You – If you have a special talent or hobby that you would like to share with the class, please send us a note and we can set up a time for a special visit. Please remember that we communicate mainly through our website (www.mmetipler.weebly.com); however there are times when we may need to communicate with you directly. Please send me a short email ([email protected]), introducing yourselves and your child, and also indicate any special concerns and/or dietary restrictions that your child may have. For example, “My child ____________________________ has the following dietary restrictions/allergies: _________________________ ________________________________________________. We use _____________________________________ as a substitute.” From time to time we may also need to contact you via email, therefore, when you send me this introductory email, I will be able to add you to our personal contact list and share links to our classroom Friendship List, and Volunteer & Play Dough lists. Many parents like to share their contact information with other parents in the class. The Friendship List is voluntary and created so parents may contact one another for play dates, birthday parties, etc. Please note that this list will only be used between the parents/guardians/teachers in the classroom. We are always looking for ways to improve our home-school connection. Volunteering in the classroom is one great way to get parents involved and understand the various activities that the children are engaged in that help to assist with their growth and learning. We need volunteers to help with various activities within the classroom setting throughout the year. Due to some administrative changes, we now need your assistance to continue our Outdoor Experiential Learning. We would welcome the opportunity for you to join us whenever possible. Some parents may not be able to come into the classroom, but may like to help in other ways. Making Play Dough for the classroom is another great way to help us out. Please use the following link to sign up where possible LINK. MERCI ! Assistance in the Classroom: Assist with Outdoor Experiential Learning (Forest Play) Assist during nutrition breaks. Assist with learning centres. Assist with cleaning toys. Assist with class trips. Read a story to the class. Share a talent/cultural holiday/work/hobby. Assistance Outside of the Classroom: Donate clean recyclable materials. Make play dough. The children thoroughly enjoy playing with play dough. In order to keep a clean supply on hand, we would greatly appreciate if you would sign up for at least one month to make play dough for the class. Your assistance is greatly appreciated! Merci ! We look forward to working with you and your child. Thank you so much, Mme Tipler and Mme McMillan **************************************** Play Dough Recipe 2 cups flour 2 tbsp oil 2 tbsp cream of tartar Food colouring 1 cup salt 2 cups of water 1. Mix dry ingredients and oil in a pot. 2. Add food colouring to water. 3. Add coloured water to dry ingredients. 4. Mix ingredients all together. 5. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a clean plastic or wooden spoon. Play dough is ready when it comes away from the sides of the pot and forms a ball. 6. Use rubber gloves or wait until cool and knead. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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