July 3, 2018
Dear Former Kindergarten Families!
I hope everyone had a great Canada Day and that your little people are enjoying their summer break - they worked hard and learned so much this year. I am so very proud of them! :)
I need to take a moment and thank each and every one of you for making my year so special and for the wonderful basket of gifts! Your generosity is most appreciated. It was my pleasure and honour to have been a part of your kiddo's beginning school adventures. I wish you all a happy summer and best of luck wherever life takes you. If you happen to be in Keenoo next year my door will continue to always be open and I would love to see you.
Thank you again for a spectacular year and all the presents!
Take care,
Karen
June 21, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
As the Kinders are wrapping up their year I can't believe how much they have grown and changed since September! It has been a wonderful adventure and I am truly proud of each one of my children for all the work and effort they have put in this year. Learning looks different for every one and we have made some impressive journeys individually and as a group this year. Way to go Kinder-kiddos!
Just a few last updates ->
The Du-athlon/Fun Day will be on Tuesday, June 26th. We run/ride first thing in the morning in the field behind our school. Parents are invited to attend and cheer us on. I will send home the list of bikers/runners on Friday (tomorrow). **Bikers must have a helmet. After that we walk to Kingswood Park (the eastern end of the Red Willow Trail system before entering Sturgeon County. There will be bouncy castles and games for us. There will also be the concession - you all should have received a bright orange half-sheet of paper in your child's agenda - this is the Pre-Order form to help speed up the process of serving 350+ hot, "starving" children! If you would like your child to have hotdogs, chips, Cheetos, and/or Gatorade please complete the order form and send in payment as soon as possible. **Freezies and water will be available for purchase that day for $1 each. You can send money with your child for these additional items if you choose.** If your child will not be purchasing concession food please send enough food and liquid for the day. The current forecast is 21 degrees with sun - PLEASE SEND A WATER BOTTLE - we can fill it in the bathroom if they run out.
The last day of Kindergarten is Wednesday, June 27th. We will be sending your little person home with all their belongings, art work, work samples, other treasures, and their Exit Document (our version of a report card). In Kindergarten we mark each of our curricular objectives as "MEETS" or "DEVELOPING". Please note that there is no failing grade in Kindergarten - children all learn at different rates and some concepts "click" faster than others. Our school and District mandate is for Kinders to learn through play. The curricular objectives have been presented and practiced in many ways, over and over again, through out the year. We have all made progress on our learning journeys - "DEVELOPING" is not a negative thing - it just means we are still working on that particular objective. If I had had any major concerns you would have heard from me!
For those of you who were at the assembly today you probably noticed how terrible I am at good-byes so there will be an ample supply of Kleenex around the classroom on Wednesday! I have enjoyed my time with your children so very much - thank you all for the support you have provided from home and for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your kiddo's learning journey - we are a good team! I love these kids and will miss them dearly.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please don't hesitate to get in touch with me.
Have a great night.
Take care,
Karen
June 1, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
Where in the world did May go?! I can't believe that we are into June already and with all the events on the calendar already I have a feeling it will fly by too. May was a fun-filled month with 3 big field trips to the Muttart, Jurassic Forest, and Children's Festival - make sure to check out the pictures on the photo tab! Thank you so much to Deanne for coordinating all the volunteers and a thank you to all the moms, dads, and grandmas that were able to help us out - we couldn't do this without you. Your time and efforts to make our year so much fun are most appreciated.
June is off to a good start - we had a wonderful guest author and dancer this morning. Teddy Anderson came in to perform his hoop dancing for us and had us all entertained and wowed with the artistry! We have many more adventures to go on this month - days to make a note of:
June 6 - NO Kindergarten
June 11 - Splash Park in the morning with Mrs. McCormick's class - afternoon kiddos are welcome to come and join us. We will be walking down around 9:45ish and returning to school around 11:15am. **All Splash Park days will be weather dependent - the city does not open the park if it is raining and the water is not turned on if it is not above 16 degrees. Normal class routines will be followed if the weather does not co-operate.
June 12 - Celebrate DADS Kinder Night - craft and potluck (involves an air compressor)!!! RSVP will be coming home soon. Please send your kiddo with a 2L pop bottle - this is the body of the craft.
June 13 - Fort Edmonton Kinder Park Outing - We will be leaving the school at 11:20 - Afternoon kiddos please arrive by 11:00am. More details to come.
June 15 Splash Park in the afternoon.
June 18 - Splash Park in the morning with Mrs McCormick's class. Again, the Afternoon kiddos are welcome to join us. We will be walking down around 9;45am.
June 26 - Du-athlon and Fun Day - The Kinder Du-athlon is held in the field behind the school. We will have Runner & Biker Teams complete the circuit and then walk to Kingswood Park for Fun Day for bouncy castles, field games, and a walk through River Lot 56. Afternoon kiddos are invited to come spend the day with us! A concession lunch will be available - I will let you know prices as soon as they are determined. In the past they have offered hotdogs, Gatorade, and freezies for sale.
June 27 - Last Day of Kindergarten :(
I will be sending a more detailed email home soon. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are planning on leaving on holidays sooner than June 27th please let me know so I can try and have your kiddo's scrap book finished in time.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Take care,
Karen
April 22, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
Happy Earth Date Day! I hope you have all been able to enjoy a bit of the sunshine today - we have been taking advantage of it this past week in class and spending time outdoors for some vitamin D and run around time! It has been a looooonnnnggg winter!
The children have been busy learning about dinosaurs and tying that into Earth Day and how we can take care of our planet so we don't have more species go extinct like the Dinos. We have also been working very hard on our printing, numbers, reading early sight words, practicing with our Home Reading, and of course art projects and Kinder-cooking. There is never a dull moment in Room 144! :)
There is a field trip coming up on Friday, May 4th - we will be off to the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton. ***Please note that ALL my children need to be at school by 8:40am as we will be departing Keenooshayo at 8:50am to get into the city. We will be back at 12:20pm. There will be NO AFTERNOON class on this day. Afternoon families please make arrangements for the changed drop-off and pick-up times.*** Field trip permission slips will be coming home this week. Thank you to Deanne for putting out the call for volunteers! We only have room for 3 parents on this trip (Muttart rules, not mine). I am sorry we cannot accommodate more but don't worry - we have more field trips coming! :)
This week we will be hosting next year's Kinder-kiddos for their test drives and the kids are looking forward to being the "teachers"! They have grown up so much both physically and academically - fortunately they are still mine for a few more weeks! As kind of a side note on this topic we need you to send in spare clothes - with all the time we are spending outside we tend to get a bit damp/wet. I will be sending home the clothes we have here so you can check to see if they still fit and then return a complete change (t-shirt, socks x 2, underwear, and pants) for those just in case moments. The stock at school that fit the little people is woefully lacking so I have had to send some kids home with bare feet.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to get in touch.
Take care,
Karen
April 3, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and has enjoyed the break. We are into the home stretch of our school year with 3 months to go! We have lots of fun things still to do and many learning objectives to go but it is always a time that seems to fly right by.
Spring is officially here according to the calendar but Mother Nature often has her own agenda - please be sure to send your little ones with appropriate gear to be outside - mittens, hats, snowpants, warm enough jackets ... hopefully this will change to spring-like clothes sooner than later but then again, this is Alberta!
March was a fun-filled month of "Under the Sea" and we had a great time investigating and researching the creatures in the ocean. We were lucky to have Larry, the scuba-diver, come in and share his underwater pictures with us and explain all his diving gear that lets him swim with octopus, crabs, starfish, sharks, and whales! We ended the unit before the break by making shark hats and eating shark cookies - check out the photos!
I would like to take a quick moment to thank Mrs. Coen, (Ms. Coen's Mom), for making us the wonderful Kinder-egg chicks! She is such an amazing volunteer in our class and I appreciate her help and generosity more than words can ever express! Thank you, Mrs. Coen for making our Kinder-year so wonderful and memorable!
I would also like to take a moment to say good-bye to Alec and wish him good luck at his new school.
As we jump back into our routine April will be busy with Earth Day and dinosaurs! We also get to be the "big kids" as we host next year's Kinder-kiddos during test drives April 24th & 25th.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about anything please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Have a great remainder of Spring Break - see you all on Thursday.
Take care,
Karen
March 10, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
It was an exciting end to a busy week. On Thursday we all had a chance to participate in the school's Jump Rope for Heart event. Thank you to everyone who sent in their envelopes - as soon as we have a total from Mrs. Herman I will update you on Keenoo's contribution to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The pledge prizes will be delivered to your child when they arrive at school (probably sometime in April).
And yesterday we got to meet Dale, an African penguin from the West Edmonton Mall Penguin exhibit. He was adorable - you can see him in the photo section. His friend/trainer, Michelle, did a terrific job telling us all about African penguins - all our Kinder research turned out to be accurate! It is very rewarding to hear my little people say "We knew that!" Thank you to our Afternoon families for coming early to see Dale. And thank you to Mr. Erickson for letting this special visitor come to the school! :)
On another note, I would like to remind you to continue to send clothes appropriate for the weather - Mother Nature has us guessing on a daily basis so we need to be prepared for cold, windy, warmer, and wetter as we do try to get outside at least once each day. This past week we took advantage of the new snow and went outside to build snow forts, friendship hills, and just enjoyed the fresh air. It was great to be out but some of us had to borrow snow pants and mittens. I know the children are tired of wearing them but it allows us to be out more comfortably. ***If your child is missing clothes please stop by the Lost & Found (located kitty-corner from the girls' bathroom) to see if anything belongs at your house!
If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Take care,
Karen
PS Don't forget to turn the clocks forward 1 hour on Saturday night.
March 3, 2018
In like a lion - out like a lamb...
March has arrived and we are still busy in Kindergarten! We have started to work on our skipping skills during Gym so we can participate in the school's Jump Rope for Heart on Thursday. If you have been collecting donations please send in the envelopes by Thursday morning so Mrs. Herman can tally up the school total! We have been very lucky to have Grade 6 helpers come in and turn ropes for us and give us lots of encouragement. Every single kinder-kiddo managed to get in some good jumping by the end the week - I am so very proud of all of you! :)
We also took some time to recognize Dr. Seuss' birthday with some crazy rhymes and tongue-twisting stories! We will continue working on rhyming words in class as an early reading strategy. Our Home Reading program is going very well and the kids are still super excited when they bring back their Log Books with a full page and get to go to the treasure box. As we stated before, reading is not a Kinder requirement but we are hopefully getting them interested in various types of literature and starting them off with the tools they will need for grade 1. We will be changing up the Home Reading with some focused alphabet books for March. They will continue to count in the Log Books just enter them as "a book, b book, c book, etc".
This week we watched a BBC April Fool's Day video about penguins that can fly! We learned that just because we saw it on the computer doesn't mean it is true and that we have to do our research carefully from a few different places. We watched the second part and saw how the people used a green screen and computers to create "real-looking" penguins. Then we went to our Library and saw Mr. Burton's green screen where he makes the news with our Grade 6 friends and are understanding a bit of the "magic" that people and computers can make. The big lesson was just because we saw it on TV or the computer does not mean it is true.
Things to look forward to:
Tuesday, March 6 - March Scholastic DUE
Wednesday, March 7 - NO KINDERGARTEN - Staff meeting day
Thursday, March 8 - Jump Rope for Heart DUE
Friday, March 9 - Penguin visit - 10:30am in the GYM
Friday, March 9 - Blue School registration form for 2018-19 DUE
March 19 - 21 - Kindergarten Celebrations of Learning - Book an appointment at Keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com
March 21 - Bowling Field trip **Permission slips will be coming home soon
March 23 - NO SCHOOL - Spring Break starts
April 4 - NO KINDERGARTEN - Staff Meeting day
Please get in touch if you have any questions or comments. Stay warm and have a wonderful weekend.
Take care,
Karen
February 25, 2018
Dear Kinder-Families,
As my first thing, I would like to welcome our newest classmate, Parker! A huge welcome goes out to her and her family; we are glad to have you in our Kinder family.
As we enter the last week of February I can't believe how fast it has flown by. For the shortest month of the year it was very busy - Groundhog's Day, teachers' convention, Valentine's Day, Silver Carnival, Keenoo Kinder Family Night, Family Day, 100 Day, Grad pictures, Jump Rope assembly and our upcoming at-school field trip tomorrow that celebrates our individual skills and talents while recognizing that we are all a special piece of the Kinder puzzle!
We have been working on learning about penguins and had some fun last week making banana penguins to eat - check out our Photo tab! We will have the chance to teach the Grade 1s some of our new found skills this week! We have learned some gigantic words like oviparous and regurgitation. We have also learned that Daddy penguins take care of the eggs while the Mommies go fishing, that penguins are fabulous swimmers because they are oval shaped, that they like to eat fish, krill, octopus, and squid, that they have to be careful of leopard seals, whales, and sharks and that they live in the Southern Hemisphere unless scientists or zoos take them across the equator.
We will be having a special African penguin from WEM come visit the school on Friday, March 9th. We would really like our Afternoon kids to see this so hopefully our PM parents can make arrangements to stop by the school at 10:30am to 11:15am.
We have also been working on our numbers and related quantities up to 10. We have been keeping track of our days at school and we reached 100 on Friday. We had fun discovering that 10 groups of 10 make 100! :) We traded in all the fishies in our fish bowl for a Shark with 100 on his tail! We are also putting a lot of time into printing nicely and making sure that our letters are all facing the right way.
Afternoon Families Please Note: *We will need to make a scheduling change in class time for Wednesday, March 21st for our Afternoon children. We will be going bowling that morning so please bring your kiddos by 8:50am and I will return them to you by 11:30am. They will NOT have an Afternoon class that day. Regular class times apply for the Full Day children.
Our Celebrations of Learning will be held March 19, 20, and 21st after school. Please go to keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com to book a time slot - bring your Kinder-child and be prepared to be amazed as they lead you through a number of centres to show off their awesome skills. There will be time to talk to me about your child's progress, ask questions, and pick up their Term 2 work and art.
Things to look forward to:
Wednesday, February 28 - Pink Shirt Day in recognition of NO BULLYING
Wednesday, March 7 - NO KINDERGARTEN (Staff Meeting Day)
Thursday, March 8 - Jump Rope For Heart - skipping in the Gym
Friday, March 9 - Penguin visit - 10:30 in the Gym
Wednesday, March 21 - Celebrations of Learning - Book a 45 minute appointment at Keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com **BRING YOUR CHILD**
Friday, March 23 - NO SCHOOL - SPRING BREAK STARTS
As always, if you have questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Take care,
Karen
January 28, 2018
Dear Kinder-Families,
January seems to be going out like it came in - very COLD! We are hopeful that the temperatures will be in the "allowable" range for us to get outside and enjoy the fluffy snow this coming week so please make sure that all appropriate snow clothes come to school. We took the opportunity on Friday to go out for 15 minutes of fresh air and energy release and discovered we were the first ones on the field all day! What fun it was to stomp in snow up to our knees, run-through the fluff, and decorate that blank canvas with snow angels! In Kindergarten we look for the joys in the smallest of things and attempt to make a memory!
We have been learning a lot about polar bears and have been able to watch real ones via polar cams set up on the shores of Hudson Bay on our SmartBoard. We have researched and discovered that polar bear skin is black and their fur is clear and hollow like a straw. We also learned that they have very good ears and are super patient while they sit still waiting for seals (their favourite food) to pop up out of the water. We finished up polar bears this week with polar bear ice cream cups after putting our muscles to good use making our soapstone bears. I love this field trip because the children see the transformation from a rough-cut, chalky white piece of rock into something beautiful because of their hard work. I hope all the bears made it home safely and were shown off with Kinder pride! If the bears do start to get dull they can be revived by using a cotton ball with a few drops of canola/vegetable oil. I am so proud of my kids!
We have also been working very hard on relating the concept of numbers and corresponding quantities. The class is doing very well with the jump from looking at a written numeral and giving it meaning by relating it to the proper amount- I am very impressed! We also have introduced the concepts of length, height, and weight. Did you know that Daddy polar bears can grow up to 10 feet tall (taller than our classroom ceiling) and baby polar bears are about as heavy as a bottle of sanitizer when they are first born?! We also built our names out of paper snowballs and have used them as a tool for comparing the concepts of longest and shortest. We are also still working on our letters, sounds, and early reading skills. The children are getting very excited these days when they bring a book to me and announce that they know the words. :) Hooray for Kinder-kids! Keep up the good work. We will be changing up some of the home-reading ideas in February to expose the children to some non-fiction choices. They will be choosing books based on interest not reading ability - you will need to help read these ones but they still count in the logbook. You can open a discussion with what your child sees in the picture, what letters they recognize on the page, reading the words they know, etc. Our goal is to promote reading of a variety of media and a love of books for enjoyment and as a learning resource.
If you have questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at any time.
Things to look forward to:
Wednesday, February 7 - NO Kindergarten/Half day for grades 1-6 (Staff Meeting day)
Thursday & Friday, February 8 & 9 - NO SCHOOL - Teachers' Convention
Wednesday, February 14 - Valentine's Day Party and School Silver Carnival - We will be having our class party and then join the school in the carnival activities that fundraise for our foster child, Kendy. ***Afternoon children - please come early! We will start our party at 12pm to allow time for eating and handing out Valentines before the school-wide activities start. More details to come!
Thursday, February 15 - Kinder Family Night Craft and Potluck event! Please join us in the Gym with your family at 6pm to create a special craft, meet other Kinder-families, and enjoy the potluck. Bring whatever you want to share! ***An RSVP will be coming home soon so we will have adequate crafting supplies on hand.
Monday, February 19 - NO SCHOOL - Family Day in Alberta
Friday, February 23 - Kinder Grad Photos - The photographer brings mini caps and gowns and takes photos of the Kinders. (They are so cute!). You will be able to order them online if you desire.
Monday, February 26 - At School Field Trip - "I AM UNIQUE"
Wednesday, March 7 - NO Kindergarten/Half day for grades 1-6 (Staff Meeting day)
Enjoy your weekend.
Take care,
Karen
January 7, 2018
Happy New Year, Kinder Families! I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed the time with your little people. I am looking forward to getting back to see the children and hear all about Christmas and their break activities.
I apologize for not updating the website sooner - I had a catastrophic computer failure over the break and was hoping to have the December photos recovered to put on here. That process is taking longer than I thought it would so hopefully they are able to be saved and I will get them on here as soon as I can. Technology is amazing these days but I don't have the skills to know what to do when things go horribly wrong and all you get is a black screen and a wicked screeching noise when you push the power button. I'm using a different computer but of course it doesn't have all my Kindergarten stuff on it and the young man (who looked about 13) at the repair shop said something about manually spinning the drive to recover my files ??? My fingers are crossed that all will work out well! :)
As you know we head back to school tomorrow! I am excited as we are heading into our Polar Bears and Penguins unit. We will be learning about geography, animal characteristics, math, science, social, reading, writing, and of course art! Everything in Kindergarten is so adaptable to cover off all areas of our curriculum. We will be doing a review of basic letter recognition and sounds plus number recognition and quantity matching just to make sure we didn't forget too much over the break. Home Reading will resume tomorrow and I do want to remind everyone that knowing how to read is not a Kindergarten requirement - we just want to expose the kids to literature in many forms and hope that they fall in love with the idea of becoming readers this year. It is our job to take them from wherever they are on their learning journey as far as we can and I am thrilled with how they want to know more and more!
We will be continuing to spend some time each day (as Mother Nature permits) outside. Please make sure that your little person comes with all the appropriate clothing to be outside for at least half an hour - mittens, snow pants, boots, hats, coats, etc. Prior to the break we were stressing the importance of independence in self-care tasks like dressing themselves - the only requirement is showing us that they are trying and if they experience difficulties we will help them. (Winter coat zippers tend to like to eat the surrounding fabric and can be very frustrating!). We will be continuing with this in the new year. Please help us out at home by not doing all these jobs for your child; they are capable and it is excellent fine motor practice. :)
I hope 2018 continues to be a fun, adventure-filled year for our Kinder-kiddos. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Take care,
Karen
December 16, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
Merry Christmas wishes to all! It has been a wonderful December to date and I love the children's excitement as we get closer and closer to the holidays! We have had a very eventful month with a trip to the city Library to learn about Christmas traditions around the world and decorate a gingerbread house. There was even a resident sneaky elf that left a candy cane in our boots while we were listening to the stories! Nothing matches the magic of Christmas for 5 year olds and their teacher! :)
The magic continued as we rehearsed and rehearsed for the Christmas concert and were fabulous in both performances! I am so proud of all my children for getting on the stage and singing their little hearts out! Of course I think they saved the best for last! :) Thank you for all your help at home practicing the words and for coming to watch us perform.
We had even more magic on party day when we had surprise visitor in a red suit come visit and take pictures and hand out candy canes. Early in December we wrote letters to the "big guy" at the North Pole with our Grade 6 buddies and he said he answered them and had a 6'3", red-haired elf deliver them to your houses! If you did not receive one please let me know.
Things to look forward to this week:
Take care,
Karen
November 28, 2017 (adapted from email sent on Nov. 28th)
Dear Kinder-families,
I know I am a couple of weeks behind but school life has been busy the last two weeks! Parent-Teacher Learning Conferences went well and it was nice to see you all again. To all the tall Daddies - my apologies again for the teeny chairs - this is our reality in Kindergarten! :)
We are back into the normal swing of things and are now working on mastering the following letters: Cc, Dd, Aa, Gg, Qq, Oo, Ss, Ff, Ee, Ll, Tt, and Ii. With our Home Reading program just taking effect yesterday the children are beyond excited that they are becoming readers and that makes me so happy! As mentioned in the Home Reading letter, we are just trying to instil a love of books into the children - they do not have to know how to read to complete Kindergarten. Yet, as they grow and learn and start to make those connections that letters have sounds that build words, sentences, and stories, the next step is to start reading those little words and putting that knowledge to work. The idea is to have you help them with their chosen book each night - if life gets in the way, as it often does with other commitments, it is no big deal - you can always talk about the letters on the cereal box in the morning, the letters on the signs as you drive them to swimming, dance, hockey, or gymnastics, or anywhere else they notice letters. Learning can happen everywhere and anywhere! The children should also be able to recognize and name the letters in their name - we have been working on these very hard and it is wonderful to hear them announce, "Hey, that word starts with the same letter I do!"
We have had some other wonderful learning going on in Room 144 - we had our Glazing Pot at-school field trip after the fall break - the project will be coming home with all the special crafts on December 21st. If you are planning on starting your holidays early please let me know so I can get your Kinder-kiddo all packed up with their special treasures in time for your departure. Also, if your holidays are going to extend past January 7th please let me and Mrs. Juse know so that we don't worry when your child does not return on January 8th and start phoning every contact number on file!
We have been celebrating Peace and talking about how lucky we are to live in Canada. We made peace sign pretzels last week and the children had fun working with the dough - we have quite the class of bakers! We have also been talking about how not everyone is fortunate enough to have a roof and enough food to eat. As part of our UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organization) initiative at Keenoo we have been collecting warm clothes, toiletries, and blankets that will be delivered to the Hope Mission to try and make a difference in the lives of people who may be struggling to get by. If you would like to help, the donation box will be in the Keenoo foyer for another week or so. (This is completely voluntary.)
We are also starting to practice our Christmas concert songs - Christmas Is and Welcome Christmas. The words can be found below - any practice at home would be helpful! (I'm trying to figure out how to attach the music to an email - I will figure this tech stuff out eventually or find the right people to help me!) The concert is on Thursday, December 14th with an Afternoon and an Evening Performance in the school gym. We are all going to be little "Whos" from The Grinch - dresses for the girls - bows in their hair could be an extra touch and nice clothes for the boys - you do not need to go buy anything special. The Afternoon performance starts at 1:30pm and the Evening performance starts at 18:30pm. The Gym does tend to fill up quickly so you may want to plan on being early to get a seat. The classroom will be open at 5:45pm to drop off your child. I will return him or her to you AFTER the concert from the classroom ONLY! Please do not try to take them out of line as we exit the Gym - the school is full of people and the chaos factor is high. I need to see you with your child so I know they are safe.
Christmas Is
Christmas is love
Christmas is caring
Christmas is friends
Together sharing.
Christmas is time
For children to sing
Songs about happiness
Christmas will bring.
Christmas is laughter, hope and joy
Filling the hearts of girls and boys.
Christmas is what
Our dreams are made of
But more than anything
Christmas is love.
But more than anything
Christmas is love.
Welcome Christmas
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas, come this way
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas, Christmas Day.
Welcome, welcome yahoo ramus
Welcome, welcome yahoo hamus
Christmas day is in our grasp,
So long as we have hands to clasp.
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas bring your cheer
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome all Whos far and near
Where are you Christmas?
I think I found you
This time I'll make you stay
You'll hear us singing
Bells will be ringing
Now and forever
Christmas Day.
Other things to look forward to:
Thank you to Deanne for organizing all the volunteers for our field trips, party, and in-class helpers. And thank you to all the parents who have spoken with or emailed her to fill in the spaces - we could not do all the special things without you.
If you have any questions or concerns please get in touch!
Take care,
Karen
November 14, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
I hope you all had a great weekend. We spent Remembrance Day and the weekend in Airdrie with the Gysen clan and it was nice to have that family time. I just want to give a giant thank you to my Kinder-kids for being so spectacular at the school Remembrance Day assembly! I am so proud of them - they were quiet, respectful, and just amazing! Well done, Kinders!! :) Thank you to Miss Leanne for coming to spend the morning with us and being a part of our class on this special day.
It was also a great week for trying new food again (for some). We had tacos on Tuesday to accompany our book, "Dragons Love Tacos". A huge thank you goes out to Mrs. Coen, (Ms Coen's mom) for making the sombreros as a memento! We are so lucky to have both of them! Thank you also goes out to Mrs. Coen and Miss Brenda for staying to help us cook! We couldn't do all these things without your help. :)
If you would like, take a moment to check out our photos - if you click on a picture it makes it bigger and it won't have any cut-off heads!
(Below has been taken from the email sent to all parents on Nov. 14th)
I have received a couple of emails asking for clarification of the "Star of the Week - All About Me" package that went home with all the kiddos on Friday so instead of answering everyone individually I'll send the details out to all...
This paperwork package is the basis of our Star of the Week talks - each Kinder-kid will have the opportunity to be the Star where we take time to talk and learn about them for a whole school week. They will get chosen through a random draw on Fridays as the last official duty of the presiding Star! We will put a note in your child's Agenda when they are chosen so you can prepare them over the weekend.
In addition to discussing their answers on the paperwork they get to bring in ONE (1) special thing each day they are the star - a favourite stuffy, a souvenir from a special trip, a baby memento, a photo of something special they have done, a medal from a sports team, or,with planning, your pet, etc. They could also do a dance routine, a karate/martial arts demo, or if you let me know ahead of time, we may be able to book the music room for a piano demo, etc. The class will be able to ask three questions each day (this helps us learn the difference between questions and statements and helps the Star gain confidence with public speaking. Your part will be to help prep them to answer questions about their item/skill - the 5Ws (who gave it to them, what is it, where did it come from, where did they get it, when did they get it, how long did it take to learn to ___, etc.) are a good place to start). **If your little person is the Star during a short week they will have a "double-up" day where they can bring two things so they don't feel like they missed out. The item can be stored in the back closet in the room to keep it a secret until Star time and to help keep it safe during the day.
Please help your child fill in the paperwork - preferably they can try the printing themselves &/or you can help. They can draw in the pictures or print and tape photos in. The sky is the limit!
For the paper doll part - there is a 'planner copy' on normal paper if you need it and there is the 'send back to school' copy on thicker cardstock - we talked about how this needs to be a real representation of each of them - not one of my children has blue skin or rainbow eyes which we often see during free drawing art time! Again, the sky is the limit - they can use yarn for hair, paper or fabric for clothes, and google eyes if you choose. If they want to use markers and crayons that works too as long as it looks something like your kiddo! ;)
The completed packages are due back at school on Thursday, November 23rd. I will draw the name of the first Star that day. If you are going to need more time that is no problem - I will just take your child's name out of the first draw so there is no disappointment and no pressure to rush.
The main thing is to have fun with your little person!
Just a few other reminders:
1. Tomorrow (Wednesday, November 15th) is our at-school field trip with The Glazing Pot - please make sure your child is wearing something that is okay to potentially get paint on. We will put on the paint shirts you hopefully provided at the beginning of the year but in Kindergarten oopses are a part of our reality!
2. If you have not returned the demographic sheet (letter from Mr. Erickson on one side and your child's photo, address, DOB, and pertinent contact info on the other) please send it back ASAP, either marked 'no changes' or with the needed corrections. The Office is required to check EVERY child in the school to make sure the database is accurate. If you have moved or changed phone numbers/contact people it is VERY important that you let us know so that we have the most up-to-date information.
3. Our Parent-Teacher Learning Conferences are next week (November 22nd & 23rd). If you are having difficulties signing up at https://keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com please contact Mrs. Juse at 780-459-3114.
4. There is NO SCHOOL on Friday, November 24th.
Enjoy your snowy Tuesday! Please get in touch if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Take care,
Karen
November 5, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
Happy November! I hope you all survived Halloween, stayed warm this weekend and remembered to switch your clocks back an hour this morning. "Falling back" is less disruptive to the little people than the spring change so hopefully Monday will be a smooth transition for all of us!
As we move into November here are a few things to note:
Tuesday, November 7th - Kinder-cooking in the early afternoon! We have a great story called, "Dragons Love Tacos" so we will be reading that and then making our own tacos. For the Full Day kids you may want to pack a smaller lunch so they aren't too full to enjoy the tacos! Afternoon kids may want to eat a smaller lunch before they arrive so they will have room for tacos! We do have a "You need to try it" rule on Kinder-cooking days and we will send the leftovers home.
Wednesday, November 8th - Scholastic Book Orders for November will be DUE. The order forms are going home tomorrow - if you would like to order books please return the form by Nov. 8th. If you would like the books to be a gift please mark **GIFT** on the form and I can deliver them to you discreetly! We will have another order in early December to ensure delivery in time for Christmas.
(If your little person has already had a birthday during the school year they will have received a birthday coupon for a free Scholastic book from me. I love books and hope to pass that joy along to my kiddos. If there is a book they would like, please complete the details on the coupon and return it with the Book Order form. If you have misplaced the coupon paper it is okay - I have the originals - just let me know. All the children will get one on their birthday if it falls in the school year and summer birthday kids will get their coupons in the spring with time to order before the end of school. They can be used at any time up to the end of June 2018 and are good for a book up to $6. I will put out occasional reminders here.)
Friday, November 10th is our school Remembrance Day assembly.
***Afternoon children and families are invited to attend this morning assembly.
As a former Army wife, Remembrance Day is very important to me but I don't want to scare or over-sensationalize the concept of war for my Kinder-kids. When my children were little we explained that Daddy had to go away for so long because he was working for the "good guys" to help make life better for people who needed some extra help when the "bad guys" made terrible choices. In class our focus will be on the peace that police, soldiers, Naval, and Air Force personnel bring to Canadians and people around the world. We have started discussing that we are very lucky to live here because we get to go to school, we can play, we are safe, and we get to make our own choices (preferably good ones). If you have any concerns please get in touch with me.
Monday and Tuesday, November 13th & 14th - NO SCHOOL - Fall Break
Wednesday, November 15th - At School Field Trip - The Glazing Pot will be coming to us. Watch for volunteer requests from Deanne!
Wednesday & Thursday, November 22nd & 23rd - Parent/Teacher Learning Conferences - please go to https://keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com to book an appointment time to come and discuss your little person's progress so far. If you encounter technical difficulties please contact Mrs. Juse at 780-349-3114 and she can help you.
Friday, November 24th - NO SCHOOL
Please remember to send your little person with all the appropriate winter clothes so we can go outside as the temperature permits. We are promoting independence in the classroom by encouraging the children to get dressed themselves - we will always make sure that they are zipped but they have to show us they are trying first. You could help us out at home by letting your little person practice - winter zippers can be tricky as they often like to "eat" the surrounding fabric but practice lining up the zipper parts, pushing the parts together, and pulling the zipper up and down would be a great help in making us speedier. Thank you for your patience at home time as it is taking us a bit longer to get ready with all the extra warmth requirements!
Also, please help us out by taking a few moments to talk with your children about the food in their lunch boxes - we are hearing a lot of, "I don't like this." and the children are trying to go for the Halloween treats before they eat their healthier choices. We have also had a few children purposefully dumping their veggies or fruit on the floor and then saying "Ooops! I guess they are garbage." One benefit of having a sink in the classroom is picking them up and rinsing them off much to the child's dismay but I don't find their option acceptable and we have talked about it in class as not being a good choice. We are also still in need of daily water bottles - please let me know if you can't send one and I will try and help. The kids are encouraged to drink water and refill their bottles as needed during the day.
That about wraps up this update. Have a great Sunday. As always, please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns.
Take care,
Karen
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Dear Kinder-families,
I hope those of you who were able to attend the Monster Mash had a wonderful time Friday night! If you couldn't make it I hope you had a great weekend, too. Enjoy all the little things with your kiddos - they are awesome little people! From my own experience, they grow up way too fast but they will always be your little person even when they are towering over you!
We had a great week - we built veggie skeletons for Kinder-cooking and some (I'm sure to their own surprise) did survive the trying of new veggies! :) We also saw a great performance of Jack & the Beanstalk by the Alberta Opera. The updated classic had Jack befriend the lonely giant and be rewarded for his kindness - I must say I like this version better! We also received the cutest little crocheted ghost presents from Mrs. Coen (Ms Coen's mom) and took them out to fly in the field. A giant thank you goes out to Mrs. Coen for her generosity and kindness! :)
We are trying to keep up with our daily outdoor time but we need your help with sending the appropriate clothes - it is getting colder so we need the warmer coats and maybe mitts and toques. We also need your help in sending water bottles to school - the children have access to the tap and fountain for refills as needed.
We are working our way towards Halloween and have been making some fun crafts - pumpkin life cycles, milk jug monsters, and Spookley pumpkins based on the story of Spookley, the square pumpkin and how he saves the day by plugging the hole in the fence. This ties very nicely with our Social Studies curriculum and UNESCO goals where we celebrate our unique gifts while understanding that we are all people. Keenooshayo is a special place with many children who learn differently, talk differently, eat differently, "speak" through electronic devices or by using sign language, and "see" using a cane. In Kindergarten we tackle this by explaining that sometimes our brains work differently so we need to do things differently but we are all people with hearts, feelings, eyes, ears, noses, arms, legs, etc.
A huge thank you also goes out to Mr. Burton and his fabulous Grade 5s for helping us create our Monsters - check out our creations under the photo tab!
Our Halloween party will be on Tuesday afternoon - we will be changing into our costumes at lunch time. We will still have a morning snack and take a break for lunch but as there will be party food coming in you may wish to make your child's lunch smaller and we won't need an afternoon snack. Thank you to Deanne for organizing the party food and thank you to all our families for signing up. If you haven't had a chance yet please get in touch with Deanne, our Volunteer Coordinator. We will have a costume parade, crafts in the classroom, and time to play. Parent volunteers are encouraged to wear their costumes that afternoon! :)
Please remember that there is no Kindergarten on November 1st as it is the first Wednesday of the month. Kinder classes resume as usual on Thursday, November 2nd.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to get in touch. Have a great Halloween week!
Take care,
Karen
October 20, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
It has been a great couple of weeks in Kindergarten! Last week we had our first field trip to Prairie Gardens and despite the chilly weather it was a wonderful day! The children enjoyed the farm, riding the tractor-train, exploring the greenhouses, learning the story of The Little Red Hen (via crazy puppets) and how important it is to help your friends, choosing a baby pumpkin to take home, petting the goats and sheep, feeding corn that we picked in the maze to the chickens, mining gems and other special treasures, planting beans for local restaurants, picnicking on hay bales, and just having good old fun on a slide with a puddle at the bottom! It means we had a great day when the children come home filthy!! Thank you to all our volunteer parents for spending the day with us!
We also had our Bus Safety at-school field trip where we learned all about the Danger Zone, how to get off the bus in an emergency (front door, back door, window, and escape hatch). Our puppet friend, Matty, showed us how to jump out the back door and then we all got to try it - thanks for not dropping us, Mr. Erickson! We also got to drive bus tents around the school - I'm not sure Alberta Transportation would approve any licensing requests but we sure had a lot of fun! :)
Just in case you were wondering, we actually do work in class, too! We are working really hard on the letters in our names. You can help us out at home with a paper and pencil and reminding us what the letters are if we are having a forgetful moment! We are using a capital letter at the beginning because we are important and then all the rest are lower case. We are also working on using our detective eyes to look for the letters Cc, Dd, Aa, and now Gg. A few kids have come to school saying, "My Mom doesn't know why we aren't doing the alphabet in order." ~ there are actual reasons for starting with 'c' ~ we call it Magic c because from that basic 'c' shape we can build into d, a, g, q, and o which provides a sense of accomplishment for the kids. Then we tackle the rest of those letters. The other reason is to break the "lmnop" = 1 letter mindset that children often get into when singing the ABC song. They may be able to sing the words but they often don't make the connection of what the letters are outside the song. By shaking up the order we take away the automaticity of just saying the words and try to have the kids think about the letters and their sounds. It is still early in our school year (we just bundled the fishies in our bowl on Thursday and we are now up to 31 days of Kindergarten!) but we could use your help at home to really work on letter recognition in upper and lower case to make sure our literacy foundation is solid. We do lots of practice and reviewing here but every little bit helps - learning happens everywhere - it doesn't have to be something extra - walks in the neighbourhood where you notice street signs, license plates, house signs, STOP signs, food in the grocery store, on the table, in the fridge, letters in the words on TV, letters in the bedtime stories - seriously, learning possibilities are everywhere!
Enjoy the weekend! Next week will be another fun-filled adventure in Kinder Room 144 as we prepare for Halloween!
Take care,
Karen
PS: A huge thank you to Deanne K. for taking on our Volunteer Coordinator role. She has already been in touch via email regarding Halloween Party food for October 31st. If you didn't receive an email from her please let me know and I will double check the contact info.
October 8, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
I hope everyone is enjoying some family time this weekend. There are many things to be thankful for from a Kinder perspective...as we discussed this in class most of the children talked about their families! They are such a wonderful group of kiddos - I am thankful for the fun and joy they add to my life! :)
We ended our week with the annual Keenoo Turkey Trot where we chased the giant teacher turkey around the field! Everyone completed the fun run (2 times for the Full Day kids) and then celebrated with a turkey cookie! Well done, Kinders!
Please check your child's Friday Envelope carefully this week...there is A LOT of stuff in there! There are two special Thanksgiving art pieces we worked on - turkey handprints and turkey centre pieces. There is also the October Scholastic book order forms (if you are interested they are due on Wed. October 11th), information on the KPA Halloween dance, KPA Christmas fundraising (One Stop Shopping), plus some fun fire safety activities.
Fire Safety was our big topic for the end of the week. Many of the children did not know what a smoke detector was so we are asking for your help in locating and testing the ones in your home. We talked about them being like a "big nose" that checks for smoke in the air and that they make a lot of noise to warn people if there is smoke. We also talked about how Mrs. Gysen is not a very good cook and sets hers off making toast sometimes! We also learned about STOP-DROP-& ROLL, firefighters are people that help us, and if there is smoke in the air we need to get low and crawl to safety. The kids enjoyed all our scenarios where we rolled on the classroom floor and crawled out the door. Sometimes these things are just hard to explain to other people in the school but it helps cement the concepts into real actions for Kinders! We used our "detective eyes" and located all the fire alarms, hoses, extinguishers, and EXITS in the school. And we also talked about calling 9-1-1 and how it is only for emergencies. We are going to start working on learning our addresses so we can tell "helper people" (police, firefighters, and EMS) where we live in case of an emergency. Hopefully your current information is on file with the school as that will be the information we practice with.
Please remember that there is NO SCHOOL on Monday, October 9th or Tuesday, October 10th. Also please remember that your little person MUST BE AT SCHOOL by 8:45am on Thursday, October 12th for our trip to Prairie Gardens! The children will need layers of clothes to be comfortable and appropriate footwear for a farm (no sandals, flip-flops or open-toed shoes) - the forecast is for a high of 5 degrees with sun and clouds. They will also need enough food and drinks for the whole day (a full lunch plus snacks and water bottles that seal and do not leak - there are NO refill facilities at the farm).
Happy Thanksgiving wishes to you and all my wonderful Kinder-children.
Take care,
Karen
PS: We need a clean, 4L or 2L milk jug sent to school for a special craft by Friday, October 20th! If you don't drink milk in this size please talk to a friend, neighbour or family member to get one. Thanks! :)
October 1, 2017
Happy October! September ended beautifully for the Kinders in Room 144 with sunshine and outside time! We will still be going outside even as the weather changes so please make sure your little person is coming to school dressed for the day.
We had a great time meeting our Grade 5 & 6 Buddies in time for the Terry Fox Run this past week. :) I am so very proud of them for giving their best effort. Thank you to our Big Kid Buddies for helping us, too!
Please remember to send your little person with a water bottle. We have taught them how to refill them at the fountain and we have two sinks in our room. Our walk on Friday had a few children complaining they were thirsty but they had to wait until we got back to school to get a drink from the fountain because they didn't have a water bottle. If you are having trouble sourcing one please let us know. If you are still looking for one please try to find one that seals well as we have had a few soggy backpacks, wet Library books, and drippy Agendas; no big deal in the end but preventable with your help!
Just a reminder that the first Wednesday of every month is a "NO KINDERGARTEN" day (October 4th) and the big kids only get a half day with a lunch time dismissal. Mrs. McCormick and I have to go to 'Teacher School' at District Office in the morning so there will be no one here to greet your little person - the Office will call you to come get them if you drop them off! School resumes as per the normal schedule on Thursday.
Also a reminder that there will NO SCHOOL on Monday, October 9th for Thanksgiving. Tuesday, October 10th is a District Professional Development Day so there will be just staff here; NO SCHOOL for the kids. Thursday, October 12th is our Field Trip to Prairie Gardens - ALL Kinder-kids must be at school by 8:45am with a lunch, snacks, water/beverages for the whole day, and appropriate clothing for the weather (no flip flops, sandals).
A huge thank you goes out to Callum's Mom, Deanne, for signing up to be our Volunteer Coordinator! I have filled in the October calendar with the information I received from all of you. I will be handing the reins over to Deanne for all upcoming events! Please click on the calendar events to get them to expand and show who is booked to come in. We appreciate you giving us your time!
Please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great Sunday.
Take care,
Karen
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September 24, 2017
Another week of fun has been achieved in Room 144!
We have 14 fishies represented in our (paper) fish bowl keeping track of how many days we have been in Kindergarten! Something really cool happened when we reached 10 baby fish...we traded them back to the pet store for a big '10' fish. This daily little lesson in Math helps us with our recognition of numbers and matching them to a quantity. It also helps with early number sense and the concepts of adding on and place value.
We are also doing daily ABC work and love singing and dancing. Some of us are still working on letter names and some of us are ready for exploring the letter sounds. A couple of us are reading while a few of us are working on remembering that "LMNOP" is actually 5 letters not just 1! On one of our nature walks we had our "detective eyes" on to look for Cs and we found them on street signs, trucks, license plates, and yard decorations. We also collected leaves and built a class C on the grass at a park. Letters are everywhere and learning can happen anywhere! There is a great series called Have Fun Learning on Youtube that gives each letter a song and the sound(s) it makes. There is also a fun song called, What Do The Letters Say? that we enjoy dancing to.
Please remember to send your children in clothes that are appropriate for the weather of the day - I understand that this is Alberta and the weather can be fickle from one hour to the next! We do plan on going outside EACH day but I will make a judgment call daily on what is too wet/too cold. If a child does not have proper clothes we will have to leave them in the Office as getting fresh air and nature time are part of our physical education program components.
Thank you to everyone who has returned the calendar with available volunteer dates. I will be compiling the info into a master list and posting it on our website calendar. If anyone has decided they would be willing to take on the volunteer coordinator job it would be most appreciated. :)
Thank you to everyone who has returned the Prairie Garden permission slip. **We are still waiting for a few.**
Just to emphasize again, this is an ALL DAY field trip. The children need to wear clothes appropriate for the day - layers are desirable. We will put their green shirts on (probably over their coats) before we get on the bus. The children will also need a FULL LUNCH that does not require heating, water/beverages for the day, and at least two snacks. Most of our day will be spent outside running and playing which takes a lot of energy! The bus will leave at 9:00am so ALL my children must be at school by 8:45am to get organized. We will return to school by 3:00pm. **If you have ordered lunch through the Hot Lunch program at school please contact them as we will be leaving school prior to the food arriving. You will have to pack food for your child that day.**
We also had a visit from the Occupational Therapist team from District Office (D.O.) this week. Miss Teresa and Miss Kirsten showed us how to hold our pencils with a relaxed "alligator" bite and how to draw a person called Mat Man! It is part of the learning and developmental stages that children add bodies for the arms and legs to come out of along with more defined details like ears, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc. In Kindergarten we aim for the children to recognize and portray people as having bodies not just heads with protruding arms and legs. The O.T. team will be back in a couple weeks to see how we are doing with our cutting.
Please don't forget that Library is on Thursday - please send the books back by Wednesday so they can be checked back in before our class. That being said, this coming week we may have to reschedule to accommodate the Terry Fox Run but we still need the books back!
We also had our first Kinder-cooking experience! We made apple turtles out of apples, grapes, and little chocolate chips for eyes! They turned out very cute and we had fun building them. It is a Kindergarten rule that we try every project - "I don't like that" doesn't fly in this room! Our Kinder-cooking is designed to be both fun & nutritious as well as to expose children to a variety of foods.
I think that's about it! Have a wonderful weekend. Happy Fall!
Take care,
Karen
September 17, 2017
How time flies when you're having fun! We made it through Week 2 and our first week with all 5 days! Our Kindergarten adventures continued with surviving Lock Down practice - we did very well with being quiet. For those of you wondering - a lock down occurs when there is an issue that Mr. Erickson or Mr. Tripp has to deal with (animals in the playground - apparently one year there was a young moose in the field before I started here!, strangers in the school, extreme weather warnings, etc). At the Kinder level we keep it general so as not to scare the children and approach the issue as, "There is some sort of problem and the best way we can help Mr. Erickson solve the problem is to sit still and be super quiet". Well done, Kinder-kids! I am proud of you! :)
We also had our first Library block! We will have Library on Thursdays so please help your little person pack their Library book and return it to school by Wednesday. We have to return the books to take out new ones and it isn't as much fun to sit and only look at stories when our friends can choose new books.
Please mark your calendars that School Pictures are on Thursday, September 21st. Every child will have an individual photo taken and you will be able to see the proofs and order photos on-line. This is completely voluntary; there is no obligation to purchase. We will also have a class photo taken for the school yearbook. I will make sure that faces are clean at photo time!
We are still awaiting a few consent forms with email addresses. When I have them all I will compile the Class Directory and send them home. If you haven't returned your blue consent form or have misplaced it please let me know and I can send home another. Even if you do not want to participate in the Directory please send the form back so I have your correct email address for my correspondence.
Please send your children in weather appropriate clothes and footwear. It is our goal to spend time outside everyday, rain or shine. The fresh air helps us and we do need time where we can let off some energy. We have been working on discerning our "inside" and "outside" voices! So far our adventures have taken us to the playgrounds, the forest, the Botanic Garden, the Oakmont Bridge, the tennis courts, and a little park across the road from the school. We have been working on road safety - looking both ways, using our "pointer arm", walking on the sidewalks, using crosswalks, and being respectful of other people's yards by not walking on their grass.
Unfortunately our Bus Safety field trip has been postponed until October but we still had a chance to wear our green shirts. Mr. Erickson and Mr. Tripp joined us for our photo-op in the Library in their green shirts! Go Team!! We will be keeping the shirts at school so they are available for each field trip. Our next one will be on October 12th to Prairie Gardens. ***Please note that this is a WHOLE DAY FIELD TRIP*** Morning and Afternoon students will be with us for the entire school day. The bus will be leaving at 9:00am and returning by 3:00pm. Please make the appropriate childcare, drop-off and pick-up arrangements. Permission slips will be coming home soon.
We are still looking for a Volunteer Coordinator! If you would like to share the job with another parent we are open to a team approach!
Please have a quick conversation with your little person about the food in their lunch boxes. We have been hearing a lot of "I don't like this!" We have asked the children to talk with you as we can't fix it from our end! Our response is "That's what Mom or Dad packed for you today and you need to have food in your tummy to help you learn". We are seeing very healthy choices come in and appreciate that everyone is respecting our NO NUTS request for the safety of our allergy students. As a Full Day class we are also getting the hang of making sure we eat snack stuff at snack time and lunch stuff at lunch time!
A big thank you goes to all my awesome families! We are all part of Team Kindergarten and things are off to a fabulous start. Have a wonderful weekend.
Take care,
Karen
September 10, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
Our first week as an entire class went very well! We are all excited to be a part of our Kindergarten Family and are working on our manners, how to share and take turns, how to sit at Circle and be a respectful audience and participant. We have taken our first walk through the forest behind the school, explored all four playgrounds, survived at least one fire drill, worked on walking quietly in the hall, created some wonderful art, and are figuring out our snack foods and lunch foods. All in all, it has been a fantastic week and I am so proud of all my Kinder-kids. The fun is just beginning and they are a wonderful group of children.
If you have not had a chance to send in the school supplies please do so at your earliest convenience. We are also still watching for spare clothes and paint shirts for those oops! moments that inevitably happen in Kindergarten. Thank you to everyone who has sent in indoor shoes - no one had to go outside in their socks for the fire drills.
The Agendas have all been coming back to school - well done, Mom & Dad! This is the first year I have had them all come back everyday during the first week. I am hopeful that will continue to happen. If you could please initial it each day that would help us know that you have seen it. We do check them daily for correspondence.
In the Friday Envelope this week there was a lot of information for you plus our first Scholastic Book order. They will be coming home monthly but there is no obligation or expectation that you buy from them; it is completely voluntary. There was also a vivd blue paper requesting your preferred email address for communication with me. Please complete that and return it to school as soon as possible so I can create my class mail-out list as well as the Class Directory. Also, as explained on the sheet, you do have the option to not have your information published in the Directory - please sign the appropriate section of the form and return it to school. All my class correspondence will be sent "bcc" (blind carbon-copied) so your email addresses will remain private.
We have another great week of "firsts" coming up. We will have our first Library block on Thursday and our first at-school Field trip on Friday where we will learn all about bus safety. It is sure to be a fun time!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me via email ([email protected]), a note in the agenda, or by phone (780-459-3114). As I will be working with the children during school hours I will be limited to returning calls and emails to after school time. If there is an emergency please contact Mrs. Juse in the Office and we will respond accordingly.
A big thank you goes out to you all for a successful first week! Well done, Kinders and Kinder-families! We are on our way.
Take care,
Karen
Dear Former Kindergarten Families!
I hope everyone had a great Canada Day and that your little people are enjoying their summer break - they worked hard and learned so much this year. I am so very proud of them! :)
I need to take a moment and thank each and every one of you for making my year so special and for the wonderful basket of gifts! Your generosity is most appreciated. It was my pleasure and honour to have been a part of your kiddo's beginning school adventures. I wish you all a happy summer and best of luck wherever life takes you. If you happen to be in Keenoo next year my door will continue to always be open and I would love to see you.
Thank you again for a spectacular year and all the presents!
Take care,
Karen
June 21, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
As the Kinders are wrapping up their year I can't believe how much they have grown and changed since September! It has been a wonderful adventure and I am truly proud of each one of my children for all the work and effort they have put in this year. Learning looks different for every one and we have made some impressive journeys individually and as a group this year. Way to go Kinder-kiddos!
Just a few last updates ->
The Du-athlon/Fun Day will be on Tuesday, June 26th. We run/ride first thing in the morning in the field behind our school. Parents are invited to attend and cheer us on. I will send home the list of bikers/runners on Friday (tomorrow). **Bikers must have a helmet. After that we walk to Kingswood Park (the eastern end of the Red Willow Trail system before entering Sturgeon County. There will be bouncy castles and games for us. There will also be the concession - you all should have received a bright orange half-sheet of paper in your child's agenda - this is the Pre-Order form to help speed up the process of serving 350+ hot, "starving" children! If you would like your child to have hotdogs, chips, Cheetos, and/or Gatorade please complete the order form and send in payment as soon as possible. **Freezies and water will be available for purchase that day for $1 each. You can send money with your child for these additional items if you choose.** If your child will not be purchasing concession food please send enough food and liquid for the day. The current forecast is 21 degrees with sun - PLEASE SEND A WATER BOTTLE - we can fill it in the bathroom if they run out.
The last day of Kindergarten is Wednesday, June 27th. We will be sending your little person home with all their belongings, art work, work samples, other treasures, and their Exit Document (our version of a report card). In Kindergarten we mark each of our curricular objectives as "MEETS" or "DEVELOPING". Please note that there is no failing grade in Kindergarten - children all learn at different rates and some concepts "click" faster than others. Our school and District mandate is for Kinders to learn through play. The curricular objectives have been presented and practiced in many ways, over and over again, through out the year. We have all made progress on our learning journeys - "DEVELOPING" is not a negative thing - it just means we are still working on that particular objective. If I had had any major concerns you would have heard from me!
For those of you who were at the assembly today you probably noticed how terrible I am at good-byes so there will be an ample supply of Kleenex around the classroom on Wednesday! I have enjoyed my time with your children so very much - thank you all for the support you have provided from home and for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your kiddo's learning journey - we are a good team! I love these kids and will miss them dearly.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please don't hesitate to get in touch with me.
Have a great night.
Take care,
Karen
June 1, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
Where in the world did May go?! I can't believe that we are into June already and with all the events on the calendar already I have a feeling it will fly by too. May was a fun-filled month with 3 big field trips to the Muttart, Jurassic Forest, and Children's Festival - make sure to check out the pictures on the photo tab! Thank you so much to Deanne for coordinating all the volunteers and a thank you to all the moms, dads, and grandmas that were able to help us out - we couldn't do this without you. Your time and efforts to make our year so much fun are most appreciated.
June is off to a good start - we had a wonderful guest author and dancer this morning. Teddy Anderson came in to perform his hoop dancing for us and had us all entertained and wowed with the artistry! We have many more adventures to go on this month - days to make a note of:
June 6 - NO Kindergarten
June 11 - Splash Park in the morning with Mrs. McCormick's class - afternoon kiddos are welcome to come and join us. We will be walking down around 9:45ish and returning to school around 11:15am. **All Splash Park days will be weather dependent - the city does not open the park if it is raining and the water is not turned on if it is not above 16 degrees. Normal class routines will be followed if the weather does not co-operate.
June 12 - Celebrate DADS Kinder Night - craft and potluck (involves an air compressor)!!! RSVP will be coming home soon. Please send your kiddo with a 2L pop bottle - this is the body of the craft.
June 13 - Fort Edmonton Kinder Park Outing - We will be leaving the school at 11:20 - Afternoon kiddos please arrive by 11:00am. More details to come.
June 15 Splash Park in the afternoon.
June 18 - Splash Park in the morning with Mrs McCormick's class. Again, the Afternoon kiddos are welcome to join us. We will be walking down around 9;45am.
June 26 - Du-athlon and Fun Day - The Kinder Du-athlon is held in the field behind the school. We will have Runner & Biker Teams complete the circuit and then walk to Kingswood Park for Fun Day for bouncy castles, field games, and a walk through River Lot 56. Afternoon kiddos are invited to come spend the day with us! A concession lunch will be available - I will let you know prices as soon as they are determined. In the past they have offered hotdogs, Gatorade, and freezies for sale.
June 27 - Last Day of Kindergarten :(
I will be sending a more detailed email home soon. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are planning on leaving on holidays sooner than June 27th please let me know so I can try and have your kiddo's scrap book finished in time.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Take care,
Karen
April 22, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
Happy Earth Date Day! I hope you have all been able to enjoy a bit of the sunshine today - we have been taking advantage of it this past week in class and spending time outdoors for some vitamin D and run around time! It has been a looooonnnnggg winter!
The children have been busy learning about dinosaurs and tying that into Earth Day and how we can take care of our planet so we don't have more species go extinct like the Dinos. We have also been working very hard on our printing, numbers, reading early sight words, practicing with our Home Reading, and of course art projects and Kinder-cooking. There is never a dull moment in Room 144! :)
There is a field trip coming up on Friday, May 4th - we will be off to the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton. ***Please note that ALL my children need to be at school by 8:40am as we will be departing Keenooshayo at 8:50am to get into the city. We will be back at 12:20pm. There will be NO AFTERNOON class on this day. Afternoon families please make arrangements for the changed drop-off and pick-up times.*** Field trip permission slips will be coming home this week. Thank you to Deanne for putting out the call for volunteers! We only have room for 3 parents on this trip (Muttart rules, not mine). I am sorry we cannot accommodate more but don't worry - we have more field trips coming! :)
This week we will be hosting next year's Kinder-kiddos for their test drives and the kids are looking forward to being the "teachers"! They have grown up so much both physically and academically - fortunately they are still mine for a few more weeks! As kind of a side note on this topic we need you to send in spare clothes - with all the time we are spending outside we tend to get a bit damp/wet. I will be sending home the clothes we have here so you can check to see if they still fit and then return a complete change (t-shirt, socks x 2, underwear, and pants) for those just in case moments. The stock at school that fit the little people is woefully lacking so I have had to send some kids home with bare feet.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to get in touch.
Take care,
Karen
April 3, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and has enjoyed the break. We are into the home stretch of our school year with 3 months to go! We have lots of fun things still to do and many learning objectives to go but it is always a time that seems to fly right by.
Spring is officially here according to the calendar but Mother Nature often has her own agenda - please be sure to send your little ones with appropriate gear to be outside - mittens, hats, snowpants, warm enough jackets ... hopefully this will change to spring-like clothes sooner than later but then again, this is Alberta!
March was a fun-filled month of "Under the Sea" and we had a great time investigating and researching the creatures in the ocean. We were lucky to have Larry, the scuba-diver, come in and share his underwater pictures with us and explain all his diving gear that lets him swim with octopus, crabs, starfish, sharks, and whales! We ended the unit before the break by making shark hats and eating shark cookies - check out the photos!
I would like to take a quick moment to thank Mrs. Coen, (Ms. Coen's Mom), for making us the wonderful Kinder-egg chicks! She is such an amazing volunteer in our class and I appreciate her help and generosity more than words can ever express! Thank you, Mrs. Coen for making our Kinder-year so wonderful and memorable!
I would also like to take a moment to say good-bye to Alec and wish him good luck at his new school.
As we jump back into our routine April will be busy with Earth Day and dinosaurs! We also get to be the "big kids" as we host next year's Kinder-kiddos during test drives April 24th & 25th.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about anything please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Have a great remainder of Spring Break - see you all on Thursday.
Take care,
Karen
March 10, 2018
Dear Kinder-families,
It was an exciting end to a busy week. On Thursday we all had a chance to participate in the school's Jump Rope for Heart event. Thank you to everyone who sent in their envelopes - as soon as we have a total from Mrs. Herman I will update you on Keenoo's contribution to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The pledge prizes will be delivered to your child when they arrive at school (probably sometime in April).
And yesterday we got to meet Dale, an African penguin from the West Edmonton Mall Penguin exhibit. He was adorable - you can see him in the photo section. His friend/trainer, Michelle, did a terrific job telling us all about African penguins - all our Kinder research turned out to be accurate! It is very rewarding to hear my little people say "We knew that!" Thank you to our Afternoon families for coming early to see Dale. And thank you to Mr. Erickson for letting this special visitor come to the school! :)
On another note, I would like to remind you to continue to send clothes appropriate for the weather - Mother Nature has us guessing on a daily basis so we need to be prepared for cold, windy, warmer, and wetter as we do try to get outside at least once each day. This past week we took advantage of the new snow and went outside to build snow forts, friendship hills, and just enjoyed the fresh air. It was great to be out but some of us had to borrow snow pants and mittens. I know the children are tired of wearing them but it allows us to be out more comfortably. ***If your child is missing clothes please stop by the Lost & Found (located kitty-corner from the girls' bathroom) to see if anything belongs at your house!
If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Take care,
Karen
PS Don't forget to turn the clocks forward 1 hour on Saturday night.
March 3, 2018
In like a lion - out like a lamb...
March has arrived and we are still busy in Kindergarten! We have started to work on our skipping skills during Gym so we can participate in the school's Jump Rope for Heart on Thursday. If you have been collecting donations please send in the envelopes by Thursday morning so Mrs. Herman can tally up the school total! We have been very lucky to have Grade 6 helpers come in and turn ropes for us and give us lots of encouragement. Every single kinder-kiddo managed to get in some good jumping by the end the week - I am so very proud of all of you! :)
We also took some time to recognize Dr. Seuss' birthday with some crazy rhymes and tongue-twisting stories! We will continue working on rhyming words in class as an early reading strategy. Our Home Reading program is going very well and the kids are still super excited when they bring back their Log Books with a full page and get to go to the treasure box. As we stated before, reading is not a Kinder requirement but we are hopefully getting them interested in various types of literature and starting them off with the tools they will need for grade 1. We will be changing up the Home Reading with some focused alphabet books for March. They will continue to count in the Log Books just enter them as "a book, b book, c book, etc".
This week we watched a BBC April Fool's Day video about penguins that can fly! We learned that just because we saw it on the computer doesn't mean it is true and that we have to do our research carefully from a few different places. We watched the second part and saw how the people used a green screen and computers to create "real-looking" penguins. Then we went to our Library and saw Mr. Burton's green screen where he makes the news with our Grade 6 friends and are understanding a bit of the "magic" that people and computers can make. The big lesson was just because we saw it on TV or the computer does not mean it is true.
Things to look forward to:
Tuesday, March 6 - March Scholastic DUE
Wednesday, March 7 - NO KINDERGARTEN - Staff meeting day
Thursday, March 8 - Jump Rope for Heart DUE
Friday, March 9 - Penguin visit - 10:30am in the GYM
Friday, March 9 - Blue School registration form for 2018-19 DUE
March 19 - 21 - Kindergarten Celebrations of Learning - Book an appointment at Keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com
March 21 - Bowling Field trip **Permission slips will be coming home soon
March 23 - NO SCHOOL - Spring Break starts
April 4 - NO KINDERGARTEN - Staff Meeting day
Please get in touch if you have any questions or comments. Stay warm and have a wonderful weekend.
Take care,
Karen
February 25, 2018
Dear Kinder-Families,
As my first thing, I would like to welcome our newest classmate, Parker! A huge welcome goes out to her and her family; we are glad to have you in our Kinder family.
As we enter the last week of February I can't believe how fast it has flown by. For the shortest month of the year it was very busy - Groundhog's Day, teachers' convention, Valentine's Day, Silver Carnival, Keenoo Kinder Family Night, Family Day, 100 Day, Grad pictures, Jump Rope assembly and our upcoming at-school field trip tomorrow that celebrates our individual skills and talents while recognizing that we are all a special piece of the Kinder puzzle!
We have been working on learning about penguins and had some fun last week making banana penguins to eat - check out our Photo tab! We will have the chance to teach the Grade 1s some of our new found skills this week! We have learned some gigantic words like oviparous and regurgitation. We have also learned that Daddy penguins take care of the eggs while the Mommies go fishing, that penguins are fabulous swimmers because they are oval shaped, that they like to eat fish, krill, octopus, and squid, that they have to be careful of leopard seals, whales, and sharks and that they live in the Southern Hemisphere unless scientists or zoos take them across the equator.
We will be having a special African penguin from WEM come visit the school on Friday, March 9th. We would really like our Afternoon kids to see this so hopefully our PM parents can make arrangements to stop by the school at 10:30am to 11:15am.
We have also been working on our numbers and related quantities up to 10. We have been keeping track of our days at school and we reached 100 on Friday. We had fun discovering that 10 groups of 10 make 100! :) We traded in all the fishies in our fish bowl for a Shark with 100 on his tail! We are also putting a lot of time into printing nicely and making sure that our letters are all facing the right way.
Afternoon Families Please Note: *We will need to make a scheduling change in class time for Wednesday, March 21st for our Afternoon children. We will be going bowling that morning so please bring your kiddos by 8:50am and I will return them to you by 11:30am. They will NOT have an Afternoon class that day. Regular class times apply for the Full Day children.
Our Celebrations of Learning will be held March 19, 20, and 21st after school. Please go to keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com to book a time slot - bring your Kinder-child and be prepared to be amazed as they lead you through a number of centres to show off their awesome skills. There will be time to talk to me about your child's progress, ask questions, and pick up their Term 2 work and art.
Things to look forward to:
Wednesday, February 28 - Pink Shirt Day in recognition of NO BULLYING
Wednesday, March 7 - NO KINDERGARTEN (Staff Meeting Day)
Thursday, March 8 - Jump Rope For Heart - skipping in the Gym
Friday, March 9 - Penguin visit - 10:30 in the Gym
Wednesday, March 21 - Celebrations of Learning - Book a 45 minute appointment at Keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com **BRING YOUR CHILD**
Friday, March 23 - NO SCHOOL - SPRING BREAK STARTS
As always, if you have questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Take care,
Karen
January 28, 2018
Dear Kinder-Families,
January seems to be going out like it came in - very COLD! We are hopeful that the temperatures will be in the "allowable" range for us to get outside and enjoy the fluffy snow this coming week so please make sure that all appropriate snow clothes come to school. We took the opportunity on Friday to go out for 15 minutes of fresh air and energy release and discovered we were the first ones on the field all day! What fun it was to stomp in snow up to our knees, run-through the fluff, and decorate that blank canvas with snow angels! In Kindergarten we look for the joys in the smallest of things and attempt to make a memory!
We have been learning a lot about polar bears and have been able to watch real ones via polar cams set up on the shores of Hudson Bay on our SmartBoard. We have researched and discovered that polar bear skin is black and their fur is clear and hollow like a straw. We also learned that they have very good ears and are super patient while they sit still waiting for seals (their favourite food) to pop up out of the water. We finished up polar bears this week with polar bear ice cream cups after putting our muscles to good use making our soapstone bears. I love this field trip because the children see the transformation from a rough-cut, chalky white piece of rock into something beautiful because of their hard work. I hope all the bears made it home safely and were shown off with Kinder pride! If the bears do start to get dull they can be revived by using a cotton ball with a few drops of canola/vegetable oil. I am so proud of my kids!
We have also been working very hard on relating the concept of numbers and corresponding quantities. The class is doing very well with the jump from looking at a written numeral and giving it meaning by relating it to the proper amount- I am very impressed! We also have introduced the concepts of length, height, and weight. Did you know that Daddy polar bears can grow up to 10 feet tall (taller than our classroom ceiling) and baby polar bears are about as heavy as a bottle of sanitizer when they are first born?! We also built our names out of paper snowballs and have used them as a tool for comparing the concepts of longest and shortest. We are also still working on our letters, sounds, and early reading skills. The children are getting very excited these days when they bring a book to me and announce that they know the words. :) Hooray for Kinder-kids! Keep up the good work. We will be changing up some of the home-reading ideas in February to expose the children to some non-fiction choices. They will be choosing books based on interest not reading ability - you will need to help read these ones but they still count in the logbook. You can open a discussion with what your child sees in the picture, what letters they recognize on the page, reading the words they know, etc. Our goal is to promote reading of a variety of media and a love of books for enjoyment and as a learning resource.
If you have questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at any time.
Things to look forward to:
Wednesday, February 7 - NO Kindergarten/Half day for grades 1-6 (Staff Meeting day)
Thursday & Friday, February 8 & 9 - NO SCHOOL - Teachers' Convention
Wednesday, February 14 - Valentine's Day Party and School Silver Carnival - We will be having our class party and then join the school in the carnival activities that fundraise for our foster child, Kendy. ***Afternoon children - please come early! We will start our party at 12pm to allow time for eating and handing out Valentines before the school-wide activities start. More details to come!
Thursday, February 15 - Kinder Family Night Craft and Potluck event! Please join us in the Gym with your family at 6pm to create a special craft, meet other Kinder-families, and enjoy the potluck. Bring whatever you want to share! ***An RSVP will be coming home soon so we will have adequate crafting supplies on hand.
Monday, February 19 - NO SCHOOL - Family Day in Alberta
Friday, February 23 - Kinder Grad Photos - The photographer brings mini caps and gowns and takes photos of the Kinders. (They are so cute!). You will be able to order them online if you desire.
Monday, February 26 - At School Field Trip - "I AM UNIQUE"
Wednesday, March 7 - NO Kindergarten/Half day for grades 1-6 (Staff Meeting day)
Enjoy your weekend.
Take care,
Karen
January 7, 2018
Happy New Year, Kinder Families! I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed the time with your little people. I am looking forward to getting back to see the children and hear all about Christmas and their break activities.
I apologize for not updating the website sooner - I had a catastrophic computer failure over the break and was hoping to have the December photos recovered to put on here. That process is taking longer than I thought it would so hopefully they are able to be saved and I will get them on here as soon as I can. Technology is amazing these days but I don't have the skills to know what to do when things go horribly wrong and all you get is a black screen and a wicked screeching noise when you push the power button. I'm using a different computer but of course it doesn't have all my Kindergarten stuff on it and the young man (who looked about 13) at the repair shop said something about manually spinning the drive to recover my files ??? My fingers are crossed that all will work out well! :)
As you know we head back to school tomorrow! I am excited as we are heading into our Polar Bears and Penguins unit. We will be learning about geography, animal characteristics, math, science, social, reading, writing, and of course art! Everything in Kindergarten is so adaptable to cover off all areas of our curriculum. We will be doing a review of basic letter recognition and sounds plus number recognition and quantity matching just to make sure we didn't forget too much over the break. Home Reading will resume tomorrow and I do want to remind everyone that knowing how to read is not a Kindergarten requirement - we just want to expose the kids to literature in many forms and hope that they fall in love with the idea of becoming readers this year. It is our job to take them from wherever they are on their learning journey as far as we can and I am thrilled with how they want to know more and more!
We will be continuing to spend some time each day (as Mother Nature permits) outside. Please make sure that your little person comes with all the appropriate clothing to be outside for at least half an hour - mittens, snow pants, boots, hats, coats, etc. Prior to the break we were stressing the importance of independence in self-care tasks like dressing themselves - the only requirement is showing us that they are trying and if they experience difficulties we will help them. (Winter coat zippers tend to like to eat the surrounding fabric and can be very frustrating!). We will be continuing with this in the new year. Please help us out at home by not doing all these jobs for your child; they are capable and it is excellent fine motor practice. :)
I hope 2018 continues to be a fun, adventure-filled year for our Kinder-kiddos. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Take care,
Karen
December 16, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
Merry Christmas wishes to all! It has been a wonderful December to date and I love the children's excitement as we get closer and closer to the holidays! We have had a very eventful month with a trip to the city Library to learn about Christmas traditions around the world and decorate a gingerbread house. There was even a resident sneaky elf that left a candy cane in our boots while we were listening to the stories! Nothing matches the magic of Christmas for 5 year olds and their teacher! :)
The magic continued as we rehearsed and rehearsed for the Christmas concert and were fabulous in both performances! I am so proud of all my children for getting on the stage and singing their little hearts out! Of course I think they saved the best for last! :) Thank you for all your help at home practicing the words and for coming to watch us perform.
We had even more magic on party day when we had surprise visitor in a red suit come visit and take pictures and hand out candy canes. Early in December we wrote letters to the "big guy" at the North Pole with our Grade 6 buddies and he said he answered them and had a 6'3", red-haired elf deliver them to your houses! If you did not receive one please let me know.
Things to look forward to this week:
- Monday - Thursday - Carolling in the Gym
- Thursday, December 21 - Pancakes and Jammies in the afternoon. We will be making pancakes and eating them - Full Day kiddos will not need as much lunch and Afternoon kiddos probably won't need a snack if they like pancakes. Parent helpers are welcome to come in their jammies, too and eat with us. (No younger siblings, please).
- Friday, December 22 - No Kindergarten; Christmas vacation begins! (Grades 1 - 6 have a half-day)
Take care,
Karen
November 28, 2017 (adapted from email sent on Nov. 28th)
Dear Kinder-families,
I know I am a couple of weeks behind but school life has been busy the last two weeks! Parent-Teacher Learning Conferences went well and it was nice to see you all again. To all the tall Daddies - my apologies again for the teeny chairs - this is our reality in Kindergarten! :)
We are back into the normal swing of things and are now working on mastering the following letters: Cc, Dd, Aa, Gg, Qq, Oo, Ss, Ff, Ee, Ll, Tt, and Ii. With our Home Reading program just taking effect yesterday the children are beyond excited that they are becoming readers and that makes me so happy! As mentioned in the Home Reading letter, we are just trying to instil a love of books into the children - they do not have to know how to read to complete Kindergarten. Yet, as they grow and learn and start to make those connections that letters have sounds that build words, sentences, and stories, the next step is to start reading those little words and putting that knowledge to work. The idea is to have you help them with their chosen book each night - if life gets in the way, as it often does with other commitments, it is no big deal - you can always talk about the letters on the cereal box in the morning, the letters on the signs as you drive them to swimming, dance, hockey, or gymnastics, or anywhere else they notice letters. Learning can happen everywhere and anywhere! The children should also be able to recognize and name the letters in their name - we have been working on these very hard and it is wonderful to hear them announce, "Hey, that word starts with the same letter I do!"
We have had some other wonderful learning going on in Room 144 - we had our Glazing Pot at-school field trip after the fall break - the project will be coming home with all the special crafts on December 21st. If you are planning on starting your holidays early please let me know so I can get your Kinder-kiddo all packed up with their special treasures in time for your departure. Also, if your holidays are going to extend past January 7th please let me and Mrs. Juse know so that we don't worry when your child does not return on January 8th and start phoning every contact number on file!
We have been celebrating Peace and talking about how lucky we are to live in Canada. We made peace sign pretzels last week and the children had fun working with the dough - we have quite the class of bakers! We have also been talking about how not everyone is fortunate enough to have a roof and enough food to eat. As part of our UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organization) initiative at Keenoo we have been collecting warm clothes, toiletries, and blankets that will be delivered to the Hope Mission to try and make a difference in the lives of people who may be struggling to get by. If you would like to help, the donation box will be in the Keenoo foyer for another week or so. (This is completely voluntary.)
We are also starting to practice our Christmas concert songs - Christmas Is and Welcome Christmas. The words can be found below - any practice at home would be helpful! (I'm trying to figure out how to attach the music to an email - I will figure this tech stuff out eventually or find the right people to help me!) The concert is on Thursday, December 14th with an Afternoon and an Evening Performance in the school gym. We are all going to be little "Whos" from The Grinch - dresses for the girls - bows in their hair could be an extra touch and nice clothes for the boys - you do not need to go buy anything special. The Afternoon performance starts at 1:30pm and the Evening performance starts at 18:30pm. The Gym does tend to fill up quickly so you may want to plan on being early to get a seat. The classroom will be open at 5:45pm to drop off your child. I will return him or her to you AFTER the concert from the classroom ONLY! Please do not try to take them out of line as we exit the Gym - the school is full of people and the chaos factor is high. I need to see you with your child so I know they are safe.
Christmas Is
Christmas is love
Christmas is caring
Christmas is friends
Together sharing.
Christmas is time
For children to sing
Songs about happiness
Christmas will bring.
Christmas is laughter, hope and joy
Filling the hearts of girls and boys.
Christmas is what
Our dreams are made of
But more than anything
Christmas is love.
But more than anything
Christmas is love.
Welcome Christmas
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas, come this way
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas, Christmas Day.
Welcome, welcome yahoo ramus
Welcome, welcome yahoo hamus
Christmas day is in our grasp,
So long as we have hands to clasp.
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas bring your cheer
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome all Whos far and near
Where are you Christmas?
I think I found you
This time I'll make you stay
You'll hear us singing
Bells will be ringing
Now and forever
Christmas Day.
Other things to look forward to:
- Monday, December 4 - December Scholastic Book orders will be DUE in order to get them back before the holidays. (This is completely voluntary.)
- Wednesday, December 6 - NO KINDERGARTEN
- Thursday, December 7 - Full Day and Afternoon Kindergarten's trip to KPA Santa's Workshop to buy presents for family members. If you would like your child to participate please send back the envelope with the money and list of people your child will be shopping for. (This is completely voluntary.)
- Friday, December 8 - Our field trip to the city library for Christmas Around the World. We listen to stories and decorate graham cracker "gingerbread" houses. ***This is a morning field trip time for ALL Kinder-kiddos. If you have an Afternoon class student please make sure they are at school by 8:45am. The bus will leave at 9:00am and will return to Keenoo by 11:15am. THERE WILL BE NO AFTERNOON CLASS ON THIS DAY.*** Full Day Kinders will follow their regular afternoon routine. Please send your child in their green Kinder t-shirt. If you returned it to school I will make sure your child gets changed into their shirt for the morning.
- Thursday, December 14 - Christmas Concert - Afternoon and Evening performances 1:30pm and 6:30pm
- Friday, December 15 - Class Christmas Party in the Afternoon - snacks, crafts, and fun!
- Thursday, December 21 - Pancakes & Jammies in the Afternoon - we will make and eat pancakes, play and have fun as we get ready for our Christmas break. Your child will be coming home with all their Christmas crafts on this day.
- Friday, December 22 - NO KINDERGARTEN; school resumes on Monday, January 8, 2018
Thank you to Deanne for organizing all the volunteers for our field trips, party, and in-class helpers. And thank you to all the parents who have spoken with or emailed her to fill in the spaces - we could not do all the special things without you.
If you have any questions or concerns please get in touch!
Take care,
Karen
November 14, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
I hope you all had a great weekend. We spent Remembrance Day and the weekend in Airdrie with the Gysen clan and it was nice to have that family time. I just want to give a giant thank you to my Kinder-kids for being so spectacular at the school Remembrance Day assembly! I am so proud of them - they were quiet, respectful, and just amazing! Well done, Kinders!! :) Thank you to Miss Leanne for coming to spend the morning with us and being a part of our class on this special day.
It was also a great week for trying new food again (for some). We had tacos on Tuesday to accompany our book, "Dragons Love Tacos". A huge thank you goes out to Mrs. Coen, (Ms Coen's mom) for making the sombreros as a memento! We are so lucky to have both of them! Thank you also goes out to Mrs. Coen and Miss Brenda for staying to help us cook! We couldn't do all these things without your help. :)
If you would like, take a moment to check out our photos - if you click on a picture it makes it bigger and it won't have any cut-off heads!
(Below has been taken from the email sent to all parents on Nov. 14th)
I have received a couple of emails asking for clarification of the "Star of the Week - All About Me" package that went home with all the kiddos on Friday so instead of answering everyone individually I'll send the details out to all...
This paperwork package is the basis of our Star of the Week talks - each Kinder-kid will have the opportunity to be the Star where we take time to talk and learn about them for a whole school week. They will get chosen through a random draw on Fridays as the last official duty of the presiding Star! We will put a note in your child's Agenda when they are chosen so you can prepare them over the weekend.
In addition to discussing their answers on the paperwork they get to bring in ONE (1) special thing each day they are the star - a favourite stuffy, a souvenir from a special trip, a baby memento, a photo of something special they have done, a medal from a sports team, or,with planning, your pet, etc. They could also do a dance routine, a karate/martial arts demo, or if you let me know ahead of time, we may be able to book the music room for a piano demo, etc. The class will be able to ask three questions each day (this helps us learn the difference between questions and statements and helps the Star gain confidence with public speaking. Your part will be to help prep them to answer questions about their item/skill - the 5Ws (who gave it to them, what is it, where did it come from, where did they get it, when did they get it, how long did it take to learn to ___, etc.) are a good place to start). **If your little person is the Star during a short week they will have a "double-up" day where they can bring two things so they don't feel like they missed out. The item can be stored in the back closet in the room to keep it a secret until Star time and to help keep it safe during the day.
Please help your child fill in the paperwork - preferably they can try the printing themselves &/or you can help. They can draw in the pictures or print and tape photos in. The sky is the limit!
For the paper doll part - there is a 'planner copy' on normal paper if you need it and there is the 'send back to school' copy on thicker cardstock - we talked about how this needs to be a real representation of each of them - not one of my children has blue skin or rainbow eyes which we often see during free drawing art time! Again, the sky is the limit - they can use yarn for hair, paper or fabric for clothes, and google eyes if you choose. If they want to use markers and crayons that works too as long as it looks something like your kiddo! ;)
The completed packages are due back at school on Thursday, November 23rd. I will draw the name of the first Star that day. If you are going to need more time that is no problem - I will just take your child's name out of the first draw so there is no disappointment and no pressure to rush.
The main thing is to have fun with your little person!
Just a few other reminders:
1. Tomorrow (Wednesday, November 15th) is our at-school field trip with The Glazing Pot - please make sure your child is wearing something that is okay to potentially get paint on. We will put on the paint shirts you hopefully provided at the beginning of the year but in Kindergarten oopses are a part of our reality!
2. If you have not returned the demographic sheet (letter from Mr. Erickson on one side and your child's photo, address, DOB, and pertinent contact info on the other) please send it back ASAP, either marked 'no changes' or with the needed corrections. The Office is required to check EVERY child in the school to make sure the database is accurate. If you have moved or changed phone numbers/contact people it is VERY important that you let us know so that we have the most up-to-date information.
3. Our Parent-Teacher Learning Conferences are next week (November 22nd & 23rd). If you are having difficulties signing up at https://keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com please contact Mrs. Juse at 780-459-3114.
4. There is NO SCHOOL on Friday, November 24th.
Enjoy your snowy Tuesday! Please get in touch if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Take care,
Karen
November 5, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
Happy November! I hope you all survived Halloween, stayed warm this weekend and remembered to switch your clocks back an hour this morning. "Falling back" is less disruptive to the little people than the spring change so hopefully Monday will be a smooth transition for all of us!
As we move into November here are a few things to note:
Tuesday, November 7th - Kinder-cooking in the early afternoon! We have a great story called, "Dragons Love Tacos" so we will be reading that and then making our own tacos. For the Full Day kids you may want to pack a smaller lunch so they aren't too full to enjoy the tacos! Afternoon kids may want to eat a smaller lunch before they arrive so they will have room for tacos! We do have a "You need to try it" rule on Kinder-cooking days and we will send the leftovers home.
Wednesday, November 8th - Scholastic Book Orders for November will be DUE. The order forms are going home tomorrow - if you would like to order books please return the form by Nov. 8th. If you would like the books to be a gift please mark **GIFT** on the form and I can deliver them to you discreetly! We will have another order in early December to ensure delivery in time for Christmas.
(If your little person has already had a birthday during the school year they will have received a birthday coupon for a free Scholastic book from me. I love books and hope to pass that joy along to my kiddos. If there is a book they would like, please complete the details on the coupon and return it with the Book Order form. If you have misplaced the coupon paper it is okay - I have the originals - just let me know. All the children will get one on their birthday if it falls in the school year and summer birthday kids will get their coupons in the spring with time to order before the end of school. They can be used at any time up to the end of June 2018 and are good for a book up to $6. I will put out occasional reminders here.)
Friday, November 10th is our school Remembrance Day assembly.
***Afternoon children and families are invited to attend this morning assembly.
As a former Army wife, Remembrance Day is very important to me but I don't want to scare or over-sensationalize the concept of war for my Kinder-kids. When my children were little we explained that Daddy had to go away for so long because he was working for the "good guys" to help make life better for people who needed some extra help when the "bad guys" made terrible choices. In class our focus will be on the peace that police, soldiers, Naval, and Air Force personnel bring to Canadians and people around the world. We have started discussing that we are very lucky to live here because we get to go to school, we can play, we are safe, and we get to make our own choices (preferably good ones). If you have any concerns please get in touch with me.
Monday and Tuesday, November 13th & 14th - NO SCHOOL - Fall Break
Wednesday, November 15th - At School Field Trip - The Glazing Pot will be coming to us. Watch for volunteer requests from Deanne!
Wednesday & Thursday, November 22nd & 23rd - Parent/Teacher Learning Conferences - please go to https://keenooshayo.schoolappointments.com to book an appointment time to come and discuss your little person's progress so far. If you encounter technical difficulties please contact Mrs. Juse at 780-349-3114 and she can help you.
Friday, November 24th - NO SCHOOL
Please remember to send your little person with all the appropriate winter clothes so we can go outside as the temperature permits. We are promoting independence in the classroom by encouraging the children to get dressed themselves - we will always make sure that they are zipped but they have to show us they are trying first. You could help us out at home by letting your little person practice - winter zippers can be tricky as they often like to "eat" the surrounding fabric but practice lining up the zipper parts, pushing the parts together, and pulling the zipper up and down would be a great help in making us speedier. Thank you for your patience at home time as it is taking us a bit longer to get ready with all the extra warmth requirements!
Also, please help us out by taking a few moments to talk with your children about the food in their lunch boxes - we are hearing a lot of, "I don't like this." and the children are trying to go for the Halloween treats before they eat their healthier choices. We have also had a few children purposefully dumping their veggies or fruit on the floor and then saying "Ooops! I guess they are garbage." One benefit of having a sink in the classroom is picking them up and rinsing them off much to the child's dismay but I don't find their option acceptable and we have talked about it in class as not being a good choice. We are also still in need of daily water bottles - please let me know if you can't send one and I will try and help. The kids are encouraged to drink water and refill their bottles as needed during the day.
That about wraps up this update. Have a great Sunday. As always, please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns.
Take care,
Karen
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Dear Kinder-families,
I hope those of you who were able to attend the Monster Mash had a wonderful time Friday night! If you couldn't make it I hope you had a great weekend, too. Enjoy all the little things with your kiddos - they are awesome little people! From my own experience, they grow up way too fast but they will always be your little person even when they are towering over you!
We had a great week - we built veggie skeletons for Kinder-cooking and some (I'm sure to their own surprise) did survive the trying of new veggies! :) We also saw a great performance of Jack & the Beanstalk by the Alberta Opera. The updated classic had Jack befriend the lonely giant and be rewarded for his kindness - I must say I like this version better! We also received the cutest little crocheted ghost presents from Mrs. Coen (Ms Coen's mom) and took them out to fly in the field. A giant thank you goes out to Mrs. Coen for her generosity and kindness! :)
We are trying to keep up with our daily outdoor time but we need your help with sending the appropriate clothes - it is getting colder so we need the warmer coats and maybe mitts and toques. We also need your help in sending water bottles to school - the children have access to the tap and fountain for refills as needed.
We are working our way towards Halloween and have been making some fun crafts - pumpkin life cycles, milk jug monsters, and Spookley pumpkins based on the story of Spookley, the square pumpkin and how he saves the day by plugging the hole in the fence. This ties very nicely with our Social Studies curriculum and UNESCO goals where we celebrate our unique gifts while understanding that we are all people. Keenooshayo is a special place with many children who learn differently, talk differently, eat differently, "speak" through electronic devices or by using sign language, and "see" using a cane. In Kindergarten we tackle this by explaining that sometimes our brains work differently so we need to do things differently but we are all people with hearts, feelings, eyes, ears, noses, arms, legs, etc.
A huge thank you also goes out to Mr. Burton and his fabulous Grade 5s for helping us create our Monsters - check out our creations under the photo tab!
Our Halloween party will be on Tuesday afternoon - we will be changing into our costumes at lunch time. We will still have a morning snack and take a break for lunch but as there will be party food coming in you may wish to make your child's lunch smaller and we won't need an afternoon snack. Thank you to Deanne for organizing the party food and thank you to all our families for signing up. If you haven't had a chance yet please get in touch with Deanne, our Volunteer Coordinator. We will have a costume parade, crafts in the classroom, and time to play. Parent volunteers are encouraged to wear their costumes that afternoon! :)
Please remember that there is no Kindergarten on November 1st as it is the first Wednesday of the month. Kinder classes resume as usual on Thursday, November 2nd.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to get in touch. Have a great Halloween week!
Take care,
Karen
October 20, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
It has been a great couple of weeks in Kindergarten! Last week we had our first field trip to Prairie Gardens and despite the chilly weather it was a wonderful day! The children enjoyed the farm, riding the tractor-train, exploring the greenhouses, learning the story of The Little Red Hen (via crazy puppets) and how important it is to help your friends, choosing a baby pumpkin to take home, petting the goats and sheep, feeding corn that we picked in the maze to the chickens, mining gems and other special treasures, planting beans for local restaurants, picnicking on hay bales, and just having good old fun on a slide with a puddle at the bottom! It means we had a great day when the children come home filthy!! Thank you to all our volunteer parents for spending the day with us!
We also had our Bus Safety at-school field trip where we learned all about the Danger Zone, how to get off the bus in an emergency (front door, back door, window, and escape hatch). Our puppet friend, Matty, showed us how to jump out the back door and then we all got to try it - thanks for not dropping us, Mr. Erickson! We also got to drive bus tents around the school - I'm not sure Alberta Transportation would approve any licensing requests but we sure had a lot of fun! :)
Just in case you were wondering, we actually do work in class, too! We are working really hard on the letters in our names. You can help us out at home with a paper and pencil and reminding us what the letters are if we are having a forgetful moment! We are using a capital letter at the beginning because we are important and then all the rest are lower case. We are also working on using our detective eyes to look for the letters Cc, Dd, Aa, and now Gg. A few kids have come to school saying, "My Mom doesn't know why we aren't doing the alphabet in order." ~ there are actual reasons for starting with 'c' ~ we call it Magic c because from that basic 'c' shape we can build into d, a, g, q, and o which provides a sense of accomplishment for the kids. Then we tackle the rest of those letters. The other reason is to break the "lmnop" = 1 letter mindset that children often get into when singing the ABC song. They may be able to sing the words but they often don't make the connection of what the letters are outside the song. By shaking up the order we take away the automaticity of just saying the words and try to have the kids think about the letters and their sounds. It is still early in our school year (we just bundled the fishies in our bowl on Thursday and we are now up to 31 days of Kindergarten!) but we could use your help at home to really work on letter recognition in upper and lower case to make sure our literacy foundation is solid. We do lots of practice and reviewing here but every little bit helps - learning happens everywhere - it doesn't have to be something extra - walks in the neighbourhood where you notice street signs, license plates, house signs, STOP signs, food in the grocery store, on the table, in the fridge, letters in the words on TV, letters in the bedtime stories - seriously, learning possibilities are everywhere!
Enjoy the weekend! Next week will be another fun-filled adventure in Kinder Room 144 as we prepare for Halloween!
Take care,
Karen
PS: A huge thank you to Deanne K. for taking on our Volunteer Coordinator role. She has already been in touch via email regarding Halloween Party food for October 31st. If you didn't receive an email from her please let me know and I will double check the contact info.
October 8, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
I hope everyone is enjoying some family time this weekend. There are many things to be thankful for from a Kinder perspective...as we discussed this in class most of the children talked about their families! They are such a wonderful group of kiddos - I am thankful for the fun and joy they add to my life! :)
We ended our week with the annual Keenoo Turkey Trot where we chased the giant teacher turkey around the field! Everyone completed the fun run (2 times for the Full Day kids) and then celebrated with a turkey cookie! Well done, Kinders!
Please check your child's Friday Envelope carefully this week...there is A LOT of stuff in there! There are two special Thanksgiving art pieces we worked on - turkey handprints and turkey centre pieces. There is also the October Scholastic book order forms (if you are interested they are due on Wed. October 11th), information on the KPA Halloween dance, KPA Christmas fundraising (One Stop Shopping), plus some fun fire safety activities.
Fire Safety was our big topic for the end of the week. Many of the children did not know what a smoke detector was so we are asking for your help in locating and testing the ones in your home. We talked about them being like a "big nose" that checks for smoke in the air and that they make a lot of noise to warn people if there is smoke. We also talked about how Mrs. Gysen is not a very good cook and sets hers off making toast sometimes! We also learned about STOP-DROP-& ROLL, firefighters are people that help us, and if there is smoke in the air we need to get low and crawl to safety. The kids enjoyed all our scenarios where we rolled on the classroom floor and crawled out the door. Sometimes these things are just hard to explain to other people in the school but it helps cement the concepts into real actions for Kinders! We used our "detective eyes" and located all the fire alarms, hoses, extinguishers, and EXITS in the school. And we also talked about calling 9-1-1 and how it is only for emergencies. We are going to start working on learning our addresses so we can tell "helper people" (police, firefighters, and EMS) where we live in case of an emergency. Hopefully your current information is on file with the school as that will be the information we practice with.
Please remember that there is NO SCHOOL on Monday, October 9th or Tuesday, October 10th. Also please remember that your little person MUST BE AT SCHOOL by 8:45am on Thursday, October 12th for our trip to Prairie Gardens! The children will need layers of clothes to be comfortable and appropriate footwear for a farm (no sandals, flip-flops or open-toed shoes) - the forecast is for a high of 5 degrees with sun and clouds. They will also need enough food and drinks for the whole day (a full lunch plus snacks and water bottles that seal and do not leak - there are NO refill facilities at the farm).
Happy Thanksgiving wishes to you and all my wonderful Kinder-children.
Take care,
Karen
PS: We need a clean, 4L or 2L milk jug sent to school for a special craft by Friday, October 20th! If you don't drink milk in this size please talk to a friend, neighbour or family member to get one. Thanks! :)
October 1, 2017
Happy October! September ended beautifully for the Kinders in Room 144 with sunshine and outside time! We will still be going outside even as the weather changes so please make sure your little person is coming to school dressed for the day.
We had a great time meeting our Grade 5 & 6 Buddies in time for the Terry Fox Run this past week. :) I am so very proud of them for giving their best effort. Thank you to our Big Kid Buddies for helping us, too!
Please remember to send your little person with a water bottle. We have taught them how to refill them at the fountain and we have two sinks in our room. Our walk on Friday had a few children complaining they were thirsty but they had to wait until we got back to school to get a drink from the fountain because they didn't have a water bottle. If you are having trouble sourcing one please let us know. If you are still looking for one please try to find one that seals well as we have had a few soggy backpacks, wet Library books, and drippy Agendas; no big deal in the end but preventable with your help!
Just a reminder that the first Wednesday of every month is a "NO KINDERGARTEN" day (October 4th) and the big kids only get a half day with a lunch time dismissal. Mrs. McCormick and I have to go to 'Teacher School' at District Office in the morning so there will be no one here to greet your little person - the Office will call you to come get them if you drop them off! School resumes as per the normal schedule on Thursday.
Also a reminder that there will NO SCHOOL on Monday, October 9th for Thanksgiving. Tuesday, October 10th is a District Professional Development Day so there will be just staff here; NO SCHOOL for the kids. Thursday, October 12th is our Field Trip to Prairie Gardens - ALL Kinder-kids must be at school by 8:45am with a lunch, snacks, water/beverages for the whole day, and appropriate clothing for the weather (no flip flops, sandals).
A huge thank you goes out to Callum's Mom, Deanne, for signing up to be our Volunteer Coordinator! I have filled in the October calendar with the information I received from all of you. I will be handing the reins over to Deanne for all upcoming events! Please click on the calendar events to get them to expand and show who is booked to come in. We appreciate you giving us your time!
Please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great Sunday.
Take care,
Karen
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September 24, 2017
Another week of fun has been achieved in Room 144!
We have 14 fishies represented in our (paper) fish bowl keeping track of how many days we have been in Kindergarten! Something really cool happened when we reached 10 baby fish...we traded them back to the pet store for a big '10' fish. This daily little lesson in Math helps us with our recognition of numbers and matching them to a quantity. It also helps with early number sense and the concepts of adding on and place value.
We are also doing daily ABC work and love singing and dancing. Some of us are still working on letter names and some of us are ready for exploring the letter sounds. A couple of us are reading while a few of us are working on remembering that "LMNOP" is actually 5 letters not just 1! On one of our nature walks we had our "detective eyes" on to look for Cs and we found them on street signs, trucks, license plates, and yard decorations. We also collected leaves and built a class C on the grass at a park. Letters are everywhere and learning can happen anywhere! There is a great series called Have Fun Learning on Youtube that gives each letter a song and the sound(s) it makes. There is also a fun song called, What Do The Letters Say? that we enjoy dancing to.
Please remember to send your children in clothes that are appropriate for the weather of the day - I understand that this is Alberta and the weather can be fickle from one hour to the next! We do plan on going outside EACH day but I will make a judgment call daily on what is too wet/too cold. If a child does not have proper clothes we will have to leave them in the Office as getting fresh air and nature time are part of our physical education program components.
Thank you to everyone who has returned the calendar with available volunteer dates. I will be compiling the info into a master list and posting it on our website calendar. If anyone has decided they would be willing to take on the volunteer coordinator job it would be most appreciated. :)
Thank you to everyone who has returned the Prairie Garden permission slip. **We are still waiting for a few.**
Just to emphasize again, this is an ALL DAY field trip. The children need to wear clothes appropriate for the day - layers are desirable. We will put their green shirts on (probably over their coats) before we get on the bus. The children will also need a FULL LUNCH that does not require heating, water/beverages for the day, and at least two snacks. Most of our day will be spent outside running and playing which takes a lot of energy! The bus will leave at 9:00am so ALL my children must be at school by 8:45am to get organized. We will return to school by 3:00pm. **If you have ordered lunch through the Hot Lunch program at school please contact them as we will be leaving school prior to the food arriving. You will have to pack food for your child that day.**
We also had a visit from the Occupational Therapist team from District Office (D.O.) this week. Miss Teresa and Miss Kirsten showed us how to hold our pencils with a relaxed "alligator" bite and how to draw a person called Mat Man! It is part of the learning and developmental stages that children add bodies for the arms and legs to come out of along with more defined details like ears, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc. In Kindergarten we aim for the children to recognize and portray people as having bodies not just heads with protruding arms and legs. The O.T. team will be back in a couple weeks to see how we are doing with our cutting.
Please don't forget that Library is on Thursday - please send the books back by Wednesday so they can be checked back in before our class. That being said, this coming week we may have to reschedule to accommodate the Terry Fox Run but we still need the books back!
We also had our first Kinder-cooking experience! We made apple turtles out of apples, grapes, and little chocolate chips for eyes! They turned out very cute and we had fun building them. It is a Kindergarten rule that we try every project - "I don't like that" doesn't fly in this room! Our Kinder-cooking is designed to be both fun & nutritious as well as to expose children to a variety of foods.
I think that's about it! Have a wonderful weekend. Happy Fall!
Take care,
Karen
September 17, 2017
How time flies when you're having fun! We made it through Week 2 and our first week with all 5 days! Our Kindergarten adventures continued with surviving Lock Down practice - we did very well with being quiet. For those of you wondering - a lock down occurs when there is an issue that Mr. Erickson or Mr. Tripp has to deal with (animals in the playground - apparently one year there was a young moose in the field before I started here!, strangers in the school, extreme weather warnings, etc). At the Kinder level we keep it general so as not to scare the children and approach the issue as, "There is some sort of problem and the best way we can help Mr. Erickson solve the problem is to sit still and be super quiet". Well done, Kinder-kids! I am proud of you! :)
We also had our first Library block! We will have Library on Thursdays so please help your little person pack their Library book and return it to school by Wednesday. We have to return the books to take out new ones and it isn't as much fun to sit and only look at stories when our friends can choose new books.
Please mark your calendars that School Pictures are on Thursday, September 21st. Every child will have an individual photo taken and you will be able to see the proofs and order photos on-line. This is completely voluntary; there is no obligation to purchase. We will also have a class photo taken for the school yearbook. I will make sure that faces are clean at photo time!
We are still awaiting a few consent forms with email addresses. When I have them all I will compile the Class Directory and send them home. If you haven't returned your blue consent form or have misplaced it please let me know and I can send home another. Even if you do not want to participate in the Directory please send the form back so I have your correct email address for my correspondence.
Please send your children in weather appropriate clothes and footwear. It is our goal to spend time outside everyday, rain or shine. The fresh air helps us and we do need time where we can let off some energy. We have been working on discerning our "inside" and "outside" voices! So far our adventures have taken us to the playgrounds, the forest, the Botanic Garden, the Oakmont Bridge, the tennis courts, and a little park across the road from the school. We have been working on road safety - looking both ways, using our "pointer arm", walking on the sidewalks, using crosswalks, and being respectful of other people's yards by not walking on their grass.
Unfortunately our Bus Safety field trip has been postponed until October but we still had a chance to wear our green shirts. Mr. Erickson and Mr. Tripp joined us for our photo-op in the Library in their green shirts! Go Team!! We will be keeping the shirts at school so they are available for each field trip. Our next one will be on October 12th to Prairie Gardens. ***Please note that this is a WHOLE DAY FIELD TRIP*** Morning and Afternoon students will be with us for the entire school day. The bus will be leaving at 9:00am and returning by 3:00pm. Please make the appropriate childcare, drop-off and pick-up arrangements. Permission slips will be coming home soon.
We are still looking for a Volunteer Coordinator! If you would like to share the job with another parent we are open to a team approach!
Please have a quick conversation with your little person about the food in their lunch boxes. We have been hearing a lot of "I don't like this!" We have asked the children to talk with you as we can't fix it from our end! Our response is "That's what Mom or Dad packed for you today and you need to have food in your tummy to help you learn". We are seeing very healthy choices come in and appreciate that everyone is respecting our NO NUTS request for the safety of our allergy students. As a Full Day class we are also getting the hang of making sure we eat snack stuff at snack time and lunch stuff at lunch time!
A big thank you goes to all my awesome families! We are all part of Team Kindergarten and things are off to a fabulous start. Have a wonderful weekend.
Take care,
Karen
September 10, 2017
Dear Kinder-families,
Our first week as an entire class went very well! We are all excited to be a part of our Kindergarten Family and are working on our manners, how to share and take turns, how to sit at Circle and be a respectful audience and participant. We have taken our first walk through the forest behind the school, explored all four playgrounds, survived at least one fire drill, worked on walking quietly in the hall, created some wonderful art, and are figuring out our snack foods and lunch foods. All in all, it has been a fantastic week and I am so proud of all my Kinder-kids. The fun is just beginning and they are a wonderful group of children.
If you have not had a chance to send in the school supplies please do so at your earliest convenience. We are also still watching for spare clothes and paint shirts for those oops! moments that inevitably happen in Kindergarten. Thank you to everyone who has sent in indoor shoes - no one had to go outside in their socks for the fire drills.
The Agendas have all been coming back to school - well done, Mom & Dad! This is the first year I have had them all come back everyday during the first week. I am hopeful that will continue to happen. If you could please initial it each day that would help us know that you have seen it. We do check them daily for correspondence.
In the Friday Envelope this week there was a lot of information for you plus our first Scholastic Book order. They will be coming home monthly but there is no obligation or expectation that you buy from them; it is completely voluntary. There was also a vivd blue paper requesting your preferred email address for communication with me. Please complete that and return it to school as soon as possible so I can create my class mail-out list as well as the Class Directory. Also, as explained on the sheet, you do have the option to not have your information published in the Directory - please sign the appropriate section of the form and return it to school. All my class correspondence will be sent "bcc" (blind carbon-copied) so your email addresses will remain private.
We have another great week of "firsts" coming up. We will have our first Library block on Thursday and our first at-school Field trip on Friday where we will learn all about bus safety. It is sure to be a fun time!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me via email ([email protected]), a note in the agenda, or by phone (780-459-3114). As I will be working with the children during school hours I will be limited to returning calls and emails to after school time. If there is an emergency please contact Mrs. Juse in the Office and we will respond accordingly.
A big thank you goes out to you all for a successful first week! Well done, Kinders and Kinder-families! We are on our way.
Take care,
Karen