January 29, 2016
Keenoo Kinder Chronicles
Dear Kinder-families,
January is almost over - how did that happen so fast? We have had such a magnificent month of Penguins and Polar Bears inspired by the children's questions. We will actually be carrying the theme over into February for a bit yet because the children are still interested and curious and we don't have the answers yet! We also learned that the computer is a useful tool but sometimes we have to look at more than one source to get a good answer or a complete answer. The kids were a surprised that sometimes the computer doesn't tell the whole truth! As teachers we thought this was an interesting side lesson that "accidentally" happened! Learning happens all the time and everywhere is what we tell the kids!
Hopefully all the soapstone polar bears made their way into your homes - I was so impressed with the children and their projects. They are all unique just like each child in my room! I'm sure you were informed by your little person, but just in case - if the polar bear starts to dry out you can oil it with vegetable or canola oil and it will be shiny again. Thank you to all the Moms, Dads, and the Big Brother who were able to help us make this "at-school-field-trip" a huge success.
Just a quick reminder that next week there is NO SCHOOL for Kinder-kids on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. For that reason we are putting Star of the Week on hold until Feb 8th so our new Stars, Cecilia and Kailey, can have a whole week to shine. (Two days just wouldn't cut it!).
I would like to thank all the families who donated food to the food drive we held this month - Keenooshayo donated 1201 pounds of food, hygiene, and baby products to our local Food Bank. Way to go, Keenoo and thank you to the Grade 3s for organizing this terrific event.
If you are missing hats, mittens, gloves, toques, sweaters, pants, shoes, lunch bags, etc please take a few moments to come check out the Lost and Found (kitty-corner to the girls bathroom on the way to our classroom). There is quite the collection of items that will be donated if not claimed. (it also gives you the excuse to come check out all our magnificent art in the hallway but please remember to take your boots/shoes off so you don't slip).
I have heard that parking is a colossal nightmare at home time - I understand completely as I had to park on the street for my first few years at Keenoo. On that note, I am respectfully requesting that anyone who parks in our school neighbourhood to follow the rules of the road and not block our neighbours' driveways, not park in the bus lanes, and to be very vigilant when watching for little people crossing the street, especially when it is icy. Thank you for your co-operation.
The BIG KIDS are having parent-teacher interviews in February, coinciding with the school's Book Fair in the library. If you have older children at Keenoo please watch for the interview announcements in your child's agenda. ***Kindergarten will be waiting until the end of March to show off how smart we are at our Celebrations of Learning. We have come a long way from November and you will be impressed :) (More information to come!)
Our Valentine's Day party will be on Friday, February 12th.
Food volunteers as per the sign up sheet are:
Morning
Brayden - Juice
Gavin - Fruit
Rowan - Vegetables
Mrs. Gysen - meat, cheese, and crackers
Caden and Ethan - baked goods
**Please remember that we need gluten-free snacks so all the children can enjoy the treats.
Afternoon
Jayda - Juice
Kailey - Fruit
Mackenzie - Vegetables
Kaydence - Cheese, meat and crackers
Mya - Baked goods
**Please remember that we need NUT FREE snacks for a classmate's safety, and lactose free and red dye free so all the children can enjoy the treats.
If anyone has questions or concerns, as always, feel free to contact me at any time.
Thanks for an awesome week, Kinder-kids and Families. Enjoy your weekend.
Take care,
Karen
January 23, 2016
Keenoo Kinder Chronicles
Dear Kinder-families,
I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful January day! I'm not sure how many layers to put on these days to be prepared for our Alberta weather. On that note, please make sure that your little person is appropriately clothed and/or has appropriate outdoor clothing in their backpack so they can go outside and be safe. Also, please label your child's clothes so I can match them back up with your child at the end of the day! I would like to take a quick moment to congratulate all the children (and their parents) who are now attempting to do up their own coat zippers. :) They are growing up and becoming so independent and I am exceptionally proud of them.
Our daily penguin discussions have been very interesting so far! We generated class lists of questions that the children wanted to learn about and are working our way through with some surprising results! We have learned a lot about different types of penguins, where they live, how some of them "steal" rocks from their neighbours, that they like to eat fish and krill with their spiky tongues, they don't jump but they do bounce, and that penguins do have knees!! I have had some very positive reports from parents that their little people are sharing these interesting facts at home. Hooray for Kindergarten and hooray for learning!
We are also doing some very intensive alphabet work to get ready for Grade 1. You can help us out at home by reviewing the letters (preferably not in alphabetical order). Basic letter recognition of c, d, a, g, q, o, s, f, e, l, t, i, and j and all their sounds should be attainable by your little person. We will continue to work on reinforcing these as we add to them.
We have also started printing our full names on a daily basis. It was quite funny to listen to the children say "that part isn't my name" when referring to their last names!! We are focussing on letter formation - an uppercase letter at the beginning followed by lowercase. We are also working on remembering the "finger-space" in between our first and last names. The children are doing a fantastic job with the added challenges! Have I mentioned how much I love these kids?!!
We have an amazing "field-trip/craft" day coming up this next week - we will have a special guest in our classroom facilitating the experience. Please send your child in something that is okay to get slightly wet/dirty on Tuesday, January 26th. Thank you in advance to all the parents who have volunteered to come in and help - please wear something with sleeves that can be rolled up.
***Please remember that the following week (Feb 1 - 5) that there will be no Kindergarten on Wednesday, Feb 3, Thursday, Feb 4 and Friday, Feb 5.
Have a wonderful weekend. If you have questions or concerns please contact me at any time and as always, thank you for sharing your wonderful children with me!
Karen
PS Thank you to all the parents who volunteered to help with the Casino School Fundraiser! Your time is most appreciated by the School Council, staff, and children at Keenoo.
PS #2: The Kindergarten Information Night is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 2nd at 6:30pm in the Library - if you know anyone who has a little person who will be ready for Kindergarten in September 2016 and is looking for a school could you please pass the information along? Thanks.
January 10, 2016
Keenoo Kinder Chronicles
Dear Kinder-Parents,
Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic break and survived the first week back at school. The kids and I are getting back into our routines and we are doing very well. We missed Mr. Erickson in the Afternoon class but he should be back with us this coming week.
Our new unit is all about Penguins and Polar Bears! We embark on our journey to the South Pole and Antarctica starting Monday. We will do our best to avoid the leopard seals! :)
We are also starting Star of the Week - Molly is our Morning Star and Noah is our Afternoon Star. Just as a reminder - each student gets to bring one Show and Share item each day and we will discuss their ALL ABOUT ME paperwork that most of them brought back in November. If you are still working on yours or need a new one please let me know ASAP so your little person can participate and be a Star.
The other thing we are putting a fair amount of emphasis on is INDEPENDENCE! The children are being encouraged to try and get their own snow clothes on and coats zipped up. Rest assured that we will never send your child out half-dressed - if they are showing us that they are trying (making an honest effort) we will help them complete the task if they need it. We are re-inforcing the concept of personal responsibility and the need to try. All the adults in the room are mommies and understand that sometimes winter coat zippers like to "eat" the surrounding fabric and children need help but we are watching to make sure they are trying first - standing on the carpet with their arms out saying "I can't do it" won't cut it! Please help us out at home by letting them practice instead of doing it for them.
Things to look forward to:
Thank you to everyone who has signed up to volunteer in the classroom and by taking stuff home - your help is most appreciated.
Thank you again for all the incredible Christmas gifts - I appreciate your generosity and kindness.
If you have questions or concerns about anything please contact me at any time.
Take care,
Karen
Keenoo Kinder Chronicles
Dear Kinder-families,
January is almost over - how did that happen so fast? We have had such a magnificent month of Penguins and Polar Bears inspired by the children's questions. We will actually be carrying the theme over into February for a bit yet because the children are still interested and curious and we don't have the answers yet! We also learned that the computer is a useful tool but sometimes we have to look at more than one source to get a good answer or a complete answer. The kids were a surprised that sometimes the computer doesn't tell the whole truth! As teachers we thought this was an interesting side lesson that "accidentally" happened! Learning happens all the time and everywhere is what we tell the kids!
Hopefully all the soapstone polar bears made their way into your homes - I was so impressed with the children and their projects. They are all unique just like each child in my room! I'm sure you were informed by your little person, but just in case - if the polar bear starts to dry out you can oil it with vegetable or canola oil and it will be shiny again. Thank you to all the Moms, Dads, and the Big Brother who were able to help us make this "at-school-field-trip" a huge success.
Just a quick reminder that next week there is NO SCHOOL for Kinder-kids on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. For that reason we are putting Star of the Week on hold until Feb 8th so our new Stars, Cecilia and Kailey, can have a whole week to shine. (Two days just wouldn't cut it!).
I would like to thank all the families who donated food to the food drive we held this month - Keenooshayo donated 1201 pounds of food, hygiene, and baby products to our local Food Bank. Way to go, Keenoo and thank you to the Grade 3s for organizing this terrific event.
If you are missing hats, mittens, gloves, toques, sweaters, pants, shoes, lunch bags, etc please take a few moments to come check out the Lost and Found (kitty-corner to the girls bathroom on the way to our classroom). There is quite the collection of items that will be donated if not claimed. (it also gives you the excuse to come check out all our magnificent art in the hallway but please remember to take your boots/shoes off so you don't slip).
I have heard that parking is a colossal nightmare at home time - I understand completely as I had to park on the street for my first few years at Keenoo. On that note, I am respectfully requesting that anyone who parks in our school neighbourhood to follow the rules of the road and not block our neighbours' driveways, not park in the bus lanes, and to be very vigilant when watching for little people crossing the street, especially when it is icy. Thank you for your co-operation.
The BIG KIDS are having parent-teacher interviews in February, coinciding with the school's Book Fair in the library. If you have older children at Keenoo please watch for the interview announcements in your child's agenda. ***Kindergarten will be waiting until the end of March to show off how smart we are at our Celebrations of Learning. We have come a long way from November and you will be impressed :) (More information to come!)
Our Valentine's Day party will be on Friday, February 12th.
Food volunteers as per the sign up sheet are:
Morning
Brayden - Juice
Gavin - Fruit
Rowan - Vegetables
Mrs. Gysen - meat, cheese, and crackers
Caden and Ethan - baked goods
**Please remember that we need gluten-free snacks so all the children can enjoy the treats.
Afternoon
Jayda - Juice
Kailey - Fruit
Mackenzie - Vegetables
Kaydence - Cheese, meat and crackers
Mya - Baked goods
**Please remember that we need NUT FREE snacks for a classmate's safety, and lactose free and red dye free so all the children can enjoy the treats.
If anyone has questions or concerns, as always, feel free to contact me at any time.
Thanks for an awesome week, Kinder-kids and Families. Enjoy your weekend.
Take care,
Karen
January 23, 2016
Keenoo Kinder Chronicles
Dear Kinder-families,
I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful January day! I'm not sure how many layers to put on these days to be prepared for our Alberta weather. On that note, please make sure that your little person is appropriately clothed and/or has appropriate outdoor clothing in their backpack so they can go outside and be safe. Also, please label your child's clothes so I can match them back up with your child at the end of the day! I would like to take a quick moment to congratulate all the children (and their parents) who are now attempting to do up their own coat zippers. :) They are growing up and becoming so independent and I am exceptionally proud of them.
Our daily penguin discussions have been very interesting so far! We generated class lists of questions that the children wanted to learn about and are working our way through with some surprising results! We have learned a lot about different types of penguins, where they live, how some of them "steal" rocks from their neighbours, that they like to eat fish and krill with their spiky tongues, they don't jump but they do bounce, and that penguins do have knees!! I have had some very positive reports from parents that their little people are sharing these interesting facts at home. Hooray for Kindergarten and hooray for learning!
We are also doing some very intensive alphabet work to get ready for Grade 1. You can help us out at home by reviewing the letters (preferably not in alphabetical order). Basic letter recognition of c, d, a, g, q, o, s, f, e, l, t, i, and j and all their sounds should be attainable by your little person. We will continue to work on reinforcing these as we add to them.
We have also started printing our full names on a daily basis. It was quite funny to listen to the children say "that part isn't my name" when referring to their last names!! We are focussing on letter formation - an uppercase letter at the beginning followed by lowercase. We are also working on remembering the "finger-space" in between our first and last names. The children are doing a fantastic job with the added challenges! Have I mentioned how much I love these kids?!!
We have an amazing "field-trip/craft" day coming up this next week - we will have a special guest in our classroom facilitating the experience. Please send your child in something that is okay to get slightly wet/dirty on Tuesday, January 26th. Thank you in advance to all the parents who have volunteered to come in and help - please wear something with sleeves that can be rolled up.
***Please remember that the following week (Feb 1 - 5) that there will be no Kindergarten on Wednesday, Feb 3, Thursday, Feb 4 and Friday, Feb 5.
Have a wonderful weekend. If you have questions or concerns please contact me at any time and as always, thank you for sharing your wonderful children with me!
Karen
PS Thank you to all the parents who volunteered to help with the Casino School Fundraiser! Your time is most appreciated by the School Council, staff, and children at Keenoo.
PS #2: The Kindergarten Information Night is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 2nd at 6:30pm in the Library - if you know anyone who has a little person who will be ready for Kindergarten in September 2016 and is looking for a school could you please pass the information along? Thanks.
January 10, 2016
Keenoo Kinder Chronicles
Dear Kinder-Parents,
Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic break and survived the first week back at school. The kids and I are getting back into our routines and we are doing very well. We missed Mr. Erickson in the Afternoon class but he should be back with us this coming week.
Our new unit is all about Penguins and Polar Bears! We embark on our journey to the South Pole and Antarctica starting Monday. We will do our best to avoid the leopard seals! :)
We are also starting Star of the Week - Molly is our Morning Star and Noah is our Afternoon Star. Just as a reminder - each student gets to bring one Show and Share item each day and we will discuss their ALL ABOUT ME paperwork that most of them brought back in November. If you are still working on yours or need a new one please let me know ASAP so your little person can participate and be a Star.
The other thing we are putting a fair amount of emphasis on is INDEPENDENCE! The children are being encouraged to try and get their own snow clothes on and coats zipped up. Rest assured that we will never send your child out half-dressed - if they are showing us that they are trying (making an honest effort) we will help them complete the task if they need it. We are re-inforcing the concept of personal responsibility and the need to try. All the adults in the room are mommies and understand that sometimes winter coat zippers like to "eat" the surrounding fabric and children need help but we are watching to make sure they are trying first - standing on the carpet with their arms out saying "I can't do it" won't cut it! Please help us out at home by letting them practice instead of doing it for them.
Things to look forward to:
- Tuesday, January 26th - At school field trip - Soapstone Polar Bears - we will need to be wearing clothes that can get messy!
- Wednesday, February 3 - NO Kindergarten - Staff Meeting Day
- Thursday, February 4 and Friday, February 5th - NO Kindergarten - Teachers' Convention
Thank you to everyone who has signed up to volunteer in the classroom and by taking stuff home - your help is most appreciated.
Thank you again for all the incredible Christmas gifts - I appreciate your generosity and kindness.
If you have questions or concerns about anything please contact me at any time.
Take care,
Karen