Kindie Korner Adventures

Wow! We made it!  What a great group of kindies we have this year!  I have so been enjoying getting to know your sweet children and I hope they have been enjoying getting to know what Kindergarten is all about.  I know there has been a lot information for you to take in and there has been just as much, if not more, for your kindergartener to learn.  I hope you have the chance to give them some extra hugs this weekend.  They have all worked so hard and learned so much already.

So far this week we have learned:

-where the washroom is, how to ask to use the washroom, how to get there independently and how to operate all the bathroom things

-how to line up and get from our classroom to the playground, to the line up spot and back again

-how to sit at the carpet for stories and instructions

-how to walk in the hallway (walking feet and quiet voices)

-how to sign up for and play at centre time

-what stations are and how to rotate through those

-some of the names of our classmates

-how to ask questions in class

AND SO MUCH MORE!

Thank you for your patience with us and your child as we smooth out any rough patches during this transition.  If you have any questions at all please feel free to get in touch with me.  Email is probably the easiest way for you to do that.

I hope you have all had a chance to sign into your child’s FRESHGRADE account.  I have been posting photos already this week about what your children have been up to.  Thank you to those of you who have expressed how much you love seeing what your kiddo is doing.  It’s fun to give you a glimpse of their days here in the classroom.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Please make a note on your calendar that Individual School Photo day is NEXT THURSDAY, September 16.  We realize this does not fall on a day that the part time kindergarten students are here.  If you would like your child to have their photo taken, you are welcome to bring them into the school first thing in the morning to have their picture taken.

Updated School Start time: Thank you for a wonderful start to the school year. We also want to thank you for taking the time to do your health checks with your children! Just a note to our fabulous parents on our school starting time! Our school doors will be opening at our traditional time of 8:55. Classrooms will be closed until that time as teachers work hard to prepare classroom materials, set up their classroom and participate in before school meetings. We encourage parents to try to arrive at the school between 8:45 and 8:55. However, if students arrive earlier, they can head to the playground where we will have supervision. At 8:55, the school bell will ring and students will be welcomed into the school. On days that are extreme rain days, students will be brought into the gym. Students can enter the gym through the side gym door and head to their grade area. On these rainy days, we would again encourage families to try and bring students as close to the start of school as possible as activities will be limited in the gym.

Scholastic Reading Club flyers will be coming home soon.  If you already know about Scholastic Reading Club, please disregard this message.  If you don’t, please keep reading!

Scholastic Reading Club is a way for you to get good books into your children’s hands and also into our classroom!  Each purchase made helps us get new books, manipulatives, games and activities for our classroom.

When you get the Reading Club flyer please note that ordering is now done online.  For more information you can go to:

https://classroomessentials.scholastic.ca/s/cec-ca/en/reading-club-how-to

and read the Parent information section.

Our Class Code is RC157236 and ensuring you include that with your order will help fill our classroom with new and exciting materials.

Reading Club books make great Birthday and Christmas gifts!

We had a great day getting to know each other, our school and our playground.  There is so much to learn and do and so much for our kindie friends to take in during the day.  It is not uncommon for them to be absolutely exhausted by the afternoon.  If your little one is feeling extra and tired or grumpy, please be assured, that is totally normal!

Just a reminder that your child’s Back and Forth Folder is coming back home today and that you need to return it tomorrow whether it’s got something in it or not.  Also, it did start to spit rain today as we were coming in from playing outside and there were a number of friends who didn’t have sweaters or jackets to wear.  Please send a jacket, especially if the weather looks like it might not be favorable.  We try to get fresh air every day.

Looking forward to seeing you all again tomorrow.

Thank you for taking the time to come in and explore the classroom with your kindergarten student today.  It was so nice to meet all of you!

Some important things for you to know:

Drop off- in the mornings you will be able to come into the school to drop your child off at the door.  The bell rings at 8:55 and the classroom door will open at that time.  Please try to enter the school as close to that time as possible.  We will not be having staggered entry like we did last year.

Pick Up- we will meet you outside at the far end of the sidewalk in front of the school building.  Pick up time from tomorrow until September 17 will be 12 noon.  Please try to be prompt- it can be anxiety-inducing for children to not see you there at the end of the day.

Supplies- small pillows, and gym shoes can make their way to school as early as tomorrow and will be stored in lockers (pillows on the top shelf, gym shoes on the bottom shelf).

Snacks only for this week- no lunches are needed this week, but please be sure to send water bottles and snacks for recess break. And on that note- please be aware that we CANNOT have BRAZIL NUTS in our classroom.  Peanut butter and granola bars with other nuts in them are okay, but please be sure to keep Brazil nuts off the snack list.

Freshgrade- you should have received an invitation to view your child’s Freshgrade Portfolio.  Freshgrade is an app that I use to send you photos of your child throughout the year and I have already posted at least 2 pictures of each child.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this and I can try to walk you through things.

I am sure there is more information to pass on but I will leave this with you for now.  Stay tuned this week, as I am sure there will be more for me to share with you.

See you tomorrow!