Our learning journey in the Early Years Program

Friends had lots of fun building with blocks today. They were trying to build a tower that was taller than the tallest student in our class, Ali H.! They were conversing using math words like, same, different, taller, smaller, more, less. They were measuring and counting and contrasting.  They were satisfied that it was as tall as Younous and five blocks taller than the toy dinosaur. They then put it down on the floor so that it starts at the same spot as their feet, they learned about having a starting point all by math play!

Colour has been a theme of our provocations in our Kindergarten classes this past week.  We've incorporated learning about colour in math, science, literacy, and art.  We learned how to sort our crayons by colour. We talked about colours we see in the fall season. Our sign-in board has been about colour favourites. We also read Pete the Cat's New Shoes story and the kids loved hearing about what colour Pete's shoes turned every time he stepped in something. It was a shared reading because the students learned the repetitive parts of the story fast and were saying them with their teacher. Next week we will engage in some colour mixing with cool science experiments, like "Magic milk, apple colour stamping, and bubble art."

A group of students have brought in a snail from our playground after all the rain we've had, more snails and worms were out and about. They have been asking many questions to learn more about the habitat for snails, wondering what it needs to survive.  Yasser is making a connection to a TV show he watched at home. Farah really wants the snail to become our classroom pet.  Other friends have been busy drawing and colouring pictures of our snail. We learned that snails love to eat leaves, and need water and air to stay happy. Our snail likes to move and leaves a slime trail behind it. We showed the students a video to further investigate features of snails, and we learned that they have a mouth with thousands of tiny teeth, the students though that was interesting.  

Your child should have Picture Day forms coming home this week for this Thursday September 29th. We will remind them with Picture Day sticker the day before, get ready... say Cheese!

Lego table was busy today! It encouraged math talk with students, how big, how tall, how many, faster...

Friends have been very excited to share their learning with us! "Look at me and what I can do!" with Fall upon us, we've been learning a lot about seasonal changes, like the weather, the trees, leaves, apple picking, and now we're inquiring about colour.

    The emergent program for early years involves learning through play, uninterrupted, guided play... which is what we aim to do with our students every day.  They are learning how to self-regulate and manage their time and inquiries at school at the different centres available for them.... painting, drawing, math, science, blocks, writing, listening, snack, loose parts, dramatic, crafts, reading and more..

Students are learning about how each one of us is different and unique in their own way. We had them observe themselves using mirrors and they drew their own self-portraits. We read the book "Faces" at circle time and the different emotions that they feel at school.

Our Kindergarten Team is consistently collaborating in the best interests of the students. Come to the school on Meet the Staff night next week to meet Mrs. Badour, Mrs Abdel, Miss El-Khachen, and Mrs. Diab. We spent lots of time getting the "third teacher" (our open concept classrooms) ready for our students. We are always moderating and making ideas happen here in Rooms 104 and 105. Dates to Remember: Reorg Day is this Monday September 19. Meet the staff is on Thursday September 22. There is NO SCHOOL on the PD Day this Friday September 23, 2016. Keep bringing in the yellow and pink forms. Come introduce yourself to us, we'll be happy to see you Thursday.

Many students had a great start this week.  They showed interest in many areas of the classroom. Most of them can find their cubbies on their own.  The weather was great so we had a lot of time outside. They seemed to enjoy it. Looking forward to lots of learning and sharing this month.