Christmas Decorating Fun

During the holidays, the children decorated their own gingerbread houses and also were able to shop at Ms. Marcon's Christmas store. They were able to choose someone to give their present too and choose from the store.




In our class, as well, dramatic play was turned into Santa's workshop where the children were able to take on roles of Santa, Mrs. Claus, Elves and reindeer. They were "baking cookies", "making toys" and getting ready for the holidays. They really enjoyed this centre.

Ambulance Visit

Sorry about the delay in posting!

A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to have Paramedic Chris and his partner come and show both JK/SK classes their equipment and ambulance. What a great learning experience for the children who were exposed to what the paramedics do, what equipment they use and how they help us in various situations. The children learned a lot about the equipment and why they use it, were exposed to technology such as the EKG machine, and even were able to venture inside the ambulance itself.

They learned a bit about their hearts, the printout that the EKG machine can do, learned about the neck brace to keep patients stabilized, the stretcher, oxygen mask and much more. Some children had told us that they'd been in an ambulance and others had never seen such interesting medical equipment before. They were amazed and learned a lot about these very important community helpers! See more pictures here:

Halloween Part 1

Halloween was a fun time in Kindergarten. The children loved wearing there costumes and received lots of treats from their friends. Thanks for the donations of healthy snacks to make our "feast" for Halloween wonderful.

Here are the pictures of the cuteness! Enjoy!

Shaving Cream Pictures

Our room smelled really clean the days that the children did our shaving cream "pictures". The children were a bit dumbfounded initially when presented with the shaving cream. "We really get to play with it?", they wondered. It seemed like such an obviously fun idea - how could that be "art"? They wondered.

Well the first challenge when presented with shaving cream was that they had to learn to "spread" the shaving cream, make it "flat" like a paper. They used trowels to do so after finding out that their hands did not do the job properly. Using their hands became a "sticky situation" which meant that all the shaving cream stuck to their fingers. Once they were given the option to use the trowels to spread their shaving cream, the students found that there was quite a difference in how they could manipulate the shaving cream.

Once the shaving cream was spread, little fingers got to work, printing letters, numbers and names, thinking of pictures to make, objects to create in the shaving cream.

"How could we take a picture of something that would soon dissapte?" the children wondered. "Why Mrs. Stefani could take a picture of it!" they said. So of course, I clicked away when asked to document some of their creations for an eternity. Enjoy the creations!

Sorting

We began our Data Management unit this month with a basic look at attributes and sorting by attributes. The Junior Kindergarten students are beginning to look at sorting by shape, colour and size while the Senior Kindergarten students will review these attributes to sort by but will also be encouraged to do some higher level thinking when they sort.

We've been primarily been doing sorting as a team activity. Students are beginning to work in small groups to solve problems. While this seems like a very easy endeavour, for some it means compromising, working together, taking direction or leading the activity, and sharing materials. The children are still working on character and community building so working in flexible groups allows them to work on their social skills, to practice interacting with different groups of peers and to take on various roles and incorporate problem solving strategies from time to time.

They really worked hard in teams to sort their items. Some teams were very efficient, while others struggled to stay on task and/or to work together (rather than independently).

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

One of the favourite stories of Kindergarten students is called Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. It is a wonderful story where the alphabet letters try to climb up a tree but are much too heavy for the tree. Not only is it a fun story but it also rhymes!

One of the refrains of the song is "Chicka chicka boom boom! Will there be enough room?".

Sadly, there is not enough room at the top of the coconut tree for all the letters, so they come tumbling down, only to race up yet again. The children love this story every year that I teach and were also able to watch the video of the story on a rainy day last week.

Most of the SK students are really experts in alphabet recognition so they were the "mentors" to the Junior Kindergarten students. They were the leaders in the game with their partner, demonstrated cooperation, turn taking and helped the others to play the game of Chicka Chicka in our classroom. It is wonderful to see the Senior Kindergarten students taking on a leadership role with their partners, teaching them the game, the rules and reinforcing the letter names and sound as well. The Senior Kindergartens are awesome role models for the Junior Kindergartens and little teachers in their own right!

Students reached into a baggie, taking turns reaching for an upper case letter, then were able to use a bingo dabber to "dab" the corresponding letting on the coconut tree. They were all smiles and giggles playing this game and many of them of course, forgot that they were learning. That's the joy of Kindergarten!

At home, reading rhyming books, poems and nursery rhymes is an important pre-reading skills. I cannot emphasize enough how children need to be given opportunities daily to listen to rhyme so that they can develop their "ear" for rhyme over time.

Here's some fun links:

Watch the song/video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QdN-HYp46c

Listen to a reading of the story again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOGiFqVTfUY&feature=related

Mrs. S.

Art in Kindergarten

Product Based Art and the Young Child

"Art" may have a lot of different meanings to different people. I'd like to take a few moments to explain about the art in our classroom. You may be thinking back to your own childhood experience when you completed "crafts" at school and everyone made a paperbag turkey for example. Back when we were little, crafts were very popular. Everyone made the same craft that the teacher modelled and all the "results" looked fairly similar. While at times, we may participate in product based art or an odd craft, for the most part, in Kindergarten, we tend to believe more in:

"The process and not the product"

"Process" means allowing children to explore art materials with freedom without the pressure to copy a model or stay in the lines. Process is experimenting with paints, watching the mixing colors, and feeling the textures of more or less. It may not involve an end product pleasing to the eye, but the product is far more pleasing to the child. Process is gluing various sizes, shapes, and colors of paper together to create a collage. It is experimenting with atypical creation - building with blocks, legos, foam blocks and shaving cream! Process is freedom to experiment and enjoy the feeling of creating without being concerned with the outcome or the product. Process is creating something that is uniquely yours and not a copy of someone else's. It is about being proud of your own imagination, ideas and creativity!

Remember your own experiences as a child. The first time you discovered the magic of colors mixing, the sticky feeling of glue, the feeling of power as you modeled clay, the sense of accomplishment and pride seeing your own beautiful picture proudly displayed in your childhood home. If you did not have these experiences in your own childhood, you can easily create them for your child. To create an environment in your home that fosters creativity and experimentation you can purchase paints, brushes, an easel and paper. The Dollarama is an excellent place to pick up these items cheaply as well. You can also save "junk" (buttons, old greeting cards, ribbons, wrapping paper, doilies, paper tubes, fabric, etc.) for collages.

For Art that is centred around the environment, you can use nature's best collectibles such as pinecones, beach glass, pebbles, leaves, and twigs for building and sculpting. Encourage your child in the artistic process by questioning and commenting on his/her endeavors. Comments should focus on the experience, the process. Avoid asking questions such as, "What are you making?" and, instead, comment on the process, using comments such as, "I like the red color in your picture." Your goal should be to make your child feel comfortable, confident, and successful. It's about risk taking, initiative and creativity in the moment!



This week for example, the children are experimenting with chalk pastels. They are learning how to draw pictures and to rub their drawings so that they spread colour throughout their pictures. Soft pastels, also called chalk pastels, are considered the most direct medium for working in colour. Pastels are basically pigment and chalk compressed with a small amount of gum tragacanth. They contain no additives nor solvents, and few tools are needed to create stunning works. Students have learned how to use their finger to "spread" the pastel's colour onto other parts of their paper and to blend colours together to create colourful and vibrant works of art!

So if you are wondering often about a paper that came home that looked a little rough around the edges, or you can't quite figure out what it is or "why" it is for that matter, it is probably a matter of an experience more than a final product.


We will be finishing our "paper chalk" blending and pictures this week and next week, we will do some shaving cream painting on the table tops. The room is bound to smell really "clean" I am sure. Stay tuned for those interesting pictures! Thanks go out to the family that donated shaving cream by taking an apple from our "Giving Tree" in the hallway. If you would like to support interesting and creative activities like this, please feel free to choose your apple from our Giving Tree!

Look at the beaming smile - what joy!

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.
Pablo Picasso

People in Our Room

We are very blessed to have some wonderful people in our room helping us out on a daily basis. So I'm going to take the time to introduce them to you so that you'll get an idea of who these wonderful support people are!

First off is Miss Jean. Miss Jean has been an Aide at our school for quite some time. She helps out in the office and in classroom and is the Lunch Aide for our classroom.




Miss Jean reminds children of the "safe eating rules" and to take care of their belongings, but she also takes the time to chat with the children, to get to know each of them and their personalities. She always has a wonderful rapport with the children and is interested to listen to their stories, to encourage their independence and to treat them as individuals.

Next, we have Miss Brianna. Miss Brianna is a Co-op Student who is doing a placement for half the year in our Kindergarten classroom. She comes in at the second nutrition break, chats with the children and helps them with their routines. She goes outside and plays with them on the playground and reinforces our safe rules for outside play. Then for the rest of the afternoon she helps both me and the children. If you take a step into our classroom, you'll often find Miss Brianna working with a small group of children on any given day playing letter, number and sound games and encouraging them to risk take, engage in cooperative play and take turns.




Another favourite friend of the children is Aaron. Many years ago, Aaron was one of Mrs. Stefani's favourite "Kindergarten Kids" but he's now grown up and enjoys coming to help the children in our classroom with both nutrition break and outside time. Aaron is a natural with the child coming from a large family of which is proud to be both a big brother and Uncle. Aaron has a natural ease with the children, lots of friendly words and the children get very excited when he walks in the rule. I think he may be a teacher some day!




What wonderful people we have in our room! We are truly so lucky and spoiled!

Play Poem and Pictures of Play

"Play Today"


You say you love your children,
And are concerned they learn today?
So am I; that's why I'm providing
A variety of kinds of play.

You're asking me the value
Of blocks and other such play?



Your children are solving problems.
They will use that skill everyday.

You're asking what's the value
Of having your children play?
Your daughter's creating a tower.
She may be a builder someday.



You're saying you don't want your son
To play in that "sissy" way?
He's learning to cuddle a doll.
He may be a father someday.

You're questioning the learning centers;
They just look like useless play?
Your children are making choices;
They'll be on their own someday.

You're worried your children aren't learning,
and later they'll pay?
They're learning a pattern for learning,
For they will be learners always.

---Leila P. Fagg---

Starting a New Year!

As we start off our new year, here are some tips that you might also find useful about children and how they may adjust to school:
It's great to be excited but don't "overtalk" about school. For some children highlighting the first day of kindergarten as a really big deal makes them more nervous than they already are. Instead of fussing, try an alternate experience that is like Kindergarten such as going to a play day, child's event or early years centre. Or remind them of an experience that may be similar such as going to dance class. Just like that experience, remind your child that s/he will learn new names and meet new children.

After a day of school, try not to ask your child too many questions immediately when they get home. Initially your child may be exhausted, emotionally and physically from the busy day. Try and space out your questions so as not to overwhelm your child. Beginning with a simple question such as "What activity centres did you enjoy at school today?" or "Did you have gym or library today?" "Who did you play with today?". The more specific the question, the more likely you are to get an answer. The typical answer of any child who is asked "what did you do at school today?" is NOTHING! Trust me, in Kindergarten we are too busy to do "NOTHING".

Connect school to home. Bring your child with you to all events that happen before school including parent interviews. Even if you cannot attend a special events night at school such as Wednesday Sept 21, 5:30 -7:00 pm Meet the Staff Night, feel free to ask another family member to bring your child such as an Aunt, Uncle, or Grandparents! Showing your child that you value school and are a part of the King Edward Community will only enhance your child's sense of belonging.

Read books together about starting school. Reading about other children who might have fears and anxiety about starting school may be comforting to kids who are experiencing the same feelings. Your local library has lots of books that are geared to this subject.

Try to minimize your own anxiety. Just as it's perfectly normal for your child to feel some anxiety on the first days of kindergarten, it's absolutely normal for you to feel anxious when you see your child upset or when a life change like your child starting school occurs. If this is your first child starting school or your "baby" finally going to school, it can be easy to get emotional yourself. Often children can "pick up" on anxiety from a parent so try to keep your emotions at bay. Make goodbyes short and sweet at the door - remember that "a quick good bye leads to a dry eye!" for all concerned.

Some children do have tough time separating. This is very common. Some children are fine in September and then in October, regress back to tears. Don't let this alarm you. It's also understandable that you may experience some frustration when you see other children playing happily in the classroom while yours is still clinging for dear life to your legs. Please be assured that with time, this only gets better. But please be sure to be consistent and insist that your child is going to school. One day kept home due to anxiety can often lead to a pattern of "I won't" go behaviour for many children so please be consistent with sending your child to school (except of course in times of illness). With children, it is truly all about routine.

Send along a favourite comfort object or reminder of you. If your child has a favourite stuffy (e.g., blanket, stuffed animal) send it along the first few days. We will ask children to keep their object in their backpack unless needed to help through a transition period. Sometimes having a favourite comfort object nearby helps provide children with a sense of security. Another wonderful item is a mini photo album filled with pictures of your family and home.

Don't put a time limit on how long it should take for anxiety to pass. For some children, first day anxiety may not last beyond a few days if it happens at all. For others, tears and school fears may go on for weeks. Just as each child has his or her own individual set of experiences and personality, the time it takes to adjust to school will vary from one child to another.

Don't hesitate to talk to me! I am here to help make your family's transition to full day, alternate day kindergarten as smooth as possible. My classroom is always open for you to stop and say hello before or after school. I always appreciate the opportunity to help both you and your child!

Happy September!

Mrs. Stefani