We’ve been pretty busy for the month of May and it’s nowhere near over yet.  Since the run up to Student-Led Conferences at the end of April, we’ve worked on our Mother’s Day paintings; completely cleared out (like June) then restored (like September) my classroom for Mayfair; presented to the WV School Board our collaborative work on digital literacy, guided inquiry and the Big Buddy program for “Penguin Movie Magic;” and then held “Welcome to Kindergarten” for the incoming Kindergarten children.  Next week we will be having team meetings for Sports Day which falls on Friday, June 1 this year. It’s probably a fair comment to say we have a lot going on right now. As creatures of habit, we’re certainly looking forward to having a return to our calm and quiet routines so we can just enjoy being with our students in our classrooms for the last few weeks of our Kindergarten year.

There’s no doubt in our minds that the children’s self-regulation has been sorely tested with the schedule changes and upheavals over the past few weeks.  And we’re pleased to say that for the most part, the children have been able to draw upon their knowledge of deep breathing for calming no matter where we are (line-ups, waiting for assemblies, listening during our tennis lessons) and are still taking our practise time for self-regulation strategies quite seriously.  We’ve noticed that the children’s breathing postures have really improved over the school year, they are able to settle themselves quickly to listen to calming music and they are picking up on the social cues for when they need to regulate their own emotional state (the teacher is explaining a difficult concept so they must listen; lessons are getting longer and more complex with numerous steps so they must engage; we had a fire drill last week where they must focus).  

We’ve continued to view our children and lessons through a self-regulation lens where we the teachers act as co-regulators to help our students self-regulate, but we also have been careful to observe, reflect and adjust when necessary, our lessons so that during this busy time our children are not overwhelmed by everything going on around them.

We’re working on our new Science Unit on “Growing Things” now and enjoying the first few Sharings our children are bringing in.  For this round of Sharing and Special Helper, we’re asking everybody to bring in their favourite plant. We’re happy to receive a photo of your garden or of a plant that’s too big to bring in to school.  We had a fun lesson on what plants need (food, fertiliser, water, air, time, love) and made these lovely folders to hold our school work.

In Fairy Tales, we are reading “The Three Little Pigs.”  The children are very familiar with this tale, and able to talk about the story in terms of its beginning, middle and end.  We’re examining the story element of character, and had a lively discussion about the good and bad characters in this story.  We especially enjoyed reading Wolfie’s Secret by Nicola Senior, a twist on the traditional tale where Wolfie actually hides his secret aspirations to become a baker.  He’s treated rather poorly by the three pigs once they find out his true ambitions, but like any good story, everything works out happily ever after for wolf and pigs alike.

This week we finished our work on squares, and will wrap up our Geometry Unit with lessons on rectangles and triangles.  We’ve been having a lot of fun with “shape searches” throughout the classroom and looking around for these familiar silhouettes both indoors and out.

Sports Day

We will take a moment here to review what’s happening this week for Sports Day on Friday, June 1.  Sports Day is a grand tradition here at Ridgeview. All of the schoolchildren are divided into four colour teams.  This year, Mrs. Daudlin’s class is BLUE and Mrs. Campbell’s class is RED.  These are the colours our children should be wearing on Sports Day.  Parents are welcome to dress up in your team colour and watch the fun.

On Sports Day, please arrive on time at your child’s classroom.  We will quickly move to our meeting rooms after attendance so please try not to be late.  We usually perform our cheers on the playcourt so that is a great spot to meet our team and you can follow your child’s individual team around the Sports Day activities.

Our children are placed on mini-teams of students from Grades 1-6.  They will be led by Grade Six children around the activities that are run by Grade Seven students.  

Around 10:40, following the Freezie Break, the Kindergarten children will be brought to the playcourt to meet Mrs. Campbell and myself.  We’ll go back to our classrooms and eat our usual snack. We know the children are often really hungry on this morning so please send a BIG snack.  Then there will be time for Centres and face-painting by our Grade 7s if the children wish.

Please note that Kindergarten children are dismissed at 12 pm on Sports Day from their classrooms.  If you have ordered a Sports Day hot lunch, you’ll pick it up from the school kitchen and enjoy a picnic lunch out on the field.  

Upcoming Events and Reminders

This Wednesday is the last Library Book Exchange so please return your book if you’d like to take another one.  Mrs. Kennedy has arranged some fun Library Events for the remainder of our Library Days, including a visit from the WV Memorial Library to talk about the Summer Reading Program.

Sports Day is Friday, June 1.  Please ensure your child has been sunscreen application before coming to school.  We will only be outside until 10:45 at the latest, then moving inside for the rest of the morning.

Our upcoming Science workshop “Newton in a Nutshell: a focus on force and motion” will be taking place on June 13th.  We are asking for a $12 donation to cover the cost of having this mobile science program come to our classrooms. Please make your payment through School Cash online.