The weather has been wet and wild, but inside the Kindergarten all is cosy and warm.  We’re so proud of our classes and the way in which they’ve settled very comfortably into the classroom routines.  The children are becoming more confident in selecting their own morning centres, joining groups of friends and asking if a closed centre can be opened just for them (we almost always say “yes”). 

This week we read the perennial favourite Chicka Chicka Boom Boom as our Alphabet kick-off story to the letter D.  We take our time when printing lowercase “d” as we want to differentiate from printing lowercase “b.”  As we teach each new letter, we are supporting the children in using the lowercase letters they know when printing their names.  At this time, we are reminding them to print lowercase a, b, c and d as these are the letters we have taught in class.  We’re teaching e this week.

Do we ever love math patterns!  We’ve been exploring, copying and creating patterns with math manipulatives since the first week of school.  We always begin with manipulatives as it’s concrete and the children can physically show us their thinking and learning.  Now, we’re moving onto the connecting level as the children are connecting the concrete with the abstract. 

Here, you can see the children have made their multilink trains in an AB pattern.  This is a concrete representation of the pattern.  And now we’ve asked them to connect their understanding and represent their learning by colouring in the squares to match their trains.  Amazing!

We started one of several Hallowe’en art projects this week with drawing a beautiful pumpkin and colour mixing orange, red and yellow paint to fill in the spaces between the ribs.  This was a great opportunity to reinforce the BIG in our criteria of BIG, BRIGHT and BEAUTIFUL when creating art.

BIG means to fill you space

BRIGHT means to use five colours or more

BEAUTIFUL means to do your personal best

We will finish our pumpkins with stems, leaves and faces in the days ahead.

On Thursday, we were confidently informed by our classes that they knew exactly what to do for Shakeout BC and they did exceedingly well during our earthquake drill.  As a matter-of-fact, as soon as we mentioned “earthquake” several children chimed in with “oh, under the tables.” When queried about how they knew what to do, their unison answer was “preschool.”  We practised our Duck, Cover and Hold so when the “earthquake” came on via the PA system, we quickly (and safely) moved into action.  

For this practise, our building was deemed “safe” and we did not need to exit the school.

We saw our Big Buddies on Friday to work on our Hallowe’en wreaths.  Our Buddies are learning to encourage the Little Buddies to take more responsibility for the drawing, cutting and gluing parts in our crafts.  The Little Buddies are enjoying this time in our week as they are very much adored and certainly the centre of their Big Buddies’ attention.

Last year we had a big LEGO drive at Ridgeview to create a mobile LEGO cart in the Library.  Many children donated a cup of LEGO from their personal collection. Now, teachers are able to book a special time for their classes and that’s just what we did for a rainy Friday afternoon.  We were absolutely impressed with the dexterity and creativity of our children to build their models.  

The rainy weather has meant that the Kindergarten children have been taking recess outdoors.  They are real troopers, changing into boots and raincoats, sometimes up to three times a day. Their independence in taking their shoes and boots on and off, and doing up snaps and zippers has increased tremendously.  

There’s been a lot of puddle play (including falling into some rather large ones), flying down wet slides and lots of wet clothes.  The children have an opportunity to change their clothes, but we also ask you to send along an extra pair of socks (or two) so their feet are comfortable all day.

Upcoming Events and Reminders

Monday, October 21:  Please remember to have the children’s inside running shoes at school for PE.

Tuesday, October 22:  Library Book Exchange

Friday, October 25:  Provincial Professional Development Day – school is not in session for students

Save the Date:  Thursday, October 31 is our Hallowe’en Parade.  Parents will be able to watch us walk through Ridgeview’s spooky hallways!  The parade will start shortly after the morning bell. Please come by our classrooms to help take off your child’s costume, or send a bag that we can safety pack it into if you are unable to make it to school.