Spring is in the air and we’re loving these beautiful warm and sunny days.  The children are very much enjoying their increased privileges, including Forest Friday play and roaming Cherry Tree Hill, which is located at the most northern part of the school playground.  We’ve set up quite a few boundaries (no climbing the fence, no picking leaves from the trees) which everyone is following at this time.

We’ve finished our Alphabet!  Y and Z pages were sent home this week to add to your child’s Alphabet Books.  

We got caught with a rainy day mid-week on Wednesday.  We’d like to remind everyone that the children should keep a raincoat, rain pants and boots at school for when the weather turns.  As well, we’ve noticed quite a few children not wearing coats when they arrive at school.  When the children do not bring a coat to school, or have a raincoat in the cloakroom, this creates a challenge because all students are expected to go outside for morning and lunch recess even when it’s raining.  Our age group does not do so well in the rain without a coat, so please support us in ensuring your child has the correct outdoor clothing for living in the Pacific Northwest.

Forest Friday has been a fun, social and successful afternoon outing for our classes to enjoy together.  The children are keen to wear their boots and stroll up and down the creek, look for rocks, fallen leaves and flowers and explore this hidden gem on our school grounds.  We’ve had a few cases of water overflowing into boots so extra socks are always a good idea.

We’re starting Fairy Tales in Language Arts.  This fascinating genre of stories is a perennial favourite for teachers and students alike.  This week we started with reading Once Upon a Golden Apple by Canadian author Phoebe Gilman.  It’s a wonderful story about a Dad reading a fairy tale to his children, but choosing different alternatives to completing each sentence; each alternative is based on another fairy tale or nursery rhyme.  The children recognised some of the stories and rhymes, and we looked up the ones we didn’t know.

You can support your child by reading fairy tales at home for bedtime stories, even if they’ve heard them all before.  Each time your child hears the story, they will bring more literary experiences to the story which deepens their comprehension and appreciation of this genre.  Fairy tales are frequently referenced in other stories and books, used as idioms and form an excellent foundation to the meaning of “what is a story?” and the story elements (plot, character, theme, setting).  So a thorough knowledge of fairy tales is essential in a child’s repertoire of familiar stories from childhood.

Our storytime reading for the next few days is Yummy, a fairy tale volume of stories by British author Lucy Cousins.  Delicious!

Upcoming Events and Reminders

MaxFruit Bars – you can order on Fridays for the following Thursdays.  We believe there are two more Thursdays to support this Grade 7 Fundraiser.

Library Books – Book Exchange is always on Friday so please return your books when you are finished reading them.

Friday, May 21 – Professional Development Day – students are not in session

Monday, May 24 – Victoria Day – statutory holiday, students are not in session