Well, time has certainly flown by and here we are almost at the end of January!  It’s time for us to re-visit our first book “Thinking Thoughts and Feeling Feelings” from We Thinkers! by Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Nancy Tarshis and Marcia Garcia Winner.  

The children know a lot about feelings when they enter Kindergarten.  They were quite familiar with the feelings words “happy,” sad,” “angry” and “scared” that we use frequently at school when we are trying to express ourselves.  Their vocabulary has also increased as we introduced words such as “excited,” “disappointed,” “upset” and “uncertain” to make slight differentiations to become more specific about how we are feeling.  

One of our biggest teaching lessons is that whenever we are with other people, we all bring our thoughts and our feelings; therefore, we need to consider the thoughts and feelings beyond our own.  This particular concept certainly gave the children some pause to imagine that their parents, siblings and teachers also have thoughts and feelings.  It’s one of the first times we see our students start to become less egocentric and able to think about others at the same time.

You may have heard your child talk about the “green zone” or “yellow zone.”  We talk a lot about the zones (from The Zones of Regulation by Leah M. Kuypers) when we are talking about our energy levels and what is the most appropriate for a given social situation.  In the “green zone,” which is the most optimal zone for learning, we feel happy. The green zone means we are feeling calm, happy and focused and ready to learn; we’re in the learning zone.  We can feel happy or excited (similar but not quite the same) because if we are excited our energy level is higher and in the “yellow zone.”  We want to be excited when we are playing a competitive game or at recess and lunch playtime – that’s when it’s appropriate to bring more energy to that social situation.  Being in the yellow zone also includes feelings of frustration and getting carried away.  The children love to know about the “red zone” which is feeling angry, very frustrated and that your body may be out of control.  The red zone can be a tricky zone as we explain to the children that shouting and screaming, and kicking and hitting others is not appropriate. The final zone is the “blue zone” where we may feel tired, sad or scared.  All of the zones are good – it’s just which zone we should be in, emotionally and behaviourally, for the current social situation.

All of these discussions around feelings became very real world in our classrooms the past three weeks.  We have many upcoming birthdays in our classes, and as the children and parents have come to know each other better, birthday celebrations are being discussed both in and outside the classroom.  In the classroom we have really encouraged our children not to talk about their birthday parties for the primary reason it makes those who do not get invited feel hurt and excluded. 

Please be reminded that we cannot hand out birthday invitations at school.  This needs to be done privately especially when only some children have been invited.  Also, with food allergies and sensitivities we cannot have birthday treats sent into the classroom.  In the Kindergarten we celebrate every birthday with a visit to the office to collect the birthday pencil and sticker, a special moment as we listen for our name announced during the morning announcements on our special day, a “Happy Birthday” sung to us, and a special certificate and a birthday badge from their teacher.  

Upcoming Events and Reminders

Tuesday, January 30 – Library Book Exchange (Division 16 – Mrs. Daudlin/Ms. Eng)

Wednesday, January 31 – Library Book Exchange (Division 15 – Mrs. Campbell

Friday, February 9 – Lunar New Year Celebrations

Wednesday, February 14 – Valentine Day Card Exchange (more details and name list to follow)