This article was originally posted on April 22, 2019.  We’re reblogging today with updates to reflect this current school year.

We communicate student learning in a variety of ways:  through this website, our Remind texts, our Kindergarten curriculum overview, and the three formal and two informal reporting periods each school year.   Our Kindergarten students receive their formal written report cards at the end of each term.  Students received their first report card last December, the second report card was given out in March, and the third report will be distributed at the end of June.

The two informal reporting periods are a parent-teacher interview, held virtually last fall, and this Spring’s Student-Led Conference.

There’s a lot of excitement and wonder surrounding Student-Led Conferences, and for good reason.  Having your child lead the conference, not the teacher, is a shift in mind-set, particularly if this was not part of your school experience growing up.  But we know this will be one of the most delightful learning experiences you will share with your children, as it will be for them to demonstrate their independence and leadership with you.

A Student-Led Conference is exactly that – a conference or interview for you and your child, led by your child.  During the Conference, students assume the ownership for reporting and explaining to their parents what they are learning about and how they are doing in school.  The teacher, who has supported the students in the selection of student work and practiced the conference with them, stays in the background during the actual Conferences.

During the years we taught from Grades One to Four, our students participated in a teacher-led discussion about the student work they would like to present at the Student-Led Conference.  A brainstorming session of possibilities would ensue.  There would be suggestions such as a polished piece of writing, the latest math test or a Science notebook; the class would vote on the ideas they liked best and those selections were included in their Student-Led Conference folder.  

A week or two before the Conference we had our older students write a letter inviting their parents to attend.  The letter would highlight the learning and personal achievements students wanted their parents to particularly notice.  This was a wonderful opportunity for student self-reflection of his or her successes.

For our Kindergarten students we organize our Student-Led Conferences by Centres.  It’s a system the children are familiar with, and one in which we’ve used successfully with this age group.  

We typically include a Language Arts Centre which focuses on the children’s Alphabet; a Math Centre to create math patterns and showcase their Math Books; and an Art Gallery portfolio to see some of the best work we’ve completed in Kindergarten this year.  With the children’s help, we form an “Agenda” of the Centres the children will lead you through.  

When you arrive with your child at our classrooms, your child will be given a personal copy of the Agenda and he or she will mark each activity with a sticker as it is finished.  The Centres do not need to be completed in any particular order, but each one must be visited.  We explain to the children that if they see there are many families at one Centre, then they should choose another until it’s less crowded.

During your child’s Conference, parents are able to enjoy looking at their child’s schoolwork and participate in the activities he or she has selected for you.  As parents, giving specific praise and support recognises your child’s efforts at school.  It is through your comments that you model what you value about your child’s learning.

This is a time for positive comments only to your child.

At the end of the Student-Led Conference we ask our parents to sign the Guest Book.  It’s important for us to have a record of parent attendance and receive feedback every year.  Over the years parents have always enjoyed the Conferences so it’s very rewarding to have the appreciation of your children’s, and our, efforts.

This year the Kindergarten Student-Led Conferences will be held on Wednesday, April 27 and Thursday, April 28, 2022. 

Kindergarten students will be dismissed promptly at 12:50 pm, and the Conferences will begin immediately afterwards starting at 1 pm.  You will have a 25 minute time slot with your child.  A maximum of four Conferences will be held at once so families need to be prepared to speak softly, and move quietly and slowly in the classroom.  At the appointed time, we will ring a bell to signal the end of the Conference so that we may prepare for the next group.

Over the years, a few parents have asked why they cannot have an interview with the teacher instead.  

To put it simply, the reason why you’re having a Student-Led Conference is because it’s an incredible opportunity and privilege to share in the learning of your child.

You will hear about your child’s learning from your child’s perspective, and have that deep insight into your child’s thinking, motivations and achievements.  You will be engaged in a dialogue rich with the language of a young learner, share the joy of a job well done, and a sense of pride with every printed letter and cut out shape.  And you’ll be able to share in the delight of your Kindergarten child as he or she begins the journey as a life-long learner.

Student-Led Conferences are one of our favourite days of the entire school year. From a teacher’s perspective, we couldn’t be any more proud of our students as they beam with pride at leading their mom and dad into their classroom to share the fabulous work they’ve completed at this point in the school year.

Please make arrangements for siblings so that your Kindergarten child can have your full attention during his or her Conference.  Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate toddlers and preschoolers.

You can sign-up for your Student-Led Conference through the School Interviews link sent by email last Wednesday.  

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of our Kindergarten Families!

We’ve had a lovely few weeks of Winter and Lunar New Year themed activities and capped it off this past week with Valentine’s Day festivities.

In Art, we made these lovely February Self-Portraits.

In Social Studies, we talked extensively about what our families do to show they care about us.  We read The I Love You Book by Todd Parr.

We had our Valentine’s Day Party a few days earlier so as not to cram too many events into one day.  Thank you to all the parents who contributed snacks and drinks for our Party.  We watched Franklin’s Valentines which made a nice comparison to the storybook version.

We’ve been talking a lot about friendship and the importance of being kind, respectful and considerate of our friends and families.  The children are learning that good manners, greeting others by using their names and kind words and gestures are necessary to developing positive connections and strong friendships.  We all know how good it feels when our friends speak to us nicely and actions are gentle, predictable and appropriate.  Feeling safe and comfortable is very important for our students so they can focus on learning and having fun with their friends, rather than feeling anxious about what might happen next.

Today the children brought home their Valentine Cardholder.  Thank you, moms and dad, for taking the time to sit down to create and write Valentine’s cards with your children.  The Kindergartens were so proud to bring their “bag of cards” and place them methodically in their classmates cardholders.  We’ve asked them to wait until they get home to open and share the delightful contents with you.

Upcoming Events and Reminders

Mondays:  Library Book Exchange

Tuesday, February 15:  Fire Drill 

Friday, February 18:  Reading Break (school is not in session)

Monday, February 21:  Family Day Holiday (school is not in session)

Wednesday, February 23:  Pink Shirt Day

We’ve had a fun-filled January with snow, Winter art and crafts, the start of our Math rotations for numeracy and a few treasured days of sunshine.

It was very exciting to be working on the letter “m” this week as we are now officially halfway through the alphabet.  We can see the growth in the children’s printing as they work diligently on correction with attention to size, shape and space.  

This week we made the adorable “m is a mouse.” We’ve begun a new Math unit in numeracy.  Our focus now is on exploring number, creating number sets, matching numerals to sets, counting with one-to-one correspondence and where do we see sets of 0-9 in our environment.  The children are working in small groups of 4 at different Math centres.  Sharing, speaking kindly, cooperating and turn-taking are the pro-social skills they continue to develop and practise and what we are reinforcing in class.

We have created so much beautiful Art this month.  From our January self-portraits to our whimsical snowglobes, the children love to draw, cut and glue, and use fun embellishments like Sparkle Mod Podge, punched out snowflakes, buttons and pompoms to decorate their work.  

For the upcoming RPAC Fundraiser, “theCardProject,” the Kindergarten classes are making Happy Penguins, a delightful mixed-media penguin posed against a colourful, rainbow background.  These projects will be photographed and turned into cards and journal covers, available to purchase later this year.

Upcoming Events and Reminders:

We’ve got A LOT happening for February.

Mondays:  It’s our Library Book Exchange Day but we encourage you to return your book on Friday so you have an extra day in case you forget.  The children are very disappointed when they do not get to take home a book.  We have to be strict regarding book borrowing from our Library collection as you know books are very expensive to replace.

Tuesday, February 1:  Lunar New Year at Ridgeview.  Children are welcome to dress up in red and gold, or wear traditional Asian clothing.  We are going to make some special crafts at school this week to decorate our classroom.

Friday, February 11:  Crazy Hair Day.  The children are welcome to colour their hair, wear a fun hat or hair decoration.  If your child decides to participate, and based on our previous experience, please choose an idea that your child can manage throughout the day.  

Monday, February 14:  Valentine’s Day.  In Kindergarten, we encourage our classes to participate in a Valentine’s Day card exchange.  It’s fun and a nice opportunity to share a card and show some kindness to others.  We’re providing this information early so you have lots of time to prepare.

We realise this may be the first Valentine’s card exchange for quite a few children in our class.  We will send home a list of all the children’s names in our Divisions later this week.  Please write a card for either ALL of the girls, ALL of the boys or EVERYONE.  We want everyone to be included in the receiving of cards.  We will see Mrs. Kennedy for a Valentine story on Monday so the children can also write a card for her and deliver it in person.

Over the past few years, more of the children have made and addressed their Valentine cards with their family, and the Kindergarten have signed their names which is meaningful practise.

We will make Valentine cardholder bags with our classes.  During the week of February 7-11, the children can bring their cards to school and we will help them to place the cards into their classmates’ bags.  We prefer for the cards to come in earlier than the 14th, otherwise it’s very rushed to get the cards into the bags.

We are always asked if candy can be included with the cards.  Yes, candy and small non-edible treats can be included but please remember no nuts of any kind.  All candy must be pre-packed and individually wrapped; unfortunately, we are unable to have anything homemade to eat at this time.

On Valentine’s Day the children are welcome to wear pink, red, or white to celebrate the day!

Welcome back and Happy New Year to our Kindergarten Families!  Well, this week was certainly the week that was….snowy, rainy, sunny, and a focus again on the Covid-19 pandemic and its accompanying restrictions and health and safety protocols.

Masks are mandatory in schools, and we’re pleased to note that every child in Kindergarten is now wearing one.  Thank you also to the families who have been donating 3-ply children’s size masks to the classroom so we have enough for our students.  The children often need to change their masks throughout the day and we really appreciate having a good supply.

Hand-washing and sanitizing, personal space and reduced numbers of students at play time centres are just a few of the measures we continue to implement or maintain in our classrooms.  The children have been very cooperative.  Thank you for speaking openly with your child about the need for masks and good hygiene practise.  Most students understand and are able to articulate the importance of mask wearing and how we are all protecting and looking after one another.

When students are away, our usual practise is to keep their work at school.  Upon a child’s return to school, we decide together what we are going to try to complete in class and what we might send home to finish.  This varies, depending upon what we are currently teaching, and the class and school schedule.  We try very hard to finish our Alphabet craft in class so your child has a complete set of letters for their Alphabet wall at home.

This week we sent home the children’s Owl Envelopes with their November and December artwork for you to keep at home.  Enclosed was a large envelope containing materials for a health closure or functional school closure, if one was declared.  Please do not open this envelope until instructed to do so by your classroom teacher.

We also sent home an email on Wednesday with your child’s Google Classroom username and password.  Please sign-in to Google Classroom so we know that your child’s username and password are working correctly.  We’ve already had to fix one password.  We don’t want to be addressing numerous problems with usernames and passwords just prior to our having our first Google Meets in the next week or two, so it’s helpful if you can sign in sooner rather than later.  Our Google Classroom will only be used in the event of a health or functional school closure.  Right now we are providing in-person instruction.  We will give you a few days notice prior to having a Google Meets.  It’s another aspect of Google Classroom we need to know is functioning properly for all of our students.

You’ll also have noticed we included your child’s Math IXL username and password.  Please use the link we included to go to the West Vancouver School District  login.  Kindergarten is free to go ahead and start using the Patterns, Counting to 5 and Sorting, Ordering and Classifying topics under Kindergarten and Junior Kindergarten for some fun practise.  Please note that this is optional and not a requirement.

In other school news, we welcome Mrs. Heather Soderling, our Music Teacher who is back from maternity leave.  Mrs. Soderling had a little girl last year, and we are delighted to have her back at Ridgeview.

Reminders and Upcoming Events

Monday, January 17:  Library Book Exchange.  Please return your book if you have not already done so.

Monday, January 24:  Professional Day.  Students are not in session

We’ve been working very hard on our self-regulation this term.  Your child may have started talking to you about the Zones of Regulation.

We’ve written an extensive post about Self-Regulation and the Zones for your reference.  https://theselfregulatedteacher.com/2016/10/17/the-zones-of-regulation/ 

As we head towards the end of the first term (we blinked and the term has already gone by in Kindergarten) we’re noticing important changes in the children’s maturity.  First, a significant improvement in focusing on, and listening to, the teacher.  We’ve created a visual chart around listening behaviours for the meeting area.  We refer to this chart daily at the beginning of the year and bring the children’s attention to it to help them self-regulate their learning.  

Second, from the first day of school we know that behavioural expectations must be clearly and explicitly stated so students know what is expected from themselves and their classmates; there must be no doubt in the children’s mind what the teacher is looking for and expecting.  We explain to the children our expectations before we begin any new experience, and remind and revisit expectations for familiar activities.  The children have done well to understand the differences between “expected behaviour” and “unexpected behaviour.”  We use those phrases frequently as we try to gently shape and reinforce the expected behaviour (“It’s unexpected to be running out the classroom door; it’s expected we will all just walk for everybody’s safety.” 

Finally, when classroom structures and routines are put into place, the children are able to reasonably predict what will happen next and feel calmer, and more secure in their connection with the classroom, teacher and friends.  As their classroom teachers, we work very hard to be clear and consistent in our classroom routines.  The children love knowing the classroom routines; we know how important it is for the children to feel safe and comfortable in their learning environment.  

From the first week of school beginning with Gradual Entry, we have slowly and carefully established the routines and built upon them daily and weekly.  Now, we can see the results of our teaching as the children remember and follow the routines for washing their hands and sitting on the carpet at the start of the day; gathering and returning their school supplies; how to line-up and stay quiet; and putting away their food bags and water bottles before going outside to play.  These are just a few of the many routines the children have learned and become part of how we do things in Kindergarten.

Upcoming Events and Reminders

The Grade Four students are collecting new Adult sized gloves, toques and socks.  We appreciate your generosity to help those in need.  All donations are due at the end of this week.

Our new rotation for Special Helper begins later this week.  Please note there is no Sharing by individual students as we will be doing our Christmas Advent Calendar as part of the Calendar Time.

Monday – Library Book Exchange.  Please remember to return to your book to borrow a new one.

This week we held our virtual Remembrance Day Assembly. Many thanks to the students and staff for putting together this thoughtful and inspiring Assembly to give all of us a chance to reflect and consider our priceless freedom, peace and sense of belonging.  

Based upon their previous experience, and the shared knowledge we work to create among the class, our Kindergarten children take what they are able to from the stories, art activities and gentle discussions we have in class.  Many of our children have an innate sense of what “peace” or “peacefulness” means to them.  Other children may have family history of war veterans, visits to the Cenotaph to draw upon.  But what we have in common is a mutual understanding is that home, and where our families are, is peace to us. Here are some of the thoughts our Kindergarten students about what peace means to them….

PLEASE NOTE: It has come to our attention over this four day weekend that with the US border opened, some families are travelling now, or beginning to make travel plans.  We want to remind you, as mentioned in the Ridgeview Bulletin November 10, 2021, that unvaccinated children under the age of 12 returning from international travel must not attend school for 14 days after their arrival back in Canada.  

Reminders and Upcoming Events

Library Book Exchange on Monday–please return your library book to take out a new one.

Important:  School begins at 8:40 am.  We have been reminded by the school office that our students are expected to be on time for school.  This means the children are waiting for us to open the doors at 8:40 am.  Your teachers are allowed to wait for a few more minutes (1-2 minutes) until the last child in the line has entered the building.  At that point, we will not be admitting any more children through our doors.  Parents, you will need to go around to the front doors of the school, and your child needs to sign-in at the school office.  Your child will be marked late on the school attendance.  A staff member will bring your child down to our classrooms.

Well, most of the Halloween decorations came down this week, although we are still enjoying our painted pumpkins, Halloween wreaths and cutie-pie October self-portraits.  We are beginning to decorate for autumn, and that includes making some owlets for the classroom tree, and peace doves with our Big Buddies.

We are working hard on developing fine motor skills and strength in our classrooms.  We loved watching the children use templates to cut out the circles, ovals and triangles to make our sweet baby owls.  They demonstrated a great deal of independence in cutting out the pieces and gluing them together.

We used a different kind of template….tracers and our hands…for the body and wings of our peace doves.  We are able to see our Grade 7 Buddies about twice a month.  Because of the large number of children, half of the Big Buddies and their Little Buddies work in the Grade 7 classrooms with our Grade 7 teachers, and the other half of the Buddies work in the Kindergarten rooms with us.  The Buddies will alternate so they get to enjoy both rooms.  It’s a great opportunity for the Little Buddies to see more of the school under the watchful eye of their Big Buddies as they walk down the Intermediate hallways.  

Just a friendly reminder about masks…as masks are mandatory in school for all students, K-7, we encourage your child to bring their own masks to school.  Many children are changing their masks in the middle of the school day.  We are supplying a large number of masks to students who forget to bring their own.  Mr. Zerbe mentioned in the last school bulletin that each child should have 2-3 extra masks in a ziploc bag in their backpacks.  Please help your child to get their masks ready the night before, and check the number of your child’s masks each day to replenish their supply.  One final note:  if your child is using a reusable mask, please wash these daily.

We continue to have a bad cold moving through the Kindergarten classes.  Please allow your child a few days of rest at home if they have a runny nose or persistent coughing, fever or generally not feeling well.  As working parents ourselves we know that it is not easy to take time off work to stay home with your child, but we do not have the facilities or staff to look after sick children at school.  We are calling all parents of sick children to come and pick-up their child.

A sick child does not want to be at school.  A sick child wants to be at home resting in their own home, with you to look after them.  Sick children lack the energy, self-regulation and resilience to deal with a full day’s worth of classroom activities.  When your child returns to school, feeling good and well-rested, they are more able to listen to the teachers, share and play with their friends and cope better with the inevitable ups- and down- of a school day.  A healthy child is also going to be more resistant to subsequent illness at school.

Upcoming Events and Reminders

Monday, November 8:  Library Book Exchange.  Please return last week’s book to take out a new one.

Wednesday, November 10:  Virtual Remembrance Day Assembly at 11:00 am.  We will watch the Assembly from our classrooms.

Thursday, November 11:  Remembrance Day:  School is not in session

Friday:  November 12:  Professional Development Day:  School is not session for students

We are beginning to really settle into our Kindergarten routines and the children are enjoying these busy autumn days of playing and socialising with friends, printing their letters, making crafts and creating art…lots of art as their teachers love to draw and paint.

This week we created our painted jack-o-lanterns.  What an AMAZING display of joy, skill and determination to create these delightfully funny jack-o-lanterns.  This is a HUGE two-day art project.  We started on Wednesday with drawing the pumpkin using white pastels.  The children were intrigued with the softness of the pastels and their ability to easily and successfully draw (stocking stuffer idea?).  We drew the ribs of the pumpkin, then took a break for a colour mixing lesson using yellow, red and orange tempera paint and a paint etiquette discussion when sharing a paint palette with your table group.  Then we set the children off with paintbrushes, paint palettes and the simple instruction to colour mix on their paper, not the palette.

The classroom was silent as the children painted, and the peaceful calm that descended over us was truly blissful as we noticed the focus and concentration of our classes.

We have never laughed so much as we did on Thursday afternoon.  Following our directions, the children cut out their pumpkins, and then cut and decorated their own stems and leaves. We shared cutting and drawing strategies to fold a piece of paper, draw once (a circle) and cut out two identical eyes; repeat again to make the eye pupils.   Onto the mouth by drawing and cutting a “u” and adding teeth…and now we had jack-o-lanterns!  The sound of the children’s laughter, their pride in completing the whole project independently and their appreciation of one another’s work is what makes us so excited for the next BIG art.  Stay tuned.

We finished the letter “d” this week and will send home the children’s “diamond d” and printing sheets with them this week.  We complete a second printing page for each letter which we are saving and gathering into an alphabet book for each child which they will bring home when it’s finished (22 more letters to go so it will be awhile).

The children are continuing to explore, create and extend patterns in Math, and we’ve also begun to record and label them.  Patterns are a huge part of our Kindergarten math curriculum and we take the time to see their application in all aspects of our world, in addition to circling back many times throughout the school year to review and introduce new patterns.

In Social Studies, our theme is “Personal Identity.”  We’ve been talking about ourselves, our unique appearances and the first gift we’ve received from our parents, our names.  

We had fun on Monday at the Library at our first Library Book borrowing session.  Here are a few reminders from Mrs. Kennedy, our Teacher-Librarian, that you can review with your child in anticipation of next our Monday Book Exchange:

When browsing for book please:

1.  Be responsible with your words and actions
2. Tidy up after yourself.  Pay attention to where you found your book.

Read your books quietly after check-out.

Upcoming Events and Reminders

Monday, October 25:  Library Book Exchange.  Please return your Library Book so you can take out a new one.  We are unable to allow more than one book out at a time for Kindergarten children right now.

Friday, October 29:  Hallowe’en Parade.  Our big excitement for this week is the Ridgeview Hallowe’en Parade.  We look forward to seeing the children’s costumes, if they are comfortable wearing one to school.  We will send home a letter on Monday with a few more details.

-the children may wear their costume to school on Friday.  They should have their regular school clothes on underneath and a bag to bring home their costume as we will remove our costumes after the parade.

-costume masks are allowed, but please do not send any “weapons,” including lightsabres, to school.

-parents may watch the parade from a social distance if the parade is held outdoors; if the weather is poor we will be parading inside and unfortunately, parents will not be able to view us.  Let’s hope for a good day.

Well, that was quite the river of rain we had on Friday!

These rainy days are hard when the children have to get themselves ready to go outside to play, usually twice a day.  We are helping as much as we can but there are a few things you can practise at home to help increase your child’s independence.

-practising the snaps of the raincoats – very tricky because the snaps are stiff

-practising how to zip up your coat

-pulling sleeves out when you take off your coat and rain pants– this makes it easier to get ready for the next playtime recess and allows the outdoor gear to dry properly

-shoes for classroom use and rainboots for outside – the children can wear a hybrid “shoe/boot” for indoor use provided they change into rainboots for outdoor play.  

The children notice the number of woodchips accumulating on our classroom carpet when other students do not change their shoes – and no one likes sitting or playing on a dirty carpet.

The children met their Grade 7 Buddies again on Friday, and we reviewed some autumn vocabulary and had more time to chat and colour together.  We will hopefully complete our Scavenger Hunt together on a sunny day.

We are continuing the letter “d” for another week with the Thanksgiving Holiday and the upcoming Professional Development Day so close together.

We’re working on patterns in Math using a variety of math manipulatives, through “snap/clap” body actions and during the morning Calendar.  We’re learning about the following patterns:  AB, AAB and ABC.  You can support your child by looking for patterns in their environment (fence railings, crosswalk lines, lamp standards) through creating and extending patterns with small objects (beads, coins, dry pasta) and how patterns occur in our everyday lives (eg., the seasons (ABCD), meals in a day).

We completed our October self-portraits this week, and will begin decorating our classrooms with the Hallowe’en art we’re creating in the next few days. We also finished our Warm Coloured Pumpkins as we have been learning about the warm colours in our Autumn art.

Upcoming Events and Reminders

Friday, October 22:  Provincial Professional Development Day (school is not in session for students)

We’ll be starting the next rotation for Special Helper by adding “Sharing” to your child’s Special Day.  “Sharing” is similar to “Show and Tell” except we usually have a theme where your children will bring something specific to school on their Special Helper day.  We are still finishing our first rotation so this week’s Special Helpers do not need to bring their Sharing to school yet.  We will post the new calendar rotation in Remind so you can see what day is your child’s Sharing and Special Helper Day.  

Beginning in the last week of October, the theme for our first Sharing will be “Alphabet.”  Your child needs to bring 3 objects that begin with the first letter of their first name.  This is a fun way to focus on the initial (first) sounds of words, as part of developing the children’s phonological awareness.

These three objects should fit into a ziploc bag (nothing too big).  You can support your child further by helping them to print the names of each of the objects on a piece of paper and send that in along in the ziploc bag as well.

Please note:  If your child forget their Sharing on their Special Helper Day, we usually ask them to wait till the next rotation.

If you have not yet paid your school fees, please do so.  You’ll need to access School Cash online which was linked within the September school ebulletins.

If you have not yet signed off on the 2021-2022 Policy and Procedures Form, go to our Ridgeview website, then to “Parents” and then “Forms.” It’s located there.  This should be done ASAP.