Picture

Hello,

Over the next week could you please email me a picture of your son or daughter with their mother.  This will be for a special project we will be completing in May.

bsharp.his@gmail.com

Thanks
cheers
Braedon

Science Fair

Friday April 26, 2013

            The Baby Boss field trip was a big success and I really enjoyed seeing all of the parents helping each other.  I can tell that many friendships have been made throughout the school year and it is great to see how parents are always willing to give each other a helping hand.  I also want to thank Ms. Kuo for her help and support on the field trip as she was the one that got us the group discount.   

            Next Wednesday we are still planning on going for our community walk and picnic lunch in the park behind the school.  The school will be providing a lunchbox for each student.  We will be performing our community helper song before our walk.

            If anyone has any beautiful pictures from the science fair or Baby Boss field trip could you please send them to me.  I always like having photos for the blog or the year book.

            This month the annual government Outstanding Student Awards were given to one child from each of our elementary school classes. Students are selected by their schools based on several criteria including character, extra-curricular involvement and academics.   Isabel was chosen for the Pre-K class and we are all very proud of her.

What we did in our centres this week.

Literacy Centres

1.      Computer story “My Dad Drives an Excavator”

2.      Puppet Show “Community Helpers”

3.      Community Helper books

4.      Phonics the letter W

Math/Science Centres

1.      Wooden Puzzles

2.      Police card matching game

3.      Sand scales and water addition game

4.      Market role playing

Word of the week:  where

Student of the week

The student of the week is Chaline for her participation in music class.  Ms Fay and Ms Vicky always tell me how vocal and enthusiastic she is when she can sing and dance.  Great job Chaline!

Reminders and Notices

1. April 18^th Post Office field trip
2. April 22^nd Earth Day
3. April 24^th Science Fair
4. April 25^th Baby Boss field trip
5. May 2/3 Mid Semester Break
6. May ____Fire Station Field Trip
7. May 12^th Mothers Day
8. May 27^th Teacher Development Day (no school)
9. May 29^th Art Exhibition
10. June 6^th and 5^th Matilda Show
11.  May 1^st Fire Station field trip

As always, if you have any questions or concern you can always write me an email at bsharp.his@gmail.com or come by and speak to me in person.

Cheers

Vicky and Braedon

Pottery and Post Office

Friday April 19, 2013

            The week flew by with pottery on Wednesday and our field trip to the post office on Thursday.  Thank you to everyone that brought in the money for the Baby Boss field trip next week.  Please remember to pack a lunch on the day; there is also a small food court if you wish to buy lunch there.  We will be leaving school at 8:30 and return around 4:00. Bus students will therefore need to make alternate arrangements. We also have 3 extra student tickets at the discounted price.  We had to buy a block of 20 tickets to get the discount so there are some extras.  If any friends would like to join us please let me know.  Any extra money that may raised by the sale of these tickets will go towards our next field trip or a class treat.

            The scheduled field trip to the fire station on May 1^st will be postponed until early May (more details will follow when they call us back) because they have informed us that they are busy on that day.  However, on May 1^st we will be performing a song that we have been practicing and then go on a short walk around the school to see some community helpers.  We will then have a picnic lunch behind the school and parents are welcome to join us.  We will perform our song at 10:00am and then go for our community walk after that.

            I have now completed all of my meetings with parents and a common question or concern was the problem with students writing the letters in reverse.  Below is a short article that summarizes the issue.

Kindergarten parents worry when their child writes letters in reversal. This type of writing is perfectly normal with 4 and 6 year olds. Please do not worry. Being able to take a mirror and place it against Kindergarten writing and then to be able to read the writing perfectly is normal. The right side and left side of the brain continue to develop in young children and are trying to figure out who does what and to sort out specific tasks and cannot, at this age, identify when letters or sentences are reversed. Be patient. This will usually work itself out. When you do notice that your child is writing backwards or in reverse, you might point it out to them but have your child continue on with his/her writing. The letters, b, d, p, q, g, are OFTEN confused with each other and Kindergarten teachers are used to this. It was explained to me once, that if you took a tube of lipstick and turned it on its side, it would still be lipstick, or turned it upside down it would still be lipstick, or turned it backwards, it would still be lipstick. Well, 5 year olds are no different. They are looking for something sane when they look at letters but If you take a letter b and turn it around it becomes a d, or turned it upside down it could become a q, or a g…this is VERY confusing for the developing brain. Your child needs lots of help figuring out b, d, p, q and g. Numbers often have the same problem; a 12 could be confused with a 21, or a 27 with a 72. Once again I say, be patient. This USUALLY sorts itself out, but if by the beginning of second grade your child is still confusing letters or some numbers, you might want to talk to a specialist.

What we did in our centres this week.

Literacy Centres

1.      Computer story “Firefighters”

2.      Puppet Show “Community Helpers”

3.      Letter scramble and Community Helper books

4.      Phonics the letter V

Math/Science Centres

1.      Monkey scales

2.      Measuring activity using rulers

3.      Sand scales and water addition game

4.      Market role playing

Word of the week:  yes, no

Student of the week

The student of the week is Isabel.  She is always adding to our group discussions and has applied this knowledge to our unit on community helpers.  When we visited people in our community she was always willing to ask them many questions to help us better understand their job.  Amazing job Isabel!

Reminders and Notices

1. April 18^th Post Office field trip
2. April 22^nd Earth Day
3. April 24^th Science Fair
4. April 25^th Baby Boss field trip
5. May 2/3 Mid Semester Break
6. May ____Fire Station Field Trip
7. May 12^th Mothers Day
8. May 27^th Teacher Development Day (no school)
9. May 29^th Art Exhibition
10. June 6^th and 5^th Matilda Show
11.  May 1^st Fire Station field trip

As always, if you have any questions or concern you can always write me an email at bsharp.his@gmail.com or come by and speak to me in person.

Cheers

Vicky and Braedon

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.
Marilyn Vos Savant

Musical Scavenger Hunt

School Community Helpers, Playground with Buddies, Centres and Fruit Market

Friday April 11, 2013

This was a wet week in the Pre-K class with all of the rain that we had.  However, they do say that “April showers bring May flowers!”  We were able to visit many community helpers around our neighborhood and school.  The fruit market trip was the highlight, and everyone had the opportunity to buy some fruit.

Today I sent home an assignment I would like you to help your son or daughter complete.  Since we are investigating occupations in our community I would like the students to see what their mothers or fathers do.  Please fill out the form and bring it back to school next week.  There are four questions to complete and on the back your son or daughter can draw a picture of the community helper they picked.   I would especially encourage housewives to be chosen as they have a very important job in our community. 

This week we also started our science fair experiment.  We are investigating plants and the importance of sunlight.  Remember that the Science Fair is April 24^th and we will be showing everything we learnt about our plants that day.

In math this month we are continuing our unit on measurement and will start very basic addition. 

What we did in our centres this week.

Literacy Centres

1.      Computer story “The Biggest Job of All” and Starfall word machine game

2.      Pocket Chart Poems

3.      Word hunt

4.      Phonics the letter U

Math/Science Centres

1.      Monkey scales

2.      Measuring activity using rulers

3.      Go fish card game

4.      Market role playing

Word of the week:  out

Student of the week

The student of the week is Alyssa Smith.  She was very independent at the fruit market and was able to count all of her money to buy herself a kiwi fruit.  Alyssa is also very kind and patient with her classmates.  Keep up the great work Alyssa!!!

Reminders and Notices

1. April 17^th Pottery Day
2. April 18^th Post Office field trip
3. April 22^nd Earth Day
4. April 24^th Science Fair
5. April 25^th Baby Boss field trip
6.  May 1^st Fire Station field trip

As always, if you have any questions or concern you can always write me an email at bsharp.his@gmail.com or come by and speak to me in person.

Cheers

Vicky and Braedon

“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.” 
Oscar Wilde