We are very excited about our new year of full-day learning and inquiry! If you would like to receive emails whenever the blog is updated, please do not hesitate to sign up for that at the bottom of this page. Here you will find out what the students are working on (with suggestions for incorporating what they are learning at home) and important dates/upcoming events. September will be busy with routines and getting into the swing of things so, in keeping with that, here are some housekeeping items for the start of the year:
We do have a Twitter account, however, for administrative reasons we will not be using it until further notice. Here, more specific learning inquiries, events, photos, news or creations will later be posted. You will soon be able to follow us at twitter.com/kindergarten135. If you do not want your child's face to appear in our Twitter posts, please send a note clarifying this. [FYI: Our "followers" are the class' parents.]
Our Team:
Mme. Kelly- French Teacher and Homeroom Teacher
Mr. Desroches- English Teacher
Ms. Couch: RECE ( Registered Early Childhood Educator).
Family Tree:
Our classroom will have a family board that students can look at to remind them of home. If possible, please send a family photo with your child (remember to write their name on the back of their photo). These will be returned to you by the end of the school year.
Reminders- A few Housekeeping Items:
- If your child has not brought in a small blanket for rest time, we would be appreciated if you could provide one. It would be more comfortable if they had a small padded blanket to rest on top of and a small cozy blanket to put over them as well as a small pillow. These blankets will be sent home to be washed at the end of every month and on an as needs basis.
- Just a reminder that your child will need separate indoor running shoes that he/she can do up on their own (velcro is easier than laces for kindergarten children and prompts fewer tears during transitions). It is also recommended that you label your child’s belongings as many children have similar items.
- Your child has been given a mailbag (ziplock) with their name on it. We will use this bag to send home any notes/communications. We would also encourage you to send any notes (i.e. if you need to take your child out early for an appointment) in the communication book so we can easily see it as we do not go through the children’s backpacks. If we have a note for you we will leave the communication book open and if you have one for us you may leave the book open to the page of the note as well. Please send the communication folder back each and every morning.
Oops:
Everyone has accidents and we want to make sure your child is as comfortable as possible should this happen. We would ask that you please send a ziplock bag with your child’s name on it containing some extra clothes in case an accident occurs. If an accident does occur we will send home the dirty clothes in this ziplock so you can send back some more extra clothes the next day.
Snacks:
Just a reminder that our school is nut free so please do not send any nuts or nut products (i.e. peanut butter) in your child’s lunch or snacks. We do have children in our kindergarten community who have anaphalaxis to nuts. If you send a snack with WOW butter in it, please put the sticker on so we know exactly what it is. Our classroom has a continuous rotation at a snack table that occurs within the first block. We will have a sit down snack time as well, and a lunch period. We encourage healthy eating. if possible, please send nutritious snacks for your child to eat (i.e. fruits and vegetables, protein and grains). We would also ask that you not send in treats for your child’s birthday. However, if you feel that you would like to send something on their special day, you could send in a wrapped, age-appropriate book that your child can unwrap, read as a class then donate to the classroom library.
Taking Care of the Environment at St. Gabriel: We are an eco gold school. Our initiatives are to be more paper free. Therefore, we will post any type of newsletters online through this format on our blog. In regards to children eating their lunches or snacks, we ask for you to consider litterless lunch options (tupperware and reusable containers). We also practice “boomerang” lunches to reduce waste consumption. A boomerang lunch is a lunch that has every piece of it return to its source. In other words, everything in the lunch goes back home at the end of the day. No matter if it is leftover food, containers, recyclables or garbage, it all goes back. Yes, even the garbage.
Final Notes: If you have any Kleenex at home that you would like to donate to our classroom, it would be greatly appreciated (especially as the fall weather starts to turn cooler and the cold season approaches)! Also, if you have any boxes of ziplock bags that you are not using and would like to donate those would also be very much appreciated! Many friends have brought in glue sticks and markers as well! We appreciate all your donations!
Remember to check back often for updates! I will also be tweeting out reminders to check out our blog. Please follow us at kinderroom135.blogspot.ca.
Merci, Thank you,
Mme.Kelly, Ms.Couch & Mr. Desroches
