Spirit Days

Our "Celebrate You" day was a success. Here are a few outfits from Thursday:

I like dancing, and my skirt.

I like to dance a lot. -Payton
I like pink and I like dancing. -Faith

Because my favourite is Hello Kitty.
Black is my favourite colour because
I like my friends and I like black.

I love polka dots!

Cause I play soccer. -Aidan
I like my hockey jersey cause I play hockey at my house. It's my favourite. -Owen
Cause I like it cause I like hockey cause that's it. - Cameron Hu.
Cause I like Batman cause he saves the day! -Kaden

Friday was both PJ day and mustache day. We just had to celebrate with a pyjama popcorn dance party!

Sometimes we just have to celebrate!

Firehouse Fun

Thanks to all the families who donated costumes and props to our dramatic play centre.

The fire station is a big hit.

It's lovely to see the children sharing the costumes so well, sometimes singing Eenie Meenie Miney Moe or playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to help sort out who goes first.

Some of our artists participated by making a sign for the station.

Here are some scenes from the fire house.

Thanks to the room 132 kids for keeping us safe rom fires!

Fire Station 132

The children have decided to turn our dramatic centre into a fire station! We made a list of the items we need to make our fire station complete!

Pretending the light from the projector is fire.

Tech Kids

Every week or so, we make a trip to our school's computer lab. It's always a highlight of the week!

While our focus in the Early Learning Program is on co-operative play and hands-on inquiry, it's also important for the new generation of students to be computer literate.

This year, we noticed an interesting trend....lots of kids who obviously were familiar with computers, but had no idea how to use a mouse! The trend towards touch screens is becoming obvious. Soon computer mice will be gone the way of cassette tapes and VHS players!

Here at school, we LOVE the website www.starfall.com. It is a free, non-commercial website that covers literacy, from letter recognition all the way to fluent reading.

Here are a few other sites and apps we recommend:

tvokids.com
sesamestreet.org
helpkidzlearn.com  (try for free, then a $16 subscription)

As for apps, Starfall has a series of paid apps available (or you can get the same content online for free). Helpkidzlearn also has some paid apps.

Letterland, our beloved phonics program, has some online options.

The storybooks are available on the iTunes iBook store for about $7. Judging by the popularity of our Letterland storybook in our class, we think any of our students would LOVE having Letterland at home!

If you have any more apps or websites you use at home, please leave a comment below.

November Sun

The weather today was too nice to be inside.
We took our learning outside, down the street and to the park.
It always amazes us how much learning that children can begin for themselves, especially in a rich environment like a playground.

There's imaginative play.

Gross motor exercise.

"I tried this before and I couldn't do it. But I tried again and now I can!"

Using technology.

 Experiments in gravity.

Teamwork and patience.

 Writing.

 And biology.

Cameron Ha. found the last caterpillar of the season, and the children put him in the grass.

"Go home little buddy."

Tired but happy faces headed home.



Tube time

What can you do with a flourescent tube package?

Earlier this week, we brought in these long clear tubes as a provocation. Part of the Emergent Curriculum approach is to bring in new and novel items and see what happens. We don't give any direction about what they are or how to use them...this is called a provocation.

It's amazing what the kids can think up on their own! We observe, ask questions, and try to deepen their learning, and encourage problem solving processes.

So what can you do with a tube?

You can fill it up and watch all the stuff tumble out.

"It's gravity."

 You can fight fires.

"Pshhhhhhhh!"

You can make a megaphone.

"HELLLLLLOOOOOO Miss Russell!"

 You can make a mop or a vacuum.

"Vrrrrrrrrrr!"

 You can make a ramp for cars and marbles.

"Put it up higher so it will go faster!"

 Or you could join them together...

And make a reeeeeally long ramp!

"I think we need some tape!"

Look for more updates about the ramp inquiry using these tubes, coming soon. 

Self-regulation

Several parents have been asking about self-regulation. What is it? Why is it important? What does it look like?

Self-regulation is the ability to respond to stressors and return the mental and physical system to a calm, balanced state. Being calm and balanced is the best state for learning, which is why it is so important.

Stressors could be all sorts of things: changes in routines, noise, light, crowds, exciting situations like parties, generalized anxiety, scratchy clothing or tight shoes, stimulating video games or toys, etc.

When self-regulation breaks down, self-control is also lost. This is what leads to impulse problems, hands-on behaviour, and generally bad behavioural choices.

"Developmental researchers have identified self-regulation

– the ability to respond effectively to various stressors and

return to a state of equilibrium – as central to the ability to learn.

We know this from our classroom experience. The hyperactive

child and the child who can hardly stay awake will both

struggle to focus, as will the child who is highly anxious or

very sensitive to light and sound." - from Learn Magazine
Here's an example from a famous study. A four year old is left alone in a room with a marshmallow, and was told not to eat it until the adult returned. If the child waited, he would get an extra marshmallow as a reward. If not, no extra marshmallow.

40% of four year olds were able to delay gratification and control their impulse to chow down. Those 40% showed higher academic achievement when studied again years later. Self-regulation = academic success.

In our class, we are looking for children who can regulate their voices (indoor voice), walk in the classroom, share toys, use words to solve problems, and stop playing at clean up time. We encourage this through clear expectations, positive feedback for good self-regulation, and a visual tracking system for when self-regulation breaks down.

We give them warnings before changing activities so they can start preparing to stop playing. As teachers, we model our own self-regulation by being in a calm, alert state when interacting with the children.

If you're interested in learning more, check out this short article:

http://www.self-regulation.ca/?wpfb_dl=10

For more indepth reading, take a look at this one, geared towards teachers (but still very useful at home):

http://www.self-regulation.ca/?wpfb_dl=4

As always, let us know if you have any questions about this or any other topic.

Kids in action

It's always busy in our kindergarten, as anyone who has visited can tell you. There are always many centres open to allow for free choice, and the children are encouraged to come up with their own projects to pursue. As a result, we often have 10 or 11 little hubs of activity at any given time.

The teachers spread out at playtime in an attempt to capture all the learning. Armed with clipboards and cameras, we observe, ask questions, and challenge the students to keep experimenting. Sometimes we get pulled away to deal with the inevitable social conflicts, but we try to focus our time on the learning at centres. Teachable moments happen fast and we want to catch them all!

Here are a few videos and pictures of the action this week.

Excitement about the Bey Blade project continues. Check out this counting action, with more boys building in the background:

The gravity experiments are growing:

The boys started creating posters about how to make a good Bey Blade out of cubes.

And dinosaurs danced in some paint to celebrate the /d/ sound we've been working on this week.

Some artists started making creations out of wire and other found materials.

We're hoping to bring you more action soon. With parent interviews beginning next week, we may have to put off posting for a little while. We will do our best to keep you updated!