Getting started....

We are having a great school start!

Thank you for your patience as we started a new routine of buying school supplies from other vendors and not through our office. I know there were bumps and catches. I am hoping that as a staff and parents we can streamline the process for next year. 

Thank you to all who were able to come to the picnic, it was a joy to meet each of you and have you see the class that your child is in. I hope to see you again soon!

Friendship and Kindness

During our first 8 days together, we have been focussing on building and reestablishing friendships in class. In order to get to know each other, we have been playing many games including "Poor Cat" which seems to be popular. One child is a cat and has to crawl to a classmate and "meow" 3 times. The classmate then responds saying "Poor (child's name)" 3 times without laughing. When a child laughs or smiles, they are the new cat!

We have made a drawing of a new friend that we have played with and have also made a book to read at reading time that includes 4 friends. We have read many books themed around friendship and/or kindness. 

At the end of last week we were making handprints to hang on the kindness/ friendship tree in the class. This tree will also serve as a way to mark the seasons, if the class chooses. They may wish to keep the handprints up all year!

Math- number sense

In math we are starting with counting. All the children can say the numbers in order to over 10, in French. What I am focussing on is the idea that the number they can say actually represents a quantity of things. This math concept, which seems obvious to adults, can take over 2 years for a child to learn after they learn to count. Without the understanding of this idea, addition and subtraction are much harder to learn. 

We will spend a few more weeks on this concept and then move to patterns. I will keep counting activities in the morning math baskets even while they are working on patterns to reinforce the ideas they are learning. 

I found the following link a great listen as it explores how we can minimize kids' anxiety around math. I love teaching math and showing kids the patterns in numbers and the way we can use numbers in the world. 

Things you can do at home:

1. Count objects with your child.
 Put out several objects (e.g. 2 apples and an orange) and then another group of the same number (1 banana, a piece of bread and an apple) then ask your child how many and if they are the same or different. 

2. Ask specifically about an activity at school instead of "How was your day?" Some ideas are :
* What math basket did you have? 
* Did you like the story today?
*Who did you work with in class?
* Who was the special helper?
* What songs did you sing today?

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