Math - Numbers and Counting

We have finished our unit on patterning. Most children have a very good understanding that a pattern is something that repeats itself. They are able to extend a pattern, create and pattern and identify the core of a pattern. Some of the students are able to see a pattern in everyday life and describe it using oral expressions or gestures. WAY TO GO KINDERS!

Tomorrow we are starting Counting. Here are the expectations that we will be working on for the next little while, along with suggestions of things you can try at home.

NS1.1 investigate the idea that quantity is greater when counting forward and less when counting backward

Counting forward and backward different items (rocks, leaves, houses, fingers etc.)

NS1.2 investigate some concepts of quantity through identifying and comparing set with more, fewer, or the same number of objects [concept of cardinality - SEE BELOW Cardinal Numbers]

Comparing two groups of items, which has more, which has less (There are 6 fruit snacks in this pile, and 2 in this one. Which group has more fruit snacks?)

NS1.3 begin to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects

This pile has 1 penny, this pile has two, this pile has 3...

NS1.4 demonstrate understanding of the counting concepts of stable order and of order irrelevance (ex. The concept that the number of objects in a set will be the same regardless of which object is used to begin the counting)

If you put out 6 crayons, and they count the crayons starting with a different crayon each time, they will always still have 6.

NS1.5 recognize some quantities without having to count, using a variety of tools or strategies

Playing with dice or dominoes, students begin to recognize the numbers in a set. Here are some games you can play at home.

Volunteer Opportunity

Are you trying to find a way to join the community of Prince Charles? LOOK NO FURTHER!

                                             

Strong Start Goals

• Assist young children in learning some initial reading skills.
• Build community by encouraging those who live and work in the community to be involved in supporting its children.
• Provide a meaningful volunteer opportunity.

Literacy skills are the strongest indicator of a child’s future success in life. The percentage of the population that reads at an acceptable level is a great predictor of the success of a community in maintaining economic growth and an excellent quality of life. Therefore, the community as a whole needs to take responsibility for helping children learn to read.

To Learn more CLICK HERE

See the Training Schedule to sign up and start TODAY!

More Patterns &The Letter N

Here are some more patterns we made at math centres today.

ABCC pattern

AB pattern

 AB pattern

 AB pattern

 AB pattern

 ABB pattern

 AB pattern

 AB pattern

AB pattern

*You can ask your child to make a pattern, continue a pattern or identify the core of a pattern.

Today we learned about the letter N. We talked about the sounds it makes and words that start with N.

We've also learned about S, A, T, I and P.

A new song you can listen to is WHAT DO THE LETTERS SAY

A few Reminders

Reminders for this week:

Tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 24 is picture day 

Thursday Sept. 25 we will be having our Terry Fox run. Parents are welcome to stay and watch, or join in the run!






Friday, Sept. 26 Scholastic Book orders are due to Mrs. Vechsler (Cash only please) AND Pizza orders are due.


If you have not sent back any of the following, please do so ASAP:

• Computer Agreement form
• Lunch time form (students go home or stay at school second break)
• Insurance form 
• Blue student information sheet
• Park permission form

**Snack program starts on Monday, but please still provide your child with a healthy breakfast.

Patterns, Tim Hortons and Reading

 Patterning continued today. Students created and extended AB, ABB, AAB, ABBA and ABC patterns today.

 Landon and Julia went around taking orders of what people wanted from Tim Hortons (our new house centre) today.

 

Logan and Julia were using the LeapFrog reader to listen and read along with a story.




Additionally, M, M, E and J had guided reading today and read the book WILD THINGS with Mrs. Vechsler. They used the pictures to help read the story and M and J were able to tell Mrs. Vechsler lots of letters!

inukshuks and 3D Shapes

On Thursday, Shaan created a structure that reminded me of an inukshuk. So we looked up a picture of an inukshuk and talked about it's purpose. This inspired many other students to look at the picture and mimic it, including Spencer.

Here is Mrs. Vechsler and Mrs. Stoneman doing what they love! (Teaching)

Learning about 3D shapes! 

REMEMBER

Park Permission forms - Please return ASAP so we can have some extended outdoor play at the park.

Scholastic Book orders were sent home on Friday, Sept. 19th.
If you'd like to order a book for your child, please fill out the form and send in CASH.
 *Check that you've included the correct amount (under ON for Ontario).

Patterns, Symmetry and Surveys

Today, T was inspired to create a survey and find out if our class would rather have the house centre be a Tim Hortons or an East Side Marios. The tally showed Tim Hortons. So next week our house is changing to a Tim Hortons.

T's survey inspired other friends to survey students in the class. M surveyed the class to see what they liked better, playing with dogs or dancing.

S spent some time at the light table, making symmetrical shapes.

We continued our lessons on patterning and here are a few examples:

*Faces have been blurred until written parental consent is given. Forms will be sent home soon.

Meet the Teacher!

Don't forget about Meet the Teacher this Thursday, Sept. 18th from 5:30 - 7pm!

Patterns

In Math for the past few days, we've been working on making patterns. Students have learned how to make a pattern and how to identify the core. (AB AB AB, the core is AB)

** At home, grab some materials and have your child show you different patterns. This could be done using food (apple, apple, orange), colouring materials (blue, yellow, green, blue, yellow, green) or written on paper (circle, square, circle, square) Be creative!

Week 2

Today S used the magnetics to to build a symmetrical ship. 

R, M and J taped tubes together to create a slope for the acorn. They used the container to try and catch it at the bottom.

 Yesterday we made a plan to build a fun house for Winston. We shared our plans with the class and then added materials to his cage. Here are the tunnels we made for Winston in his over sized cage. Winston enjoyed his new hiding spots.

Some new materials were added to our classroom today and R taught M how to build a car.

Leaves, Sticks and Pine Cones... OH MY!

On Tuesday, some of our kindergarten friends read the book Fall leaves Fall, we learned about how leaves change over the seasons. This inspired us to go on a nature walk and collect things that had fallen to the ground. We looked at different leaves, their shapes, sizes and colours.

When we got back we put our items into our sensory bin and are super excited to explore them today!

We had more sensory fun while learning our letters and numbers!

WINSTON! Our friend Winston arrived on Monday and we quickly fell in love with him.

Every morning we feed him and show him our attention. T brought in some carrots to give him, and offered one to her friend J to feed him.

Intro Letter and Calendar

School Introduction Letter and September Calendar

Dear Parents/Guardians,

            Welcome to Prince Charles Full Day Kindergarten! Mrs. Stoneman and I are looking forward to a great year. We have a few pieces of information we need to share with you before we start off our year.

Website

We have a classroom blog that will be updated regularly with upcoming events, learning stories, inquiries and ideas for things you can do at home with your child. Please take a few minutes to check out www.fdelk.blogspot.ca and add it to your favourites.

Remind

Remind is a one way communication tool, it is a free, safe and easy way for teachers to connect with parents. Phone numbers are always kept private so that teacher-student-parent communication is 100% safe and secure. To sign up all you need to do is send a text message to 289-270-4159, with the message @mrsvech. If you’d like to sign up by email, rather than text message, just visit rmd.me and go to sign up, our class code is @mrsvech. The purpose for Remind is to do just that; send home reminders for parents, for example “Don’t forget tomorrow’s trip to the apple orchard, bring your boots”.

Pictures

We would like the students to bring in a picture of their family or pet. Our plan is to frame these pictures to place around the room, this allows children to feel ‘at home’ when they are at school and will help to build a sense of home and community within our classroom.

Guinea Pig

We will be having a class pet this year, a guinea pig named Winston. Winston’s job in our classroom is to teach children responsibility. With the help of an adult, students will feed Winston daily and clean out his cage on a weekly basis. Classroom pets are a great way for children to role play and take on the role of caregiver. Cuddling pets helps reduce anxiety and stress and improves children’s impulse control. These are just a few reasons for Winston joining our classroom. Before introducing Winston into our classroom, we would like to hear from you about any allergies, fear of animals or any concerns you may have.

Please Send

Please send your child with an extra pair of pants, socks, shirt and underwear to keep in his/her cubby, along with a pair of indoor running shoes. Velcro or slip-on is preferable.

We request that each child please bring in a box of tissue to donate to the classroom.

Beautiful Junk is always welcome, such items include empty Kleenex boxes, paper towel roles, ribbon, lace, foam etc.

Class Trips

During the year, we will be taking some class outings on foot or by bus. You will be informed of the details of these event prior to going, and be asked to fill out a signed permission form, giving your child consent to attend. Parent Volunteers would be appreciated on these occasions. Please note that parents must have a current police check completed in order to accompany us on any trips.

Curriculum

We will run a play-based program where students learn through inquiry. The Full-day early learning- Kindergarten program capitalizes on children’s natural curiosity and their desire to make sense of their Environment. We will use inquiry-based learning to build on children’s spontaneous desire for exploration and to gradually guide them to become more focused and systematic in their observations and investigations. This being said, there will be no worksheets or ‘crafts’ sent home. For more information please visit http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/kindergarten/ .

Toys

Please keep your child’s toys at home. Toys at school get lost, broken and cause upsetting situations.

Nutrition Breaks

There are two nutrition breaks. The first break is from 10:40 - 11:20 and the second is from 1:00 - 1:40. Students eat for the first 20 minutes and then head outside for recess. During the first break, all students remain at the school. During the second nutrition break, with permission, students have the option of going home for lunch or remaining at school. Please pack a nutritious lunch for your child if they are staying at school. For healthy lunch ideas, please see our website: www.fdelk.blogspot.ca

Recess

All junior and senior kindergarten students will go outside for recess. Either an adult or a kindergarten helper will be walking students to the enclosed area.

Arrival and Dismissal Times

Students wait outside in the enclosed area until the bell rings at 9am. Please remain with your child until a Kindergarten teacher arrives. Students will have a staggered entry to avoid frustrating situations.

Mrs. Vechsler and Mrs. Stoneman

MONTH of SEPTEMBER
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	1	2 First Day of School Library	3 Gym	4	5 Gym	6
7	8	9 Library	10 Gym	11	12 Gym	13
14	15	16 Library	17 Gym	18 5:30pm Meet the Teacher Night	19 Gym	20
21	22	23 Library	24 Gym Picture Day	25	26 Gym	27
28	29	30 Library	1	2	3	4

Busy Busy

We had lots of fun in FDK today!

A and H used connecting cubes to count to 10, while T and friends built a castle with a moat.
In two groups we read Robert Munsch, Too Much Stuff and We Share Everything!

As a class, we learned how to point to the words as we read and had some quiet time reading on the carpet.

We are starting to learn our routines and excited about learning the rules.


We are SUPER excited to welcome our new friend Winston the Guinea Pig to class on Monday!
*Thankfully our classroom allergy is not too severe!

       

Day 2!

What a great day full of playing and learning. Today we made a restaurant in the house centre; we had waiters, chefs and customers. We used books as imaginary menus, and helped Mrs. Vechsler pick what to order for dinner. B told her that ice cream wasn't "a dinner food" and she had to order something else, she chose corn and pizza.We paid for our meals with $20, $10 and $5 bills, and got change from the cashier, R.

Over at the Blocks centre; Q, S, and D made a family fun house.

E spent a lot of time at the light table, while R and S used the magnetic blocks to build different shapes.

Looking forward to tomorrow with our Kindergarten Friends!




*Due to a student allergy, our Guinea pig friend, Winston, won't be able to join our class this year.