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