Some pictures from our first day of Forest School.
After some mindful observations and a walk of the boundaries, students were given free time to explore and play in nature. Students made music with sticks, collected berries, attempted to make a see-saw, built forts, and practiced balancing on logs. We had lots of fun and are looking forward to going back each week!
After some mindful observations and a walk of the boundaries, students were given free time to explore and play in nature. Students made music with sticks, collected berries, attempted to make a see-saw, built forts, and practiced balancing on logs. We had lots of fun and are looking forward to going back each week!
Gobble! Gobble! Mrs. Silas and I are thankful for our wonderful class and awesome kinder families!
Ask your child what we used to paint the turkey tail feathers 🤔
Orange Shirt Day: We read two books and discussed why we wear an orange shirt on September 30th. We talked about what residential school was, who went there, and how it made those children feel.
The culmination of our fall leaf unit:
Look at us learning about sharing, collaboration, communication, teamwork, physics, design, perseverance, patterns, architecture, colour, counting, and art! We are amazing!
Student-created colour collections
Look Closer pinecone drawings - check out those details!
HELLO FALL!
We have been studying Fall, in particular, fall leaves. So far we have gone for nature walks and used our five senses to observe the signs of fall, we’ve sorted leaves by colour and made leaf people pictures, and some Kinders chose to do “ look closer” drawings of leaves to record their details and colours.
Leaf people/creatures inspired by Lois Ehlert’s book, Leaf Man.
Learning to handle conflict:
Arguments and upset feelings are common in Kindergarten - it’s all part of learning to collaborate, share, and play with others. Many Kindergarteners aren’t used to thinking about the feelings of others yet, and may do inconsiderate things such as poking, pushing past others, hoarding toys, snatching things away, etc. Students are encouraged to try and solve the problem on their own before seeking out a teacher.
When a student comes to me with a problem, the first thing I ask is, “what did you do to try and solve it?”. Quite often the solution is simply to ask the other student to stop whatever is bothering them. I encourage students to tell their peers how they are feeling as well. The tricky part is helping students understand that when the other person has listened to their words and stopped, the problem is solved. I don’t force apologies (if they are offered sincerely then great), and I don’t impose a punishment (like a time-out for every little infraction). Some situations have natural consequences (having to choose another centre if not able to share/get along with others, missing some playtime to calm down), but I believe that once small problems are solved, students need to move on and get back to enjoying themselves.
Of course we sometimes encounter BIG problems that require a teacher’s help: unsafe behaviours, violence/verbal harassment, repeated problems that can’t seem to be solved through discussion... and myself and Mrs. Silas are always there to listen, problem solve and keep everyone safe.
Making new friends and learning through play :)
A work in progress - our Kindergarten Rules board. I have been snapping photos of students demonstrating kindness, safety and listening!
We learned about proper hand washing and other ways to stay healthy and keep the germs away.
Covid-19... We’re in it together!
