Ice Jewels…special request

Dear families,
With the cold winter weather upon us, we are looking for a few ways to enhance our outdoor play and learning. “Ice jewels” have been a big hit at our previous schools and we are hoping we can add this to our yard this week. If you choose to make some ice jewels please see below.
Ice jewels are made by making a pitcher of coloured water with food colouring (best to do this first to dilute it rather than put colour directly into the ice trays to avoid stains!) pour the pitcher of water into ice cube trays and freeze. Please send the jewels in with your child on either Friday (Jan 13) or Monday (Jan 15) this week in a ziplock bag in your child’s backpack. We will be checking backpacks on those days and will put the jewels directly in our school yard. If you drop your child off feel free to come and drop the jewels in the yard yourself. A fun thing to do at home together!
Looking forward to a fun winter week and a wonderful start to 2017!
Thank you!!!
Merci!
Kindergarten Team

Happy New Year!

Hi Chickadee Fam-Jams! I have missed you!

Happy New Year!

We wish you all the happiness, good health and wonderful times for 2017!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your families! We are so looking forward to seeing the children tomorrow, with their big smiles and stories!

I bet they have grown!!! 🙂

Tomorrow is going to be a great first day back! Just to prepare your kiddos: we will start the day with our routines of coming into the school, putting Mr. Zippy in our basket, signing in and singing our morning songs! We will read our morning message together using “shared-reading”, talk about our holidays and reflect over the holidays using our “Hot News”, using pictures and writing! We will also be talking about our New Year goals and making a fun craft at the tables during centre time! Before lunch, we will be doing Victor‘s show and tell as he is our Kinderstar tomorrow!!!!

We will be going to the gym for the first time ever after our outside play!!!Our gym at KHPS is finally ready!!!!!!!! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee! We will establish routines and rules for the gym and play some cooperative games! Our gym equipment should be arriving soon!

Madame McCurry (along with Mrs. McCarthy) will be with the children in the afternoon and I know she has some fun, new French activities for the children! She will be speaking more French with the children and using less English!

*Special news:…. Mrs. Goyal will be returning to KHPS on Monday, January 23. In the meantime, we will have some guest ECE teachers fill in until she returns.

** Reminder: Please label all your child’s mittens, neck warmers, boots, jackets,snow pants etc! It is amazing just how many black mittens our kiddos are wearing! Thank-you for your cooperation!

January Calendar and scholastic book order forms will be sent home tomorrow in Mr. Zippy! Here is a soft copy if you want to print it, let me know if I’ve made some errors!

jan. cal.17

Looking forward to seeing your kiddos tomorrow! Back to routine we go! I honestly LOVE January in Kindergarten! So much fun and learning!

Wishing everyone a great night!

Love, Ms. Jo-Anne 🙂

Scientists in the school..successful! Thank-you to our awesome parents!

Hi Chickadee dot families!

snowflakeHappy Snowy Monday! We had 18 students at KHPS today during our second “snow day”!

We welcome 2 new students to our class: Grace and Owen! We are now a class of 30! 🙂 The boys and girls are doing a great job at welcoming our new friends!

Just a wee blog to let you know that the children had a blast and learned about all sorts of neat things during our “Scientists in Winter” workshop! This was such a successful and enjoyable morning! Thank-you to all of our wonderful volunteers who learned, ran and worked with the children! Hopefully, you all had a chance to look through the little brown bag that came home with samples of your child’s learning about winter birds, snowflake formation, meterologist information etc! A big thank-you to Ms. Bennett for organizing this for our Kindergarten students at KHPS and to Nancy Rowley for her wonderful Science learning opportunities!

Thank-you again for your support towards this learning activity and for your participation! Much appreciated! Not to mention it was so great to see you all again! Next activity, coffee and donuts 🙂

Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy!

 

winter birds

winter birds

animals preparing for winter: blubber, fur...

animals preparing for winter: blubber, fur…

Snowflakes

Snowflakes

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Winter birds...

Winter birds…

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parents prepping…

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looking at the formation of snowflakes using microscopes

Love, Ms. Jo-Anne and our awesome team

Image result for crafts for christmas clipartPS..Craft rotation information will be coming home soon…Thursday Dec. 22 from 8:30-10:30 am…we will be inviting parents to help out if anyone is free…. 🙂

PSS…I am trying to send the odd picture to you via email (a few each day of your children learning) and also posting a few pics on twitter….please follow me if you want…@jojopull 🙂

Friday is…Pajama day!!!!

Hi Chickadee families!

Guess What???

This Friday December 9 and 16th … is Pajama Day at KHPS…It is a fundraiser for the Kanata Food Cupboard and Chrysalis House! Please send in a loonie and/or All pyjama sizes are needed for boys and girls, ages 0-18. We will also be collecting new blankets and stuffed animals. Monetary donations of any amount are also appreciated.

PJ Poster

Thanks,

Ms. Jo-Anne 🙂

Happy Snowy Monday!

Hi Chickadee dot Families!

snowflake hope all is well with you on this snowy Monday!

Just 2 reminders:

  1. Scientists in the School Workshop is on Friday morning! We are so excited for the children to experience this! We are accepting all parents who offered to volunteer, there are many centres and lots of “jobs” for you all! Thank-you! If you haven’t sent back the blue form and $5 yet, please send via Mr. Zippy over the next few days! Thank-you!
  2. Snowy Weather….I think the snow is going to be here for awhile now…the forecast is calling for snow all week! As you know, we play outside for over an hour each day. It might be a  good idea to send in extra mittens and socks each day. Feel free to keep them in your child’s backpack. It is no fun having cold feet and hands!
  3. Our  dramatic play area is now..a gingerbread house!! The boys and girls did a great job decorating it this morning, using paper, markers, crayons, scissors and glue!Image result for gingerbread house clipart

Donations needed please!!! We are looking for gently used aprons, spatulas, cookie sheets, oven mittens, old cookie cutters, rolling pins please! Any donation would be appreciated!

Thanks for reading!

Love, Ms. Jo-Anne 🙂

Fun!

Fun!

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Sooooo cute!

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Almost looks good enough to eat!

Scientists in the School…Field Trip form in Mr. Zippy (yesterday)

Tuesday Nov. 29

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We are excited to let you know we have a special Science day planned on Friday, December 9th.  The Kindergarten team has invited Scientists in Schools to provide our students with some unique, hands-on learning opportunities. These presenters are local scientists and technical experts who have extensive experience working with children.  Scientists in School is a Canadian charitable organization which has provided our schools with many engaging scientific workshops in previous years.

Our workshop, next month, will help us explore Winter Wonders.  Children will discuss how animals prepare for winter and how they cope in their cold weather habitat. The cost of the workshop is $5 per student.  The remaining half of the fee will be covered using the Voluntary Donations that families submitted in September. This fee covers the materials and the presenter.  Please submit the fee by Wednesday, November 30th.  As always, please contact the office if financial assistance is required.  Confidentiality will be maintained.

In order to make the activities successful, each class will require five volunteers.  If you are able to volunteer your time in your child’s class, please complete the section below and return it to your child’s teacher.  We will ask our volunteers to arrive at the school at 8:15 on the workshop date. Please plan to stay until 11:00. Indoor shoes are recommended to keep your feet warm and dry.  We truly appreciate your time and hope that you will enjoy participating with the class.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

The Chickadee Teachers!

_________________________________________________________

I am able to volunteer my time for the Scientists in Schools workshop on Friday, December 2nd.  I will be able to arrive at school at 8:15 on this day.

Child’s Name _______________________________________________

Volunteer’s Name ___________________________________________

Contact Phone Number (during the day)____________________________

Dental Screening for Kinder students at KHPS…Dec. 16

Dear Parents/Guardians:

 Lucy Charbonneau, a registered dental hygienist with Ottawa Public Health, will provide a dental screening using a tongue depressor on December 16, 2016*, for grades JK, SK, 2, and other children as necessary. If your child’s grade is not selected, but you wish for the dental hygienist to see him/her, please advise the school. Only children identified as having dental needs will bring home a form. Follow-up school visits by the dental hygienist for individual children may be done. 

THIS DOES NOT REPLACE REGULAR DENTAL VISITS WITH YOUR FAMILY DENTIST.  

Some date(s) may be subject to change 

This dental screening is offered in accordance with the Ontario Public Health Standards from Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. Personal Health Information is collected in compliance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Personal Health Information Protection Act and will be used for the purpose of dental assessment, treatment and oral hygiene instruction, and for statistical purposes.  Questions concerning the collection and use of this information should be directed to the Supervisor of Dental Health Promotion, Ottawa Public Health, 400-1580 Merivale Rd., Ottawa, ON, tel.: 613-580-6744 ext 26376.

Show and Tell is starting on Friday!!

Tuesday, November 23, 2016

 Dear Family,

 We will be starting our “Show and Tell” program on Friday, November 25th with Zaid!

 I believe this is a wonderful way to help develop oral language skills, as well as confidence in children.

This program will run alongside the “Kinderstar” program. When your child is the Kinderstar this month, he/she can bring in a special toy, book, picture, doll etc to show the class. Please refer to our November and December calendars for your child’s Kinderstar day. 

Also, please take a look at the “question wheel” that I will send home (tomorrow in Mr. Zippy) to help prepare your child with his or her presentation. The expectation is that each child will tell at least 3 facts about his or her “treasure”. Also, we will be learning to ask good questions after each presentation, learning the difference between a story and question.

The children enjoy this program and do exceptionally well presenting their treasures! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to write me a note in “Mr. Zippy”.

Thanks for your continued support! 

….we look forward to Zaid’s  show and tell on Friday!!!

 Ms. Jo-Anne 🙂

a “wee update”

Hi Chickadee dot families!cute-chickadee

We really enjoyed meeting with you all during interview days! It is so great to connect and tell you about the many great things your child is learning, exploring and experiencing here at KHPS! We also really appreciate your insight into what you are experiencing at home during these last few months! Thank-you for meeting with us! Remember, you are always welcome to send us a note and we can meet again to discuss concerns or questions in person or even on the phone! If you are still interested in talking with us and we could not meet, please contact us via “Mr. Zippy” and we can arrange a meeting! 🙂

This week:

In Literacy, we are finishing up with our Alphabet Blitz! We will be finishing up with the letter Z on Friday!Ask your child what the sounds and actions are for each letter, they are doing very well with this! Next, we will be beginning chalk and sock where we work with these letters in small groups, working on letter formation and building words! We continue to do “Hot News” a few times a week, focussing on pictures and taking risks with writing! Feel free to work on letter sounds and letter formations at home!

Show and Tell: Oral language Program to begin this Friday…info will be coming home both by blog and hard copy tomorrow in Mr. Zippy! Show and Tell coincides with our Kinderstar dates. Please refer to your November calendar! To begin, have your child bring in a special toy, picture, book, special treasure and speak about it. I will be sending a “Question wheel” to help your child prepare for his/her show and tell!

In Numeracy, we are working on number sense: what does a number look like and how do we “make”it, showing number concept! We are counting and becoming comfortable with numbers from 0-10.We are learning about how animals and humans prepare for winter.

In Science, we are learning about how animals and humans prepare for winter. We are talking about hibernation, migration and adaptation! Keep an eye out on “Hibernation” books coming home this week! Have your child “echo read” these to you! Your child can teach you how to “echo read”, they are getting very good at this!

In Art, we will be working on the Primary colours and learning what happens to the colours when we mix them, to make Secondary colours! We have explored this a little while we have painted our Kandinsky circles as well as when we made playdough together!

Beautiful Kandinsky Circles!!!

In French, with Madame McCurry (Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Goyal), the children are learning about shapes, exploring loose parts, making patterns and creating, developing basic vocabulary in French and singing songs, just to name a few of the activities they are doing! Madame loves to sing and there is so much learning going on during her community carpet times!

French community circle

exploring shapes in French

 

sorting shapes “en Francais”

***Mrs. McKenna visited our classroom today and read us the story, “What to do with an Idea”. It was an amazing reading and we had a very good discussion about what it means to be “open, curious and kind”! Thank-you, Mrs. McKenna, you are the best principal everrrrrrrrr!

We are planning December!!!!!! Have I mentioned I love December?????? 

December calendars will be sent home later next week! Dates to keep in mind **** so far** are…

Dec. 8th…Yoga with Madi’s mom (1:45 pm)

Dec. 9th…Scientists in the school (more info to come soon, volunteers will be needed)

Dec. 22nd…Craft Rotation… (more info to come and volunteers needed)


snowflake
The snow is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The children are enjoying playing in the snow here at school. They are having fun using the shovels and sleds in the yard! We are seeing a lot of sharing, co-operating and taking turns! Thank-you for dressing your child warmly for the winter temperatures! Just a reminder we go out twice a day so warm hats, mittens and neck warmers are necessary! The wind has been so cold these last two days, hasn’t it!

A few pictures to leave you with!

Oh to be pulled on a sled again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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sled trains!

Thanks for reading,

Ms. Jo-Anne, Madame McCurry, Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Goyal 🙂

PS… I have been trying to send you each a little “gift” of your child in learning situations by email! I just started doing this last week! I will try to do this each day when I can! Also, I have been “tweeting” out pictures as well! Follow me at @jojopull! I hope you don’t mind! 🙂

 

 

Today: Veterans Week and Recycling News

Hi!

Just a wee note to let you know that we had a very good day at school! Monday was filled with great learning! We had 2 special presentations!

in-remembrance-clipart-1The first was a special presentation to kick off Veterans week! Soldier Sultana (who is a parent in our KHPS community) came to speak to the students about his Peace Missions that he was involved in over his career. He spoke about the meaning of Remembrance Day, shared his experiences through stories and a slide show and involved the students in a question and answer period. The children were fascinated by his medals and he was very good to explain the meaning behind his medals and even why he wanted to become a soldier. He left us thinking about those 3 words…Lest we forget.

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Also, we will be having our Kindergarten Remembrance Day assembly from 9-9:30 in the Maker Space. If you are able to join us, you are most welcome! It will be meaningful and brief.

downloadThe second presentation was from our awesome Chief Custodian, Mr. Brian. He reviewed our Recycling Program here at KHPS. We are so fortunate to be so “green” here at school and we are learning what items go in the blue, black and now compost bin.

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Mr. Brian telling us about the ins and outs of recycling! Thank-you!

We learned that:

-plastic yogurt and applesauce cups go in the blue bin

-paper products go in the black bin

-food wastes like apple cores, banana peels etc go in the “kitchen catcher”

-paper towels and tissues are to be placed in the green bin.

***** Please note, we will sending home all garbage like cheese string wrappers, granola bar, cereal bar wrappers, saran wrap, tinfoil etc.  We will put empty yogurt tubes in the garbage but that is it.************  If you want to send in a ziplock bag for garbage, that might keep the mess to a minimum inside your child’s lunch bag.

Thank-you so much for your cooperation with this!

Thanks for reading, as always!

Ms. Jo-Anne (on behalf of the Kinder Team) 🙂