Weekday Round-up

Happy Friday everyone!

It appears that Fall has arrived! The kiddies have been very enthusiastic about the change in season. We spent the week collecting leaves and recording what we notice and wonder about them. 

Our main "wonder" was:

How do leaves change colour?

We did some research and discovered that the sunshine, chlorophyll and pigments in the leaves all play a role! Ask your child about these terms and how leaves change... they can probably start explaining some of the science behind it! 

Journals were discovered by many this week too! Many of us have enjoyed drawing pictures and writing some words. We are practicing proper pencil grip and just having fun with journals!

Lots of drawing at home can help support writing readiness. 

We have also been practicing how to read a book even when we can't read the words. We call this a "picture talk." When we do this, we basically tell our own detailed story by looking at the pictures. I have done lots of modelling of this and we have begun practing with friends and on our own. This will be helpful when learning to read, as picture clues are a powerful way to solve tricky words!

I encourage kiddies to picture walk at home too! 

 Friends reading Fall books together. 

It really has been a great week! I look forward to next week, when we will continue our Autumn investigations and learn all about Thanksgiving. 

A reminder that Friday is a PA day and Monday is a holiday (Thanksgiving).

Enjoy your weekend friends! 

Orange Shirt Day

On Monday the entire school is encouraged to wear an orange shirt in support of "Orange Shirt Day.

The attached link is a resource that describes what Orange Shirt Day is about.

 Orange Shirt Day

The number 5!

The number five is an important anchor number. We have begun using "5 frames" 

Five frames help children develop basic (but very important) math facts. 

Below is a link that describes 5 frames (and ten frames too) and ways that they can be used. We will move on to ten frames eventually too!

Five Frames

Using acorn tops in a five frame and finding the numeral to match! 

Signs of Fall

Today many friends wanted to collect leaves in the playground. This led to an inquiry about leaves. We brought our collections in the classroom and talked about some things we notice about leaves and what we wonder. 

We noticed

- no two leaves are exactly the same

- the leaves are changing colours

- red, yellow, brown, orange and green 

We wonder

- how do leaves turn colours?

- why do the leaves fall off the trees?

We will investigate these questions and add to what we notice / wonder in the upcoming days!

Some kiddies even decided that they wanted to trace a leaf and use watercolours to fill it in. 

I look forward to learning all about leaves! 

Happy Birthday!

This sweetie turns five on Monday! We celebrated today with singing and a dance party (since Monday is a PA day). Happy birthday 💙

Busy builders!

This week lots of kiddies have enjoyed building with all different materials! I love seeing all their wonderful creations! 

A rainbow tower!

Telescopes for pirates! 

Even letters! 

Welcome Autumn!

Today was the first official day of Autumn. We are excited to watch the changes that take place in our natural environment. I have lots of fun learning planned for the season!

The boys and girls seem very curious about leaves and how they change colours and fall to the ground! I look forward to lots of fun and learning in the coming weeks! 

I read this story aloud. It was a great book to introduce the season Autumn and to discuss leaves and trees. It also taught an important lesson that we are all the same, no matter what colour we are!

We've been using natural materials such as leaves, pine cones and acorns when playing with playdough. These signs of Fall are amazing resources! If you're out on a walk and collect some "treasures" we'd love to have them in the classroom! 

The Fall sensory bin has been a great hit! Lots of scooping and discovering takes place here! 

Thursday

Tomorrow (Thursday) is picture day! 

I am also away at a kindergarten workshop for the day. I am going to come to the school first, however, to take  the whole class picture. I will then be gone for the day and the boys and girls will have a supply teacher. 

I will be back for curriculum night at the school.

Curriculum night is from 6:30 - 8.

Parents first meet in the gym and then classroom sessions begin at 7:00. Our class is room 11. There are two of the same sessions to accommodate families that have more than one child attending the school. 

Session one 7-7:30

Session two 7:30-8

It is best if just parents (no kiddies) come to the kindie sessions if possible. 

Don't hesitate to message me on remind if you have any questions! 

Monday Funday!

Welcome to the second full week of school!

This week my little love bugs will continue to explore patterning. Creating and extending simple patterns at home is always a fun activity! 

We will also continue to explore numbers and counting. We are working on recognizing numbers from 0-10, counting objects and printing numbers.

Finally, we continue to practice writing our names and creating pictures of our special little selves! 

I'm looking forward to a magnificent week ahead! 

Creating a pattern tower using dyed pasta on a stick. 

Practicing our names in a variety of ways

Using loose parts to create

Learning to play together while putting our gross motor skills to work! 

(Backup) Dot Day

On Friday we celebrated "Dot Day."

 

International Dot Day is based on the picture book "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. The main message of the story is to believe in yourself, harness your creativity and make a difference! 

We participated in many of our own Dot activities throughout the day. Outside we drew dots with chalk on the playground pavement, painted coffee filter dots in the outdoor classroom portion of our playground, painted dots with chalk paint and went on circle hunts around the yard.

Inside the classroom we created a class mural of dots, counted dots on dice and dotted our names with bingo dabbers. 

The boys and girls loved listening to the story "The Dot" and were reminded throughout the day that they are awesome and to always believe in themselves! 

It was a spectacular celebration! 

Happy Birthday!

This cutie turned four today! We had a "go noodle" dance party to celebrate and he gave each of his friends a special pencil (in Mr. Zippy)!

Happy Birthday buddy! 

Dot Day!

Friday is Dot Day! This day is based around a beautiful book called "The Dot." We will read the book and participate in lots of different dot activities throughout the day. Students are encouraged to wear dots to school on Friday! 

I am super excited for our first themed day in kindie! 

First Library Visit!

Today we had our first library visit of the school year! Ms. Hinton (our wonderful school librarian) read us a story, reviewed the rules of the library and helped us choose out a book to take home. The boys and girls are allowed to keep their book for a week. We will have library every Wednesday morning. In order to take out a new book each week the previous one must come back. 

We are excited to explore the library this year!

Happy reading!!!

Scholastic orders

I will be sending home Scholastic flyers tomorrow. If you would like to order any books, orders are due by Monday September 18. 

Patterns!

Today we learned about what a pattern is! Patterns are all around us. We will look for patterns around the school as well as in nature! 

Practicing patterns at home is lots of fun. You could use stickers, bingo dabbers, toys, counters... the possibilities are endless. Just remember to have fun! 

Happy Monday!

Today was not only the first Monday of the school year, but also our first day of school where all 15 children were at school together! Everyone did exceptionally well! 

We played lots in the outdoor playground this morning. The sandbox is a big hit as is the chalkboard and building blocks 

We read the story The Kissing Hand and explored different literacy and math centres throughout the afternoon. 

It was a great day! 

Family Pictures

This week we will be creating a big family tree in our classroom. I ask that each child brings in a 4 x 6 picture of their family! I look forward to this fun activity that will help make our classroom feel more like home! 

Happy Friday Friends!

Today was day two for my SK friends and the other half of my JK friends came today too! It was another fun filled day of learning, play and getting to know each other! 

Our day kicked off with a community meeting filled with songs and stories. The kiddies then headed off to explore and play. The table math activities were especially popular today! I sense that I have a group of problem solvers! 

A group of friends problem solved together to match up the number stones (dots with numbers) 

We ended the morning with outdoor play in the natural playground. All kiddies played so cooperatively together. They are very friendly and welcoming bunch! 

The afternoon was more explore and play, stories and ABC yoga (we couldn't get outside again due to the rain).

Overall, it was another fantastic day! I bet my friends are tired and ready for a weekend of rest. I look forward to a magnificent Monday! 

Day One!

We had a fabulous and busy first day together! 

It began with a community meeting filled with songs and sharing our names with each other. 

We then toured the classroom and spent some time exploring the different centres. Everyone played nicely together and did a super job showing God's love! Later in the morning we took a tour of the school and then headed outside for play in the natural playground! The children really enjoyed this! We came in for a story and lunch. 

The afternoon was spent playing, creating self portaraits and another story! The day wrapped up with some more outdoor play with Mrs. Goodall (primary team memeber at the school).

I am sure everyone will sleep well tonight! Mrs. Linse knows that she will ;)

I can't wait to see everyone again tomorrow (or Monday for today's jk kids).

Here are the books we read today! Dinner conversation tonight could be to ask your child which was their favourite and why! 

All About Me

Dear Families,

I am so excited to meet everyone this week! I have been very busy in the classroom these last few days trying to prepare for the arrival of your precious little ones! I can't wait to embark on this new journey together! But first... a little bit about me!

My name is Stefani Linse. I have been teaching for 11 years and I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Teaching is truly a vocation for me. Nothing makes me happier than teaching (and learning from) children.

I am new to St. Matthew this year. I am transferring over from St. Andrew (another Oakville school). Here I taught Grade Three for many years. I am excited for some change and a new journey in Kindergarten.

My husband Jeff and I have three children. Ashleigh (6), Emma (3) and Adam (1). It is safe to say that there is never a dull moment in our home!

I look forward to meeting everyone and becoming partners in your child's education!