Emergency Kits

Today I will send home the students’ emergency kits from last year. You will receive a letter about how to refresh them and then they can come back to school!

Uniform Pieces

One of the less glamorous parts of my job is to make sure the students are wearing the correct uniform. Here are some areas to review:

Socks: solid colour only: white or navy blue

Sandals: solid colour only: brown, white or black – must have a back strap

Shoes: combination of white or black

September Dates

September 18 – Individual Student Photos – uniforms required

September 23 – Toonies for Terry – Terry Fox Run

September 25 – Knight Day

September 28 – Pro D Day

September 30 – Orange Shirt Day

End of the week thoughts…..

I was very curious to begin with this Grade 1 class as I wondered where they would be academically after missing so much school at a pivotal point in their Kindie learning. After more than 10 years at the Grade 1 level, I have a good idea where I like them to begin. If you are curious too, here are some of the things that I have learned!

• They are FULL of energy and have a very short attention span for seat tasks.
• They love to talk.
• They are brave- we had no tears at all this week and that is not the usual.
• They enjoy listening to stories and are interested and able to make predictions and deeper thoughts about what they hear.
• They love to colour and are colouring really well.
• Almost all of them can cut really well and that’s not always the case!
• They like to draw to demonstrate their learning.
• Of the 24 students, 15 students were confident in their a-z phonogram sounds when I tested them!
• Following multi-step instructions is a work in progress.
• Waiting to have a question answered is a work in progress.

The biggest thing that I notice is different this year is that most of the students are struggling to print their letters and numbers. This is no surprise! They missed the time in Kindie where they would have been learning how to make their letters smaller and to learn spelling words. We are really going to focus on this as we move forward.

If you would like to chat with me about how you can support your student at home or where they fall in the class, feel free to send me an email. We can chat through email, on the phone or through a virtual meeting. I would love to connect with you if you have the time! I’m not ashamed to admit that I had icecream for supper and went straight to the couch. Enjoy your weekend!

Sweet Grade 1s at the end of the week!

Calendar for September 14-18

Monday, September 14

Tuesday, September 15

Wednesday, September 16

Thursday, September 17

Friday, September 18 – Individual School Photos – Uniforms required

Knight Day

Don’t forget that Friday, September 11th is Knight Day casual day!

Play Centres

We started our play centres this afternoon and we learned to spread out in the classroom with less kids and more centres. Here are a few centres from this afternoon!

It’s Hot Outside!

It is really hot outside and will be hot for the rest of the week. The students are drinking lost of water! Please send a water bottle with your student each morning as the water fountain is turned off. Also, I recommend some sunscreen as it’s very hot outside.

The students are coming in red in the face and ready for a drink!

First Day Cuties!

We survived Day 1! I’m indulging in a second cup of coffee and reflecting on the day. The kids were so excited to be back and to see their friends. The morning went well and we are working on raising our hands and taking turns talking. I think we all used up a whole weeks worth of words today! I’m looking forward to a great year together!

Here are a few things from today that you might want to know:

• The water fountain does not work for drinking from the mouth portion so if you could send a water bottle each day that would be great. We can fill the water bottles up at school.
• We start PE tomorrow so if you could send indoor shoes that would be fabulous.
• The kids are given time to eat at snack and lunch, but I noticed at snack that they were so excited to talk to each other that they didn’t eat much and then were starving when they went home at lunch.
• Don’t forget to do your morning health checks as I have to ask the kids each day!