Beginning our Kindergarten adventure!

I am already absolutely loving this Kindergarten crew! They are so cooperative, so eager to learn, and so willing to share their thoughts and ideas. It was so wonderful to have the shortened days last week with the group split up- this allowed the students to build routines and familiarize themselves with their new surroundings without too many other children. We were able to explore our classroom and our outdoor learning spaces together. 

Exploring the garden.

Finding zucchini! We are now really excited for Harvest Day in a few weeks!

We discovered the fairy garden and were very gentle exploring this area of the garden.

When I asked this group to go to the big tree, they immediately figured out why I love this tree!

Exploring materials in our classroom.

This morning was our first full morning with all of our classmates. It was so exciting to see everyone in our class and to see how everyone interacted. The morning was buzzing with great energy! I especially loved hearing students helping other students with routines around the classroom (and am currently amazed at their incredible 'cleaning up' skills!). Among a few other activities, we read the book, The Kissing Hand. There was a note left in the back of the book from Chester the Raccoon, and he sent us on a hunt for him all over our school! Our hunt took us to the office and library where we met Mrs. Watson (secretary) and Mrs. Bancks (principal), and then to the grade 1 classes (Ms. K and Mr. Honeyman), grade 2 classes (Ms. Kinsey and Ms. Green) and grade 3 classes (Mrs. Hammond and Ms. Sharpe). When we finally ended up in the gym, we were told to go back to our classroom to find him. And there he was! Since he is nocturnal, he will 'sleep' as a stuffy in the day while we are at school, but he might get into mischief at night!

Teachers reading clues from Chester

Chester was waiting for us in the classroom!

What a fun day! I can't wait to see how the rest of the week goes!

Welcome to this amazing Kindergarten crew!

I was SO excited to have all of the Kindergarten students join me in our classroom today! We had a great time exploring the classroom and some of the materials in the room, and we learned a lot of new routines. Thank you again to all of the parents for helping make this gradual entry a success. What a great start to the 2015-16 school year! Here are the pictures of this year's K's!

"Let's make silly faces!"

working together to build a huge staircase!

School-Wide Year End Slideshow!

Bike to Breakfast/Dance Party!

Harlow's reading sparked a lot of book making and excitement about being a Mystery Reader. Isla created a list of clues for the red group and joined us on Thursday to read her ABC book.

On Friday morning, we had another really successful Bike to Breakfast! It was so cool seeing the kids riding down the street towards the school.

The breakfast in the gym was also lots of fun, and super yummy!

We ended our day with a dance party, courtesy of Jeremy Christiansen. We all danced up a storm! What a perfect way to end our second last Friday!

Fun in June!

After an amazing year end field trip, we decided to create a class mural with all of our favourite parts from the day. We also had a few creative souls create Thank You cards for the parent volunteers!

On Wednesday, the blue group had a very special Mystery Reader. Our clues were that she is in the red group, she has blonde hair and she love biking. Once we added "she has beautiful purple glasses", we knew who it was for sure! Harlow came in to read her book about the adventures of Bumble Butter, the butterfly she found on our field trip. She has now sparked a lot of other students to create books to read to their friends!

Reflecting back on how far the students have come this year, it was amazing looking at their June self portraits! I am blown away by the detail and care each student took creating their last Kindergarten self portrait!

Using stevia (picked from the top of the plant we gave to Tumelo's family for having us at their place) and wild rose petals (picked in Tumelo's forest), we created a delicious tea that the blue group enjoyed. Out of all of the store bought teas we have tried this year, this was the favourite by far!

  

Our Amazing Year End Field Trip!

All of the Kindergarten students enjoyed a magical year end field trip at Tumelo's house today! We kicked off the day with a visit to the woodpeckers that have taken up residence along Tumelo's driveway. We also saw a robin's egg! We then had an amazing time doing scavenger hunts, building fairy houses, digging and planting in the garden, and playing in the field. We even found "Bumble Butter", a beautiful butterfly! We had yummy treats (rice krispie treats and oranges), as well as a hot dog lunch! We played "drip drip drop", and the kids especially loved playing in the sprinkler! A big thank you to all of the great parent volunteers who made our day run smoothly- without you, these days are not possible. An especially HUGE thank you to Tumelo and his family for allowing us to have this memorable day on your property!



Here are the pictures from our day: