This week: Open House (Wed) and Parent Education Night (Thurs)

Wednesday, September 23 (6-7pm)

Please join us for our school-wide Open House! Your child will have the opportunity to show off their new school environment, and a few of the things we have been working on so far! I look forward to seeing you all!

Thursday, Sept 24 (7-9pm)

I wanted to let you know about a free parent education night at Key City Theatre, featuring Bestselling Author, Barbara Coloroso. You can check out her website at: http://www.kidsareworthit.com. The theme for the evening is, "Just Because It's Not Wrong Doesn't Make It Right: From Toddlers to Teens- Teaching Kids to Act and Think Ethically". Here is a description about the workshop found on her website:

A workshop packed with solid practical advice on how to use the stuff of everyday life to teach children to act with integrity, civility, and compassion. Beginning with the idea that it is in us to care, that we are born with an innate capacity for compassion, Barbara Coloroso shows professionals, educators, and parents how to nurture and guide children’s ethical lives from toddlerhood through the teen years using everyday situations at home, at school, in social settings, and in the world at large.  

•  How to develop an ethic rooted in deep caring with principles, virtues, and    
    values that are in the service to and at the service of that caring
•  The why and how to teach our children to think and act ethically
•  The possibilities and pitfalls of character education programs
•  Nurturing in children the three antidotes (care deeply, share generously, help
    willingly) to the virulent agents that are ripping apart the fabric of our human
    relationships (hating, hoarding, and harming ourselves and others)
•  How rigid moral absolutism and shifting moral relativism interfere with raising
    ethical human beings
•  Media:  The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Indifferent—how we can help
    children use these tools and not be used or consumed by them.
•  The difference between punishment and discipline—why one works and the
    other only appears to
The story about our human nature in today’s social and cultural climate is part and parcel of our human nature and our social and cultural climate.  Our story is also guided by our compassion and loving kindness, which recognizes that there is no I without Thou, no We without Community and no way to survive without honoring both our unique individuality and our common humanity. 

*Since this event is free, seating will be first come, first served and will probably fill up quickly!

Treasure boxes and Terry Fox Run!

The Kindergarten students did an amazing job working on their Treasure Boxes today! I was amazed at how calm the room felt while all of this creativity was going on. Please use these boxes to save "memories" coming home over the year. We thought about using sparkles, and then thought better of it... you're welcome ;) 

We also did our Terry Fox run today. We learned about Terry's life and his Marathon of Hope - ask your child about it! Our school raised over $500 for this great fundraiser, and one of our K students was the lucky winner of the Terry Fox draw! All of the kids did an awesome job running in support today!

I cannot really express how amazing this week has been. All of the kids have meshed so well, and we seem to have already built a great classroom community. I have raved about my days to anyone who will listen, and I certainly have all of you parents to thank for your support! I am so excited about starting full days on Monday- we have felt like the days are not nearly long enough to get through everything we want to do each day! As a reminder though, your child will most likely be more tired this next week... be patient, this will pass :)

Creations and stories!

We have had so much fun creating in our classroom!

Mrs. Keiver, our aboriginal support worker at Marysville, loves reading stories with the Kindergarten students, and will be reading lots with them over the year. When she came to get us for our story today, she surprised us with a beautiful wood bench that her dad built for us to enjoy at school! The kids helped hull it out of the garden to the tree, and enjoyed listening to the story from there. The story today was called, "Brown Eagle, Brown Eagle, What do you see?" Ask your child if they remember any of the items we learned about in the story!

Our class also enjoyed a story called, "Chrysanthemum", read by our school counsellor, Mrs. Stephenson. We learned all about 'heart smoothers' and 'heart crushers'. We all committed to being 'heart smoothers'. Ask your child to explain more :)

Another wonderful day to be in Kindergarten!

A note about me!

With this being my 6th year teaching Kindergarten at Marysville Elementary School, I have come to understand that parents may have some worries when sending their child off to school for the first time. I am sure many questions arise, one of which being "who is this person I am sending my child to school with?". Well, I thought I would take a moment here to tell you all a bit about myself!

I have been passionate about working with children and teaching ever since I was a little girl. My mom recalls many play dates with me "teaching" my friends and stuffed animals! I have played many roles in a variety of child care settings - summer camp counsellor, day care staff member, nanny, and have supported children with special needs in their home and integrated in programs. I completed my Bachelors of Child and Youth Studies/Bachelors of Education at Brock University in Ontario. I moved to BC soon after completing my degree and spent two years working as a teacher-on-call, a part-time nanny and a support staff in local daycares. I started teaching at Marysville Elementary in 2010, the first year we introduced full day Kindergarten. I have recently completed my Masters in Early Childhood Education, with a focus on emergent curriculum and the value of outdoor play. I thoroughly enjoy reading articles and books about early learning, and combining this reading with conversations and workshops about various educational practices allows my thinking to change and evolve. I am very open to change, and eager to learn from others.

As an educator passionate about early childhood education, I am particularly interested in play (play-based learning, learning through free play, solo play, group play, risky play, outdoor exploration) and building relationships/connections. The key principles guiding my planning for this year are ensuring that learning is purposeful, social, emotional, empowering, and representational.

In my time away from school? I really enjoy exploring the beautiful area we live in and travelling further as well. My husband and I love hiking and camping in warm weather, and cross country skiing in the winter. I feel very fortunate to have many friends near and far, and thoroughly enjoy spending time with them. I enjoy various "crafty" activities (painting, card making, felting, sewing, baking/decorating), as well as reading, yoga and zumba. The kids at school will soon take part in zumba each Friday afternoon- it is such a blast! 

I truly value open communication, so please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. I am SO looking forward to getting to know each of the children coming into the classroom this year!

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!