On Tuesday, December 6 our class will be taking a short bus ride to Wayland Sports for a gymnastics class.  We will be there between 10 and 11 am.  We will not be wearing our uniform on this day.  Instead, please dress your child in play clothes that will allow them to move freely.  Please also send along a water bottle clearly labelled with your child’s name.  We’ll need to stay hydrated!  This should be a fun experience!  If you would like to come along to watch feel free to ride the bus with us or meet us there.  The address is 45730 Airport Road.  Unfortunately, younger sibblings will not be allowed to participate.  Thanks for your understanding.

The weather is definitely getting colder these days!  Thank you for sending your child to school each day with a coat and soon maybe some mitts and a toque.  We do like to get outside for fresh air whenever there’s a break from the rain!  Some parents like to add a layer under the uniform for added warmth.  This is great idea in these colder months.  Please make sure that undershirts are not coloured or patterned.  Basic white works best.

Just in case you are looking ahead at December already…here are a few dates to add to the calendar:

December 1 – In class presentation by Chilliwack Museum about how technology has changed over time.

December 1 – Report cards go home

December 7 – Parent/teacher interviews (3:30 – 6:00)

December 16 – K-3 Christmas Programme (9:30 am – 11:00 am)

On November 28th Highroad will begin our annual Salvation Army food drive.  This is a great opportunity for us to connect with our community and support less fortunate families over the holiday season.  Each year we turn our food drive into a competition to see which class, K-3, can bring in the most food.  Each food item received is worth 1 point unless it is on our “top 10” list, then it will be worth 5 points.  Happy giving!

1. peanut butter
2. pork and beans
3. canned lunches (alphagetti, chunky soup)
4. tomato soup
5. mushroom soup
6. tuna
7. mac and cheese in a box
8. chicken noodle soup
9. pasta (noodles)
10. pasta sauce

Phonograms: We have introduced ALL of the single letter phonograms (a-z)!  Yay, us!  We will continue working on these phonograms (learning how to print them and knowing their sounds) in the weeks and months ahead.  Home support is always appreciated!  If you don’t already own a set of phonogram cards, you can purchase them at the office.  This program is used K-3 at Highroad so they are a good investment!

A good ipad app to download for some extra printing practice is Little Writer – The Tracing App for Kids.  The Kindies recently enjoyed using the school ipads to review their letters and numbers:

Centers: Each day in Kindergarten we do “centers,” (sorry for using the American spelling!  I purchased my daily schedule cards from an American supplier.) once in the morning and again in the afternoon.  Some of the centers are learning focussed and some play based.  This week we introduced a new activity during center time called “Write the Room.”  The children at this center walk around the room with a clipboard and paper and hunt for special cards that are posted around the classroom.  This week’s Write the Room cards featured phonogram letters.  When the children found a card with an “c” (for example) they would find that letter on their paper and trace it.  Then they would hunt for another phonogram hiding somewhere else in the classroom.  Here are a few photos of some children engaged in this activity:

Math – We have been working on counting sets of objects and printing our numbers 1-9.  The children have been playing all kinds of games.  You can ask them about “Mingle,” “Race to Fill a Cup,” and “Roll a Number.”  We have also been practising “subitizing”!  Big word, huh!  It basically means knowing how many are in a set without having to count. This is an important skill in developing number sense.  One way that we subitize is by rolling a dice and calling out the number (without first counting).  The kids are getting very quick at this!

Read to Self – We have been working on our stamina and are now up to …drum roll, please…eleven minutes!  Woot, Woot!  I wish you all could be in the classroom during Read to Self time to see how completely engaged they are with their books!  It’s so wonderful to experience!  After the children have reached 15 minutes of stamina (and we have our party!) I will have the children read to themselves at the end of each day.  It’s a nice quiet way to prepare for home time and should be a little quicker to put away when it’s time to leave.  Here are a few photos of some pretty cute readers:

A pair of boots were left at school on the afternoon of our pumpkin patch visit.  If they belong to your child please let me know or come and collect them.  I will keep them in our classroom for a few more days before taking them to the lost and found.

During the months of November and December our class will be exploring the topic of “Families.”  We will be looking at the similarities and differences of families, our stories and traditions, and family members’ rights, roles, and responsibilities.  We will also be learning about family life was different when our grandparents were our age.  We will learn how family was God’s design and what a good idea it was!

In the next week or so would you be able to send in a 4×6 photograph of your family that we can keep for the duration of our study?  It will be returned to you by the end of December.  Thanks!

There will be some “homework” during this theme.  Please watch for papers in your child’s back and forth folder.  Hopefully, this won’t feel like a huge chore for you but will be a nice opportunity for you and your child to reflect on the special qualities of your family experience.

I would also love to find out if your family speaks any other languages at home so that our class could learn a simple greeting (“hello”) in that language.  Would you let me know by email (dmorris@highroadacademy.com) or by a note in your child’s folder?  That would be great!

Since we are asking the children to wear their full dress uniform on Thursday of this week you may send your child in their “regular” uniform tomorrow (Wednesday).

On Thursday of this week at 2 pm we will be having our annual Remembrance Day Ceremony.  Students are asked to wear their full dress uniform.  Parents, grandparents, and family friends are welcome to join us for this beautiful ceremony.  Our class will not be involved in the program but will sit together as a class during the ceremony.  Students will be dismissed from our classroom when the ceremony is over.

November 10 – Remembrance Day Service 2-3 pm

November 23 – Crazy Hat Day

November 30 – Knight Day