Chickens, masks and a bird.

 We have been focusing on what happens in Kindergarten and school.

We read Chicken in School -- a chicken sets up a school on the farm. The animals talk about their favourite parts of school. (That was when we talked about our favourite parts of Kindergarten).We then read Minerva Louise at School -- A chicken leaves the farm and goes into a school - but thinks it is a barn!

 

We also read All are Welcome -- a book that embraces our diversity and reinforces the idea that we all belong. 

 

Here is a picture of our fabric bags that hold our masks. They are working so well, allowing our masks to breath a bit. If your child has a morning and an afternoon mask, we are reminding them after lunch to switch their masks. (Again -- Ms. Brown or Ms. Emerson wash the mask bags at the end of the day, every day)

  We made a new friend! A bird was just standing in our yard (it might have flown into a window, and was shocked a bit). We observed it , and then Ms. Brown moved it into a fenced area so it would be safe (it was camouflaged and we didn't want anyone to step on it!) (Ms. Brown picked it up with a kleenex and carefully carried it into a fenced area. This photo was taken when the bird was safe behind the fence. Happily, when we looked at the end of the day, the bird was gone, so it was okay, and flew away. We looked online to try to figure out what kind of bird it is. We think it is a Tennessee Warbler because of its skinny beak (it also looks like a blue headed vireo, but that has a thicker beak) When the children were asked how they would describe the bird, they said it was "green and pretty and small".

We are continuing to have fun with our velcro cylinders! Naya made a design with them.

 

Brooks enjoys role playing with animals and figurines. He makes ups detailed stories about the characters! Hopefully, we can share some soon.

 

First Few Days

 Hello Parents!

The first few days of school have been amazing! We are SO PROUD of your children! They have been keeping their masks on and have been staying apart -- but still playing together. They have been kind to each other. We could not hope for more!

We read a message together and sang Happy Birthday.

We played at some centres (we brought our bins to our tables or stayed at the carpet).

We finally sat down at the carpet today to read a story -- and then they asked for another one, and we spent longer than usual reading the stories and talking about them. We are just working on having not everybody talking at once :)

First we read Our Class is a Family. Family isn't always people you are related to. Family can be other people too. We spend a large part of the day together, and we are like a family. Our classroom is a place where it is safe to be yourself. It's okay to make mistakes, and we should always try to be kind to each other.

Then we read David Goes to School and talked about all of the things that happened to David at school (good, "bad", fun. and not so fun). This book took so long to read because everyone had so many comments about David! We all decided that David made lots of mistakes, but his teacher still loved him.

 We even sat for another story at the end of the day! That was The Love Behind the Mask. When we wear our masks, we are showing everyone that we care about them and their families. Because there is so much love behind our masks...

I try to read two books a day (and often revisit books). One book is usually an informational story -- like The Love Behind the Mask, or Our Class is a Family. The other book is more of a story that the children can relate to - like David Goes to School.

And then, before we left, I asked "What was your favourite thing about Kindergarten so far?"

Their hands shot up! No one just shouted out an answer. One girl said "I made a new friend" and pointed at her table mate (we will be playing some name games next week!). Her table mate said "I made a new friend too!" (this made me teary - because that is the whole point! It means we had a very successful day!) One said that playing outside was his favourite part, another said that Lunch was his favourite part (his lunch did look delicious). Ask your child what their favourite part of Kindergarten is so far!

The hardest part of my day? Trying to remember the parents! Sorry parents. Its going to take a little while for me to identify you all, with or without your masks on. I do know all of your children though!

A Sneak Peek of Room 9!

 Here is a sneak peek of what Room 9 looks like. It actually looks very similar to last year - but a bit more.... open. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the link to the video tour.

This is my favourite part of the classroom -- we love the large windows and the trees outside of the windows .

This is the carpet area.

 

We have two sinks -- one is in the bathroom, and this one is around the corner from the bathroom. 

 

This is the material washing station. We will be washing our own toys and materials in between uses. 

 

These are some of our tables. These ones are very roomy!

For the video tour click HERE!

 

Masks!

 We are expected to wear our masks all the time when we are inside the school. Of course, we can take them off when we are eating, or when we drinking. So, where do the masks go when we are eating or drinking.? We will place them "inside up" on our tables. 

 Please practice with your child so they are able to put on and take off their masks independently. We realize that some might need some help, but if we have to help every child, then most of our day will be spent in line putting on and taking off our masks.  When they are taking off their mask, please encourage them to try to only touch the elastic.

We also must wear our masks when we walk through the school to go outside. Once outside, we will put our masks in labelled fabric bags. (Ms. Brown will make them) and hang our pouches on the fence. Fabric is preferable to ziplock bags as it breathes and will dry out a bit. We could have used paper bags, but we worry about them blowing away in the yard. The pouches that Ms. Brown makes will stay at school (we will wash them and hang to dry at the end of the day), then have them outside the next morning in our lineup. Your child's mask pouch will be labeled with their name and they will always use the same one. (it won't be as "deep" as this example!)

If your child has a fanny pack  they could use it if you prefer. We would like to avoid lanyards for kindergarten (even with breakaway clasps), as the mask could be dragging on the ground or against the play structure, etc. If they have their own mask pouch from home,
they will bring it home every day.

When we are finished outside, we will hand sanitize before we put on our masks to re-enter the school. 

Here is a link if you would like a lot more information about masks - it is very "in depth", and gives some step by step instructions to acclimatize your child to a mask -- but it says to do it over a few weeks, so we are a bit late with this info! Sorry!

Mask Wearing Guide for Kids

Staying Safe and Healthy.

Hello New Room 9 Parents and Students and Welcome Back to our returning students, who are now in Senior Kindergarten and will be the leaders and mentors for our new JK Students. 

We wanted to give you a bit of a preview of how we are keeping safe and healthy this year. 

Your teachers will be Ms. Brown and Ms. Emerson. 

This is Ms. Brown! We will be giving the students a photo of Ms. Brown and Ms. Emerson (without masks) on the first day of school.....

School will look a bit different this year. We are sorry that the parents will not be able to visit or see inside of our classroom. We will post many pictures of the classroom and a video walkthrough as soon as the classroom is ready. 

We have a washroom in our classroom (with a toilet and sink) and another sink for handwashing. 

Your child will have their own hook to hang their backpack and coat on. 

We are hoping to play and learn outside as much as possible this year! We do not have to wear our masks outside, but we will still maintain distance between our friends.  

Inside:

We must wear masks. Please practice putting on and taking off the mask independently. If your child forgets their mask, we do have some cloth masks to give to them (to keep). The children can wear masks that are cloth (reusable) or disposable masks. The teachers must wear the masks that are provided by TDSB. (more about masks tomorrow!)

We will wash our hands regulary throughout the day. We will use hand sanitizer when we are outside. If your child cannot use hand sanitizer for any reason, please email us and let us know!

We will each have designated tables and chairs this year. Even Ms. Brown and Ms. Emerson! At Ms. Brown and Ms. Emerson's tables, we have two extra chairs so we can work with small groups of students, or individual students -- all while keeping a metre apart :)

We will read stories or have large group lessons -- with half of the class at a time. To maintain 1 metre in between students, we can't fit everyone at the large-group area!

Students will sit at opposite ends of tables to maintain at least a metre distance in between students. We will do our best to sit them near their close friends, so if you know that your child has a friend in our class, please let us know! (We will move students to to other tables throughout the weeks so they get a chance to meet new friends)

 We will be playing with most of the same activities as we did last year -- duplo, lego, snap cubes, straws and connector building, etc, and will play with our own sets of items -- but still able to see and talk to our friends while we play. When students are finished with their items, they will wash them in soapy water and set them on the drying table. There will be opportunity to play with duplo and larger items on the carpet area -- we are taping lines to show everyone where they can play. All toys and tools will be washed in between students.

Each child will have their own set of crayons, a pencil, some playdough and, later, some math tools. They will have a bin of books which will be switched weekly. If they want to play with their playdough and use some tools (extruder, rolling pin, cookie cutters, etc, then they will pick a bin, use it , and then wash it. 

We will be doing large and small group literacy and math activities that will be reinforced with individual bin activities.

We have markers on the floor to create distance when lining up, and tape on our group seating area to show where to sit. We have placed tape on one carpet to divide it up into play areas - 6 children can play "together but apart" with their own bin of materials. 

Outside:

 We will be able to play at the front of the school, in the two playgrounds. We call them the Playscape Playground and the Nature Yard. One class is allowed to play in the playground at a time. The children will not have to wear masks outside and they will be able to play near each other, but not touch each other. We are excited to learn that we will be able to use the play structures in the Playscape area! Hopefully the construction on the yards will be finished by next week.

Please, if you have any questions about any health and safety protocols, email Ms. Brown (if you have not received a welcome email from us yet, please leave a message here on the blog)

Lunch Time in Room 9

Hello to all new jk parents!

The School Day will look very different this year than our usual Kindergarten Day. 

I will try to post as much information as I can here on the blog, but we will likely be moving over to Google Classroom at some point. The JK students cannot access Google Classroom until they have an active tdsb email address, so for now we will communicate through email and this blog. Please email Ms. Brown through the tdsb email.

During the next week it would be a great idea to practice eating “school lunches” or “school snacks” with your child. 

 

We eat snacks sometime during mid-morning (we might eat a group snack at the same time, but is not always scheduled, and we always remind the children to take a break from their work or play).

 

Your child will have a designated table and chair in the classroom. We will sanitize it as often as we can (definitely before snacks and lunch!)The children will wash their hands whenever they switch tasks -- and always upon entry to the classroom, and after they use the bathroom, and before they eat anything. 

 

Our lunch time is still to be determined. We generally take a half hour to eat, and then play outside. We might play outside, then eat. We will let you know our schedule as soon as it is decided.

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Afternoon snack is mid afternoon. Again, children take a break when needed. 

 

Make sure that your child can open everything that you send with them. Tell them that if they need help, or forget a spoon or fork, that they should put up their hand and an adult will come over to help them! 

 

Talk about not eating off the table :) We will sanitize the tables before lunch, but we still try to keep our food in our containers.

 

Your child will have about a half an hour to eat their lunch. Perhaps set a timer for 20 minutes, and talk about what to do if they don’t finish in 20 minutes (it’s okay! You can eat it later at snack time!) 

Practice packing everything back up. We do a "boomerang lunch" so if there is anything to be thrown out or recycled, it will be packed back into their lunch bag/ box and will be taken home. When they are finished lunch, their lunch bag will go back into their knapsack. 

We do not pressure the children to eat all of their lunches or snacks. We will give gentle reminders that they should be eating, not talking, if they seem not to be eating anything. 

Please send your child with a water bottle (full). We will NOT be using the drinking fountain this year, but we will refill your child's water bottle if needed. 

Please write their name on their water bottles, as well as on their lunch bag and containers. If you don't have labels, a Sharpie Marker works well right onto the containers, or on a piece of masking tape that you can apply to the container,

Kindergarten lunch might be a big adjustment for your child and we want it to be as stress free as possible. If you have any questions, please email Ms. Brown or speak to Ms. Brown or Ms. Emerson