October Newsletter - JK
Dear Parents,
The month of October is upon us, and the kindergarten children have settled in remarkably well. Routines are being established, new friendships are being created and school is becoming a comfortable and familiar place, where learning through play is a daily occurrence.
Our themes for this month’s literacy, art, music and drama will be Thanksgiving, fall and Hallowe’en. We will read many stories (both fictional and non-fictional), learn some fun poems, songs and rhymes, and do some interesting craft projects related to this month’s themes.
This month, we will begin the Jolly Phonics language program. This is a truly amazing literacy program that incorporates letter recognition and sound identification. Both a song and an action accompany every letter of the alphabet. For the month of October, the JKs will be introduced to the letters s, a, t, i, p and n. Every Monday, a new letter/sound will become the focus for the week. Your child will come home on Mondays with a new Jolly Phonics worksheet (in blue duotang). Please complete this worksheet (comprised of both colouring and printing) at home with your child. Please utilize the contents of the blue duotang to review daily the letters and their phonetic sounds. Practice with printing the letters would also be beneficial!
In math this month, we will be beginning our first unit on Numbers. Our learning goals for this unit are to:
- recognize that the last number in a count tells how many objects have been counted
- recognize that counting can begin and end at any point in a sequence and can be applied to any size or variety of objects
- recognize and write numerals 1 to 3
- sort, classify and count the number of objects in a set
- Our class will be going on a trip later this month to the McLean Berry Farm. A permission form will be coming home with your child within the next week. We would love for parent/grandparent volunteers with a current police check to join us on this fun outing!
- On Monday, October 31st, our class will be having a Halloween party. The children will be given the opportunity to wear their costumes to school on this day. Details about the party will be sent home closer to the date.
Over the last couple of weeks, the JKs have had the opportunity to meet with their new reading buddies from Mrs. Ferris’s grade 8 class. Our “buddies” will visit our class one time every week to read to the kindergarten children and, on occasion, help with JK art projects.
We will begin our show-and-share program this month, with 2-3 children/day sharing a special item from home with the class. Show-and-share is a wonderful opportunity for students to practice their oral language skills and for their peers to practice their listening skills. For the first couple of months, the children are encouraged to bring in anything that is special to them for show-and-share (e.g. a toy, a photo, a stuffed animal etc…). Research shows that strong oral language skills are essential for strengthening skills in reading and writing. All students are at different readiness stages. Please practice with your child as he/she rehearses what he/she wants to tell the class about the particular show-and-share item. We will set aside time each day for two or three students to bring in their special
items from home. Please check the monthly calendar to know when your child’s show-and-share day is. The JKs will follow specific steps when doing show-and-share everyday. For show-and-share, the children are encouraged to make up two clues (e.g. It is round and you kick it) about their show-and-share item. Parent support and guided practice of reciting the clues at home with your child will be needed. The children doing show-and-share will be given the opportunity to tell the class their clues prior to showing their item. The class will be given the chance to guess what each child’s object is. This will be followed by three questions from the class.
A big thanks goes out to everyone for remembering everyday to send in your child’s agenda and homework/language duotang. Sending in the communication books (and plastic bags) daily assists me with ensuring that newsletters, forms, schoolwork etc. make it home.
Winter is just around the corner, and now is a great time to begin practicing at home with your child some important skills in self-reliance. Such skills include putting on and removing snow-pants, jackets and boots. Please consider these things when purchasing winter gear for your child. Please don’t purchase boots with laces, and please keep in mind that gloves are often difficult for children to put on independently. Have your child test out his/her winter boots to ensure that they are easy to put on and remove.
As we continue to move forward this year, your co-operation and assistance will be instrumental in helping me provide your child with the highest quality education possible. Please feel free to contact me at the school should you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Jen Rutherford
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