Dear Families, It has been a busy time since our return to school after winter break and the children have adjusted well to Mrs. Rollheiser teaching Monday and Friday. In math the children have been practicing building, reading and extending simple patterns, skip counting by 2's and 5's as well as playing math games which practice adding on, matching numerals to dot numbers and playful competition.  On Tuesdays the children continued with counting collections. using an increased quantity of objects. They have been using tools to organize materials for skip counting such as cups and plates. The OSCL's for January focused on math and have all been completed and sent home. Photos of student work will be uploaded on SPACES, the district electronic portfolio after Tuesday's inservice. Our Grade Two buddy class resumed in January and has included stem activities with force and motion, buddy reading or story play on Wednesday afternoons. In January our little buddies from Depa...

Welcome back, This term Mrs. Rollheiser and I are implementing a few changes to our teacher schedule upon confirmation from Human Resources. The job amendment was approved by Mrs. Noble and we are simply waiting for it to be processed. Mrs. Rollheiser wil teach 2 days each week and Mrs. McCaw will teach 3 days. Mrs. Rollheiser will teach Friday and Monday.  Both days will be offsite mornings with the children eating lunch upon returning to the school site followed by a whole group activity and show and tell.  They will be onsite during the afternoon and continue with Music on Monday and Library on Friday afternoons. Mrs. Rollehiser will take over managing of the offsite parent google document beginning immediately.  Mrs. McCaw will teach Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and will remain onsite all three days. An updated weekly schedule will go home this week. NEW: Families are invited to join us Thursday mornings for family reading during 8:45 to 9am. Children will come in through our outsi...

Good morning I hope that your family finds some time today to enjoy a walk outdoors or family play. I am hanging out with our younger daughter doing some wedding planning and enjoying time together with lunch at the Rusty Rake in Nanoose and a nature walk. Our food grant has arrived and we have been busy in the kitchen. On Wednesday we baked cinnamon and raisin bread. The children enjoyed a couple of slices with either WOW butter or regular butter. We decided that next time we would add extra raisins. This week we will plan to bake cheese bread. Milk and oranges were added to our morning snacks as well as "ants on a log" using up some of our wow butter, celery and raisins. In math the children have begun to explore the question  What Is a pattern? i have invited them to use loose parts in the classroom to build patterns and notice what other children are doing. Last week we began to name their patterns during math exploration for their learning partner. We are fortunate to ha...

Good afternoon, One area of focus in my classroom is on strengthening the social emotional aspect of learning. A child who is not emotionally ready is not ready to learn. We learn about emotions and how they make us feel and can affect our learning. We practice strategies to get our minds and bodies ready to learn. We also learn to respect the emotions of others and in the process understand how we can help others in our classroom community. We focus on this daily, so that it becomes a part of our day and so your child develops a deep understanding of who they are, how to regulate their emotions so that they can be the best they can be! The children have been introduced to the WITS program and are practicing using the strategies in the classroom to solve problems, promote kindness, develop empathy and manage peaceful peer interactions. Children choose one of four strategies throughout the day as needed.  By teaching strategies, modelling use of the strategies, asking children to practi...

Good morning, We are having beautiful weather this weekend and I hope that you are enjoying outdoor family walks. Our family has been walking Colliery Dam and Lynley Valley. Recently we discovered the petting zoo in Lantzville at Superior Farms and loved how clean and well cared for the animals are. This month in the forest the children found a bird's nest and we enjoyed a close-up look at some of the materials birds use to make a nest. This interest grew for some children and is reflected in their stories and play back in the classroom.  During a sensory activity the children explored nature's loose parts by collecting small bits and mashing them together to create forest perfume. I introduced the group to one of my favourite math tasks, Which One Does Not Belong.  In this routine students are asked to look at all four objects and invited to share their reasoning as to "Which One Doesn't Belong and Why?" The great thing about this routine is that there are no wro...

Good morning and happy long weekend, I wanted to share with you some of the work that your child is enjoying each day. Most of it is hands on and is working with either a peer or group of peers.  I can't wait to share little videos and photos with you once our electronic portfolios become available. We enjoyed the company of our two VIU student teachers last week, Ms. M and Ms. S. They spent the time observing and interacting with your children. They will return for Wednesday mornings in the classroom with our children for the remainder of this month. We have been working on our first guided identity inquiry,  through play, structured talks, activities and picture books. Last week the children cooked applesauce in small groups and began to notice similarities and differences amongst themselves  such as who had tasted homemade applesauce before, who regularly cooks with their family and a few food preferences They have also begun to notice other things such as family habits. On Thur...

SUCCESSFUL MATH CENTRES  REGGIO INSPIRED PRIMARY PROGRAM Have a clear understanding of your goal. I see children as competent, curious and capable I  know that the students will be joyful learners if I am doing my job well. Here are  the goals considered when developing a  program: 1.     Students are invested in their community and enjoy        rigorous work. 2.     Students work well in an organized, beautiful space. 3.     Students should be treated with interest, respect and          high expectations. 4.     Kindness, patience and time are integrated into the         program 5.     Knowing and reflecting their interests is a priority. ORGANIZE  SUCCESSFUL MATH CENTRES   A REGGIO INSPIRED PROGRAM   1.     Invest time to teach your expectations. Students          need to  fully understand how to access materials,          clean up,  bathroom rules, movement and how to          work with  a learning partner. 2.      Provide explicit teaching on student jobs and        responsibilitie...

 A REGGIO INSPIRED LENS IN A KINDERGARTEN SPACE I  am so very fortunate to have a entire wall of windows that look out over the ocean and have a view of a beautiful fir tree. The natural light is so lovely and decreases the need for overhead lights. Instead we have lamps distributed throughout the classroom to light up the dark corners I usually have empty picture frames attached to a wall using 3m velcro and the students opt to display their art but last year I moved the frames into the hall and hung a clothesline on the wall because the Kinders looooooved big art pieces and the frames were too small.  We have a small  board in the cubby which we use for our Birthday Math Wall display. These two side by side boards are used for our family photos and drawings. In the fall when the children arrive they are empty waiting for our families to share their hopes and dreams and for the children's drawings to be celebrated. These two white boards are used for organization and our project...