Dear Families, The rainy season has definitely arrived and we are transitioning to staying onsite during our stormy mornings but trying as much as possible to go offsite and have outdoor play during November and December. Please send your child to school dressed for the weather as Mrs. Noble seldom schedules an indoor recess. Both Miss Sherry and I will be away on Wednesday morning at a district workshop. We will do our very best to prepare the substitute teacher for a onsite morning with the children. Ms. Macdonald will begin her practicum at the end of November and will remain with us through to December 17th. On Monday we will begin inviting your children to share their name stories. I have already shared my name story with the children and Miss Sherry will be sharing her name story on Monday. I have been working with students 1:1 on letter formation focusing on a few students each day either offsite or in the classroom. This ...

With the onset of our rainy season we will have some mornings onsite but still continue with our outdoor play. It was so lovely to come in from puddle jumping on Wednesday to some hot cocoa and marshmallows. We borrowed mugs from the staff room and I brought hot cocoa and milk from home. Mrs. Lambert donated mini marshmallows. It made me realize that the children would really enjoy having a warm drink station in the classroom and I would enjoy the easier set up rather than trekking to the staffroom to borrow the kettle and mugs.   I am interested in setting up a  warm drink station in the classroom and am looking for the following donations: electric kettle used large pot ladle small mugs (not plastic please) spoons hot cocoa milk apple cider berry tea 1 pkg mini marshmallows tray dish soap Please let me know if you would like to donate an item. Thank you, Liz McCaw...

http://www.paper-and-glue.com/2017/01/winter-stem-build-snowflake-tinker-tray.html Winter Stem Tinker Tray from What We Do With Paper and Glue I have included loose parts in my kindergarten program for years and am continuously amazed at the engagement, creativity and language that develops with the playful open-ended experiences that my learners enjoy. Over the years I have become a big fan of tinker trays. It started in our class atelier when I happened upon some great wooden trays at a garage sale and then it grew from there. The boxes were the perfect size to fit on the atelier tables and easy to fill using repurposed berry boxes with small treasures. Once the art tinker tray is introduced to the children they are really great at keeping it organized and I leave it on the shelves all year. If this is something that you decide to offer your students I always recommend just taking your time and begin with small quantities in the sections. I simply replenish the art materials regularl...