Mrs.Speare's and Mrs. Murray's Kindergarten A great place to learn 

We have been enjoying photos of baby turkey chicks as they have been growing at Braedon’s house. This has sparked an investigation about eggs and animals that come from eggs. We’ve been learning about reptiles, birds, amphibians and insects. We also enjoyed the surprises that came to school in the plastic eggs. The children did a great job sharing their clues and guessing what was in the eggs. Thanks to parents who helped their children with this fun activity. It gave the students opportunities to speak to a large group of peers and to make “smart” guesses by listening to the clues given.
One of the eggs had beans in it. Someone proposed that they were “Jack in the Beanstalk” beans and they would grow up into the sky. We put the beans in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel by the window to see if they will grow. We’ll keep you posted.

On Friday, we had beach day in Kindergarten. Did you ask your child about what happened to Hudson, our “stuffed” pet hamster? Well, he decided that he’d like to try swimming. After the students made predictions about whether or not he’d sink or float, Hudson took a few dips into our bucket of water and with the encouragement of children chanting “Cannonball! Cannonball!” (started by Jacob T.), he fell into the pool from various heights, much to the delight of the children. Hudson did float and then enjoyed the rest of the afternoon sunbathing (and taking a spin in the dryer) to dry out. Jacob suggested that Hudson needed a boat so this upcoming week, we’ll explore ways of making boats with a variety of materials. We’d appreciate any donations of things which could be used in our projects. We hope that Hudson is game for more swimming as I’m sure it will take a few design attempts to make a boat that supports a hamster.

Well, it happened. Our class reached our goal for Reading Minute Raiser! On Friday, we “exploded” out the top of our thermometre. Later this week, we’ll celebrate with some of the ideas we brainstormed. For every 100 minutes that your child has read, they will receive a ballot for a prize draw. Thanks to all our families for supporting reading at home.

Our class is well on its way to meeting our reading goal. Can you believe it? We have read over 4,000 minutes! Thanks for supporting your child and creating a fun way to celebrate and practice reading at home! We have brainstormed fun ideas of what to do when we “fill our thermometre”. We’ll keep you updated.

Happy Easter to all our families!

During one of the very warm days last week, our class went out to the school courtyard and enjoyed a picnic snack provided by “Moms in Touch”. Our class discussed how we could make the courtyard more beautiful and planned to clean up the old leaves and debris. We did that today and hope that this helps our student leadership team as they get ready to begin their beautification plan for the courtyard.

Hi! We are requesting that all Reading Minute Raiser forms be kept in your child’s green folder so that we can update our minutes each day on the thermometer in the main hall. So far, our class has over 2,000 reading minutes. Our class goal is 6,000 reading minutes.

A child’s imagination is an amazing thing. Derek and Mack, pretending to be animal trappers (otherwise known as Billy, the exterminator), cut and hid paper snakes around our class. Pretty soon, lots of children were making snakes and colouring rats. For a joke, we took the snakes to Mr. Dorsey’s office while he wasn’t there and surprised him with a snake “infestation”. Of course, when we trap animals, we are kind and release them to safer and happier places (Derek says that’s called “trap and release”). After March Break, we will continue to research about snakes, learn about measurement and turn our dramatic play centre into an animal sanctuary. If you have stuffed animals (or small boxes) that would be appropriate, please send them in and we will build and paint cages for the animals. When children are interested in a subject, their minds are keen to learn and willing to spend time and energy to read and write and explore.
**Please note that Mrs. Murray and I have never watched the TV show “Billy the Exterminator” and don’t know what it is like. Yes, this is our disclaimer:)

We will have a PJ Day on Friday. Wear your favourite pyjamas and bring a favourite stuffed animal.
We would also like to express our gratitude to Miss Rooney and all our parent volunteers who read regularly with our students!

The students brainstormed ideas of ways we could do something for other people in our school. One of the most popular ideas was to make paper flowers and “sneak” them to students and teachers. The flowers will have a paper leaf with the “Pay It Forward” phrase. Hopefully, we’ll inspire others to find ways to act kindly.

Last week, we had a visit from Tom who spoke with the students about his job as a police officer. He also spoke to the children about staying safe. He recommends that children know the names of their parents, their address and phone number. This information could be very important should a child ever need help.