Outdoor Kindergarten

Our snowy outdoor days were a lot of fun last week! Then we finished off the week with our first skating lesson and Family Fun Night! I hope everyone who was able to go enjoyed it. Kudos to all the parent volunteers for both those events on Friday.

*Please fill in the survey form sent by email last week. It is very important for LEAP teachers and Admin to know who is returning next year. Thank you!

The week ahead: March 6-10

• Monday – At the park
• Tuesday – At the park. BBQ lunch.
• Wednesday – At FLE. Early Dismissal for Student-led Conferences @ 1:08.
• Thursday – At FLE. Early Dismissal for Student-led Conferences @ 1:08.
• Friday – Skating @ 8:20-11:30. Bus back to FLE for Fun Lunch. Remember snow pants and gloves. Big winter coats not necessary – kids were sweaty hot but need the cushioning on the knees, bums and hands! School Spirit Theme: Inside Out or Backwards Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids might like more of the white stuff, but I am ready for spring!

We’ll finish off the week before Spring Break with a StoryWalk activity, journaling our favourite things about Williams Park, and a BBQ lunch on Tuesday!

If you signed up to bring something, THANK YOU! Here’s a picture of the sign up sheet in case you forgot. Please label and put the food inside the shelter when you arrive. Should be cool enough to not need ice packs (Unfortunately, ha ha). No one has yet signed up to come help prepare and serve the lunch.  Send me an email if you are able to help from 11:45 to 12:45. We would really appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

 

 Have a wonderful Spring Break!!

We learned a lot about bees at the Honeybee Centre and really enjoyed tasting 3 different types of honey.

• Monday/Tuesday – This week, we’ll start with a snowy day at the park. When/if the snow play ends, we’ll also get to do a Story Walk about a little girl’s special connection to nature and home. After making a rock rainbow last week, students were curious about where the colours in rocks come from. So we’ll investigate rocks and minerals this week as well.
• Wednesday – At FLE.
• Thursday – At FLE. Book exchange day.
• Friday – Meet at Sportsplex for our first skating lesson. We bus/drive back to school for 11:45. Family Fun Night!
• Be sure to sign up for a Student-led conference time on March 8 or 9.

 

Last week’s rain led to adventurous hiking with big buddies to help on the slippery sections. We practiced writing and drawing our questions in nature journals, wondering why the water was orange in this area of the creek beach. Cones and sticks were our pretend money for understanding ways to make ten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The week ahead: February 14-17

• Tuesday – at the park. Bring your valentine’s cards! We’ll make heart art in the park with natural materials.
• Wednesday – at FLE. Please send in all remaining permission forms. Police Career presentation. Book Fair!
• Thursday – at FLE. Book exchanges. Beekeeping Career presentation. Book Fair!
• Friday – at FLE. Be A Giant assembly. Teacher Career presentation. Donut Day and Book Fair!

The taste of winter we had last week led to new ways of learning and playing. We loved noticing the frost crystals growing out of the earth, building and sliding with the snow, and using snow as a material for playing games. We also worked with our big buddies on transforming materials to create toy animal habitats, we learned about the cedar tree’s many uses, including baskets and tea. We combined literacy and movement in the storywalk “The Gruffalo” and created fun masks for creative play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The week ahead: February 6-10

• Monday – at the park. Learning includes outdoor literacy stations, ways to make ten, and wonder journals.
• Tuesday – at the park. LEAP Information Night at 5:30pm in the school gym. For families interested in grades 1-4 who have not yet attended an info session.
• Wednesday – At FLE. Earthquake Drill. Please return all permission forms for Skating and Honeybee Centre. School Cash Online is available for payment. Please see me if you missed any of the forms sent last week: Honeybee Centre, Skating, Giants game, FLE Fun Night
• Thursday – At FLE. Book exchanges. Fun Lunch.
• Friday – No school for students. Professional Development Day. I will be working on writing instruction and Indigenous ways of learning.

 

 Groundhog Day is a great opportunity to practice predicting and wondering about weather, light and shadow.

 

 

 

 

The week ahead: Jan. 30-Feb. 3

Looks like a very chilly few days ahead! We will avoid creek play to stay dry.

• Monday – Outside. Storywalk: The Gruffalo
• Tuesday – Outside. Bring a cup or mug for sampling cedar tea.
• Wednesday – At FLE. Honeybee Centre field trip notice sent home.
• Thursday – At FLE. Book exchange day. Groundhog Day.
• Friday – At FLE.

Last week, we soaked up a mixture of cultural richness from Kwantlen drumming, singing and games, to tap dancing, Korean hanbok outfits, Chinese dragon parade and more. We also had a fun visit to Andy’s Farm and an afternoon at the beach! A warm thank you to Jin Kim for her assistance!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The week ahead: Jan. 23-27

This week’s outdoor learning in Science will focus on cedar – the tree of life. We’ll observe, touch and learn about the parts of the tree, its significance and uses.

• Monday/Tuesday – at the park
• Wednesday – at FLE.
• Thursday – at FLE. Library and Home Reading book exchange. Fun lunch.
• Friday – at FLE.

Twin Day! My ‘twin sister’ Ms. Hawley and I had fun dressing alike.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week we explored the Fort and listened to a story about the sturgeon, a species at risk in the Fraser River. Some of our explorers even found GOLD! We also became Waste Warriors, by learning how to sort our garbage using the 3 R’s. The week ahead will include learning about local community places like the goat farm, the parks, the Fraser River, and the Kwantlen community. We begin learning about cultural celebrations in our community like Lunar New Year in fun ways like an Asian Restaurant play centre, Chinese character printing centre, dragon puppet craft and lion dance parade. Welcome the Year of the Rabbit!

The week at a glance: January 16-20

• Monday – Begin and end at FLE. Community Walk to the goat farm.
• Tuesday – Begin at Kwantlen Cultural Centre, end at Brae Island.
• Wednesday – At FLE. Tap Co. dance performance.
• Thursday – At FLE. Library and Home Reading book exchange.
• Friday – At FLE. Lunar New Year celebrations in our class.

We had a great first week back – everyone was happy to play together again. I’m always amazed at how the kids seem to grow up over the holidays! This week we’re beginning a Social Studies unit on Community. I love that our students learn authentically in local places so that knowledge can reach them through seeing, hearing, doing and through their connections to the familiar. Storytelling is another powerful mode of learning and this week we are so fortunate to have Fern Gabriel, otherwise known by her traditional name, Sesmalot, share her teachings with us through stories.

The week ahead at a glance: January 9-13

• Monday – Start and end at FLE. Community Walk to the Fort.
• Tuesday – Start and end at FLE. Community Walk.
• Wednesday – Dental Screening for K students. Lockdown drill will be happening in the afternoon. I will help the students learn about the how/why we do this drill and you may want to de-brief with them afterwards.
• Thursday – Library and Home Reading book exchange. Students should keep their home reading books for a week of practice.
• Friday – LEPS is coming to teach us about recycling and waste. This is a free workshop. It is also Fun Lunch and Black Excellence day!

* Looking ahead: This week we also begin a new Special Helper routine: “Guess my object”. In Science, we are working on questioning and properties of materials. When your child brings home the bag, help them choose a mystery object that others can guess by asking questions about its properties: shape, colour, size, texture…I hope your child has fun show-and-telling their mystery object!

Welcome back to school after our winter holiday break! Tomorrow, drop off and pick up is at the classroom. We’ll walk to a local park for nature exploration. Please repack the backpacks to be sure they include all the essentials for being comfy outdoors.

• Tuesday, January 3 – At FLE. Walk to a park.
• Wednesdsay, Jan. 4 – At FLE.
• Thursday, Jan. 5 – At FLE. Library book exchange.
• Friday, Jan. 6 – At FLE. In the winter term, we are indoors on Fridays but may spend extra time outside in the school yard or community.