October 2015           

Dear Parents,

We have now settled into a regular routine with 29 children in the class. We are all getting to know each other. It is a wonderful class and we are looking forward to our many learning adventures together this year! It was great to meet many of you at the Open House. We hope you enjoyed looking around the class and learning about some of the things we have been doing in the first couple of weeks of school.  If you wish to volunteer in the classroom, please jote a note in your child’s communication book and indicate your preferred frequency, times and days.  Your help is always appreciated.

Religion/Family Life

The first couple of months of school are spent getting to know one another, talking about our families and how to be a good friend and deal with conflicts.  As Thanksgiving approaches, we are thinking about all the things we have to be thankful for such as our families and friends, our homes and the food we eat.  Thank you to those of you who have sent in a family photo.  We will be displaying these in the classroom and we will also be making a class book to keep in our classroom safe place.

Math

We have been focusing on Number Sense and Numeration and Data Management in math.  The students are given many opportunities to demonstrate an understanding of numbers (0-10) using concrete materials to explore and investigate counting, quantity and number relations.  For Data Management, the students have been conducting simple surveys in class and have been practising using tallies to record their classmates’ answers. We use the simple rhyme to make bundles of five tallies: 1,2,3,4, number 5 shuts the door. We have also been collecting data and representing this data on concrete graphs (apple graphs, transportation graph, birthday graph...).  

French

We have been singing a lot of French songs since the beginning of the school year.  We have started to record them and these will be posted in the blog for you to listen at home.  We have also been working on the play of the Three Little Pigs and the words are up on the blog if you want to practice the play with your children at home.

Science

Since the beginning of the school year, the students have been building fabulous structures with the blocks, lego and straws.  They have also been weighing apples and various items in the classroom, testing to see what floats as well as classifying, ordering and examining rocks & seashells with a magnifying glass at the science table.  During the month of October, we will focus more on fall (ex: different squashes, leaves, pumpkins, etc…).

Food

Thank you for sending peanut and nut free snacks and lunches to school.  A few children have expressed to us that they are still hungry once their lunch kit is empty.  Even though we realize that lots of food is being packed, the children have very busy days and their appetites are increasing. Please ask your child if an extra snack/food item is needed…..sometimes they tell us in the moment but forget to let you know at the end of the day.  :)

Upcoming Important Dates

Friday, October 9th - PA Day (no school for students)

Monday, October 12th - Thanksgiving Monday (no school)

Tuesday, October 13th - School Council Meeting @ 6:30 PM

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend!

Mme Dolgos, Mrs. Caule & Mrs. Stafford