We made it through our first week! It's been fun getting to know everyone a little. The kids are quickly getting to know our routines, they're making friends with each other, and in some kind of kindergarten miracle, we haven't even had a washroom accident... yet!
Thank you for all the mail and for sending in some extra clothes. We will do our very best to keep track of our belongings at school and only keep indoor shoes and our extra clothes at school overnight. Having names on everything (everything) will help us return things to their rightful owner. I have really enjoyed reading your letters to me - you've included some very helpful information in there. If you have not yet had a chance to write to me, or complete the school forms, please try to get these items back to school by the end of next week.
We have had time this week to talk about several positive reward systems that we have in place in our classroom. Ask your student what they get stars for, and what they can earn jetons for! I have also been sending home Bravo notes to recognize excellent or very helpful behaviour at school. I hope you read these with your child and celebrate their efforts!
As I wrote in my letter, we have discussed 4 positive classroom rules, and we've been talking about how we know when someone is listening. The kids also came up with a few other dos and don'ts which have more to do with our physical safety. We wrote these down and every student was willing to sign an agreement to say that they will try their best to follow our class and school rules. Please ask your student what some important classroom and school rules are.
We have also discussed some basic emergency procedures and have done some informal practices just within our class. Ask your student what we do if the fire alarm sounds.
Aside from all this important beginning of the year stuff, we've been having fun at our centres and outside every day. I'm getting to know what everyone likes to do, and they have been excellent sports about some of our toys being late arriving. Actually, the kids have been sharing materials with no problem at all.
As you hopefully saw on our calendar, you are invited to our welcome barbecue and curriculum night on Thursday September 20th. This will be a chance for you to look around our classroom with your child - see all the centre activities they can chose from every day, and see some of their earliest pictures that are already up on our walls. I hope to see you all then!
I enjoy posting pictures here so that you can feel more a part of our school day. Since I don't have all media forms back yet, I can't show everyone, but here are a few moments from this first week! If you haven't yet had a chance, please scroll down to all the info I posted before school began.
See you soon, Tamara
