Month: January 2019

Parkcrest had the privilege in welcoming Coach Jamie from the Burnaby Lakers Lacrosse team into our school. We had the opportunity to receive two lacrosse lessons. We had an in-depth look at the safety equipment that is used by each player in the game, as well as the proper equipment that is used in the game.

During the first lesson, we learned the fundamental skills that are used in the game. Once we were comfortable and confident with the taught skills, we then played some games.

Like many group sports, Lacrosse serves many benefits to your child’s well being.

• It will instill a sense of discipline in your child that will spill over to everyday life.

• The game of Lacrosse requires players to be alert and observant, as a result this will improve mental agility and concentration levels in your child.

• Lacrosse will teach the importance of patience to your child, as it involves a lot of practice and patience to get a scoring goal on the field.

• Playing Lacrosse also involves an immense amount of physical exercise. It will help to improve your child’s overall mental and physical development.

• As Lacrosse is a team sport, your child will learn how to interact with different people and reach a common goal. It will improve your child’s social skills as well as learn to read body language.

Coding? What is Coding?

Today we were introduced to a hot topic, Coding. Coding, also called programming, is a skill-set that students will be using in their future, such as high school, University and perhaps even a career as a skilled coder or programmer. Coding is a beneficial skill to add to our tool-belts as it also supports our development in perseverance and problem-solving.

Today we used the fundamental concepts of coding by following the instructions of a code and successfully followed it. The students caught onto this like wild fire. Stay tuned as we will be incorporating this coding concept into an upcoming Social Studies project.

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Do you ever get a bee in your bonnet, or knots in your tummy all due to a worry? This can be very common for many of us. Sometimes we can have worry thoughts that come into our mind and quickly exit, and or, there are other times when these worries can weigh heavy upon us and it proves great difficulty to get these ideas out of our head.

We created The Worry Cauldron as a safe place to write down or draw our worries so that we can let them go from our mind and our heart. By letting go of our worries, allows us to move on with our day and be present.

Next stop? NBA playoffs!

This week we have started exploring basketball skills. To be perfectly honest, this is hard. It always takes a lot of hard work when learning something new. The kiddos should all be commemorated on their hard work.

They are working hard at:

• listening to the new instructions
• practicing the new skills
• working with others and being part of a team
• encouraging others
• not giving up when things get tough
• always trying, trying again right after things were really, REALLY hard

I am so proud of our young athletes who are consistently trying and never giving up!

To start the new year off we took a close look at our D.N.A.

Our DNA is what makes each of us uniquely who we are. It is that double helix that our genes are made of. Our DNA is what accounts for why we resemble our family members, it distinguishes us from others, including our furry pets at home!

Now in Div 6 we have been reflecting and discussing what our DNA is, but this is not our deoxyribonucleic acid, but rather, our Dreams, Needs and Abilities.

Dreams: What are our future dreams and aspirations? Is your dream to travel around the globe? Or, perhaps to learn a new skill, language or instrument? Is your dream to one day get a pet, or is it to become a veterinarian when you grow up? The world is your oyster, so keep dreaming kiddos!

Needs: What are your needs? We have learned that for human survival we need food, water, shelter, air and sleep. However, what else do you personally need? Is it a bedtime story before bed, or is it to make sure your nightlight is on before the lights go out? Do you need a hug on a sad day? Or, is it that you need to start each morning with a cup of tea (like Mrs. Ralph)?

Finally, what are your Abilities? What is something that you can do? Abilities that I have observed within our classroom walls include the ability to show empathy for others, take new learning risks, think outside the box, stand up for others, say “I’m sorry” when mistakes are made. The list can go on and on as the kiddos in Division 6 are full of unique and different abilities.

* The students typed out their D.N.A, selecting their very own font and size for each statement. Their typing skills are improving week by week. Please encourage your child to continue typing on the computer at home, this will support their ability to locate each letter on the keyboard as well as increase their confidence and ability.

Homework for our readers: Share with your child what your D.N.A. is – what are your dreams, needs and abilities.?