Author: laij

January Adventures  

Happy 2026, families! We had a wonderful month of learning, exploring, and settling back into our routines after the winter break. Here’s a peek at what we’ve been up to in January: 

 

In math we focused on naming, sorting, and finding shapes in our classroom and around the school. We also learned a brand‑new math game called “First to 10!” The students practiced counting, taking turns, and using good sportsmanship.  

In literacy, we continued strengthening our understanding of letters and sounds. We continued working with CVC (consonant‑vowel‑consonant) words, learning how to tap and blend sounds to read simple words. The students are becoming confident little readers—it’s exciting to see their skills grow! 

We are discovering how different animals hibernate, migrate, or adapt to the cold season. The children loved learning fun facts and sharing their own wonderings!  

 

We are continuing to practice retelling stories. We read the winter tale The Mitten. Ask your child to retell the story to you—see how many characters and events they remember! We also enjoyed the story Over and Under the Snow, which helped us connect to our winter animals unit. After reading, the children created and wrote their own “over and under” stories. Be sure to ask your child to share their story with you! 

 

This month we also celebrated Literacy Day with our school community. We attended a fun and energetic assembly, where each child brought a knowledge card to the gym. They had a special moment to share the fact on their card with a friend sitting nearby. Our class focused on animals that hibernate in the winter. After lunch, we had a lot of fun reading in the dark. It was a huge hit!  

 

We also had our first visit with our Big Buddies in Division 6, and the children were so excited to meet their older partners! They spent time getting to know each other and sharing stories together. We’re looking forward to more buddy time in the coming months!

 

We read the book One Word for Kids, which inspired us to think about a word that will help us be our best selves this year. We brainstormed words like kind, strong, fast, love, smile, sing, family. Each child chose a word that was meaningful to them, wrote it down, and created a bracelet to wear as a reminder.  

A December to Remember in Kindergarten

December may have been a short three weeks, but our kindergarten classroom was filled with big learning and even bigger fun! The children stayed busy with festive and creative activities, starting with cookie decorating and lots of arts and crafts that helped them practice fine motor skills while expressing their creativity. We also explored learning about leaves through art, connecting seasonal changes to hands-on creative projects.

 

We danced our way through the month by learning a hip hop–choreographed routine and proudly performing it, showing confidence and teamwork. Literacy came alive as students retold The Gingerbread Man, acting out the story and strengthening their comprehension skills. As a class, we also worked together on a Christmas puzzle, learning the importance of patience, cooperation, and helping one another.

 

One of the highlights was making Stone Soup with Ms. Steverding’s class. The children peeled, chopped, cooked, and then shared a meal together to celebrate teamwork and community. They also enjoyed open play time with friends, building social skills, imagination, and cooperation through play. We wrapped up the month with cozy moments like movie day, a special pancake breakfast and lots of open play. December was short but sweet, and full of memories we’ll carry into the new year!

 

We would like to wish all our families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and thank you so much for your generous gifts and continued support—it truly means a lot!

November – Learning, Remembering, and Exploring

Our class talked about the importance of Remembrance Day. It is a day to honour soldiers, veterans and families who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Each class made a wreath for the wreath laying ceremony. Div. 12 and 13 read a poem called “Little Poppy” at the assembly.

We learned the poppy became a symbol for Remembrance Day.

 

We deepened our understanding of Remembrance Day by looking at words that remind us of its meaning. Some friends shared about family members who bravely fought in the war, helping us connect our learning to real-life stories.

 

We also read The Peace Book by Todd Parr and shared our thoughts about what brings us peace. Ask your child to share what gives them peace.

 

During literacy exploration, we continued learning letter names and their corresponding sounds. We are practicing letter formation and have recently begun building CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. In math exploration, we are showing our learning by using loose parts to create and extend patterns.

 

Inspired by Lois Ehlert’s book Leaf Man, we collected leaves and used them to imagine their own characters and adventures. Some created leaf animals, while others created magical journeys for their Leaf Man. Afterwards, we wrote about our leaf creatures and the places they traveled. Ask your child to share their story with you—it’s a wonderful way to celebrate their creativity!

 

We became scientists and used our five senses to explore bread making. Div. 12 touched the dough, smelled the yeast, listened to the bubbling sounds, watched the dough rise, and of course, tasted the finished bread.

Before baking, we made predictions: Which way will make more bread? Which would taste better—the one baked in the oven or the one made in the bread machine?

Everyone showed wonderful patience as they waited for their turn to help with the bread-making steps. When it came time to taste, excitement filled the room. We compared the two breads, noticing differences in texture, flavor, and appearance. Thank you to Ms. Steverding for showing us how to make bread!

 

Together, we worked on building our Class Promise. We brainstormed ideas about how we can take care of ourselves, each other, and our classroom. Suggestions included being kind, listening to friends, sharing, and helping when someone needs help. We wrote these ideas down and turned them into promises that everyone signed with their name and handprint.

 

We have a special tree in our Parkcrest forest that we will visit all year long. We’ll watch how it changes with the seasons, notice what happens to its leaves, and make drawings to show what we discover.

 

 

October – Autumn Adventures

This month has been full of excitement, curiosity, and friendship in our kindergarten classroom! As the leaves turned colours, our young learners explored the wonderful themes of apples, pumpkins, and celebrations from around the world.

We began our journey by discovering apples—tasting different varieties, labeling parts of an apple, and making apple prints with paint. The children loved learning about how apples grow and sharing which kind was their favorite!

 

We talked about Thanksgiving—a time to be grateful and to share kindness. The class shared what they are thankful for, from family and friends to food and toys. We made “Thankful Leaves,” where each leaf showed something special that fills our hearts with gratitude. We also had fun painting rainbow turkeys for Thanksgiving!

Next came pumpkins, we went on our first field trip to the pumpkin patch (see pumpkin patch post), we explored the inside of a pumpkin, their life cycle and tasted pumpkin seeds.

 

Our Halloween celebration was filled with costumes and laughter as we explored different ADST (Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies) challenges and math with a Halloween twist.

 

We also learned about Diwali, the Festival of Lights. The children listened to stories about how Diwali is celebrated and made colorful rangoli patterns and paper diyas to brighten our room.

 

Division 12 learning and exploring hands-on activities in literacy, math, and art.

 

During Story Workshop, our classroom came alive with stories from our trip to the pumpkin patch! Division 12 used their voices and imaginations to share their favourite moments — from finding the perfect pumpkin to completing the obstacle course and corn maze. Ask your child to share their story with you.

Our young artists explored self-expression! They looked closely at their reflections in mirrors to draw detailed self-portraits, noticing the unique shapes and features that make them special.

September

The fun continues… Here’s a little glimpse of what we have been doing.

We made friendship bracelets to remind us to be kind to our friends.

 

Morning reading and morning exploration help set our day to a good start.

 

We were all very excited to explore in our Parkcrest forest.

 

We learned Terry Fox is a Canadian hero who raised millions of dollars for cancer research through his Marathon of Hope event. We were honored to have Terry‘s niece come to Parkcrest this year to inform our community about Terry Fox’s inspiring legacy.  Our class participated in the event by running around our field and raising money for cancer research.  We raised over our school goal of $1500.  Looks like Ms. Ralph will be kissing a fish!

 

For Truth and Reconciliation Day, we learned the day honours the children who never returned home and survivors of residential schools. We brainstormed words every child should feel and have…

On September 24, an Indigenous Elder and Elder Latash came to our school and led the handing over ceremony of the Two Sisters Mural to Parkcrest.     

Fun in the Sun

Our kindergarteners had a fantastic time celebrating the end of the school year with a fun-filled field trip at Confederation Park! The day was full of watermelons, smiles and laughter.

A big thank you to all the parent volunteers who made this trip possible — we appreciate your time and support!

It’s Not a Box

Inspired by the story It’s Not a Box, our class transformed ordinary cardboard boxes into extraordinary creations! We used our imaginations to transform plain cardboard boxes into rockets, cars, animals, homes, and so much more. With just a little creativity, markers, paint, and tape, each student brought their own ideas to life. This activity sparked creative thinking and problem-solving—and most importantly, lots of fun!