Author: F Loungsay

Follow my blog at http://sd41blogs.ca/loungsayf/

Celebrations & Community Spirit

The second term was filled with celebration and community spirit! From honouring our shared milestones to diving into new learning adventures, we’ve had plenty of reasons to cheer. We also made and displayed some fabulous artwork!

At the end of January, our school had a special visit from local British Columbia author and educator, Cathy Hussey. She brought her passion for storytelling and the natural world directly to our readers. Cathy’s work often reflects her deep connection to the Pacific Northwest and her background in working with young learners. Her book, Doug: The Story of a Tree, is a heartwarming tale designed for children (ages 6–8) that explores themes of growth, resilience, and the interconnectedness of nature.

 

We learned about ourselves and shared information about our families with our classmates. Our “I Am From” poems are simple, personal reflections that foster self-identity and creative expression. We love that they are original and list favourites or feelings about ourselves. At the Pink Shirt Day assembly, some of us read out our poems about why our families are special.

 

We celebrated Valentine’s Day, Lunar New Year, 100th Day, and learned about Anti-Bullying (Pink Shirt Day) and Black History Month. Please see our beautiful Valentine’s Day bags – we filled these with cards and messages for our friends. We made bracelets with special words and experimented with a variety of materials in Art. We also learned and talked about the Olympics in Italy!

 

During the 100th Day of School, we jumped 100 times (over the week). We imagined what it might look like in the future when we are 100 years old! We created necklaces with 100 beads/Cheerios. We continued to explore a variety of Math and Literacy activities. We can now count by 10s to 100, and we are reading so many new words!

 

We got to know our Div. 6 Big Buddies a little bit more and managed to do some fun activities with them!

 

The Planetarium visited our school Gym. Ocean Wise marine educators took us into the Sea Dome, a large black dome theatre, and we had a blast watching the big screen. We learned about sea animals and protecting our waterways. The educators brought some marine artifacts and we were able to touch things like shark jaws and sea turtle shells.

 

We ended this term with inviting our families to come into our classrooms for Student-led Conferences, and we were able to show our family members just a few of the things we learned in school.

 

What a fun Term 2 we had!  Please have a wonderful and enjoyable Spring Break!  See you back at school on Monday, March 30!

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Our two kindergarten classes had such a fun experience visiting Laity Pumpkin Patch (South side) in Maple Ridge. For many of the students, it was their very first pumpkin patch experience. And for the majority, it was their first school bus ride! The morning began with clouds and a chance of light rain. The students were prepared for the rain with boots and rain gear. The weather held out for us, and our cloudy day turned into a fabulous sun-shiny afternoon!

Students had ample time to explore in small groups, thanks to our parent volunteers. The children were excited to visit the barn and the outdoor areas with many animals!  We were able to see and touch some of the animals. We saw goats, a “mountain” of sheep, a village of rabbits, chickens, turkeys, and even the “three little pigs” who lived in their houses of straw, sticks and bricks!

The area was divided into many smaller areas for exploration. The western pumpkin town had creative pumpkin displays. Some of the children’s favourites were the saloon and the sheriff’s office where students could pose as the “town thief” inside a jail. Inside the Garden Glow tent was a walk-through of fluorescent pumpkins and characters. Students also enjoyed the corn mazes and obstacle courses. The large games area featured ball tosses, pinball-inspired challenges, pumpkin tic-tac-toe and other unique puzzles and trick shot games.

Students enjoyed the Laity Launcher pumpkin cannon show; it hurled pumpkins at some large stacked barrels. It was such a huge “hit” with the children. At the end of the trip, we travelled to the pumpkin field and each student chose a pumpkin to take home!

It was a bumpy but quick bus ride back to school. Some children managed to get a quick nap on the bus! Ms. Steverding led us with some fun bus-riding songs!

During our journal writing the next day, students were asked to share about their favourite part of the trip, here are a few things that were said:

“I loved petting the animals.”

“It was hard to pick (a pumpkin)…I wish I could take lots!”

“The pigs – I loved the houses.”

“I liked sticking my head out the holes for pictures.”

“I love bus ride.”

“It was glowing and singing in the tent.”

“I love the cute animals. I love cats and bunnies.”

“I like riding the bouncy animals.” (the inflatable toys)

Please ask your child to tell you what their favourite memory or moment was, and feel free to share their answers below in the comment box.

Thank you so much to our educational assistants (Ms. Lee, Ms. Nguyen), as well as all the parent volunteers, and the parents who were able to join us for this memorable field trip! Also thank you to the parents who helped to take photos.

 

And It Begins!

Dear Families,

We are excited to welcome a new class of kindergartners into our room!  Three weeks just flew by, with lots of fun involved. We have enjoyed exploring, creating, building, observing, and most importantly, forming friendships and relationships in our classroom community. Thank you, Parents, for your support, organization and enthusiasm. We are looking forward to getting to know you and your families. What a fun year it will be!

Ms. Lai & Ms. Loungsay

Gymnastics

The children had a blast exploring the different stations led by Lucinda of Gym Sense Gymnastics. Lucinda did a wonderful job of introducing the children to the equipment safely and in a fun way. Many students stated they had never tried Gymnastics equipment before, and some were a little hesitant to start. Students developed their skills in strength, flexibility, balance and coordination, confidence and most importantly, they had fun!  Individual photos of children will be sent to you in separate emails.

Some comments from the children:
“I liked the beams.”
“I love swinging and climbing the rope.”
“It was hard to stand on the balancing thing, but I liked it.”
“The monkey bars were hard. But fun.”

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

We had a fun day at Aldor Acres! For many of us, it was our first time riding a school bus. At the farm, we saw goats, donkeys, ducks, sheep, bunnies, emus and more. There were even some newborn piglets! The huge piles of hay were fun to jump in. We took a tractor hayride to the patch and picked our own pumpkins to take home.

Fun Fact – “Al-Dor” Acres is named after the owners, Albert and Dorothy!

Ask your child, what was his/her favourite part of the day? Let us know in the comment box below!

Some of the photos were taken by our parent volunteers. Thank you again for joining us and helping to supervise the children.