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.     

All About Plants

Our kindergarten class has been learning about plants. We have been learning about the different parts of a plant, how they grow, and the importance of plants in our world.  We are having a wonderful time exploring and discovering with our friends!

We planted pretend flowers.

 

Celery and seed observation

 

Observational drawing and Van Gogh inspired sunflowers

 

Runner Beans

 

Flower shopping with pretend money

 

December

December was a short and busy month! We had a fun few weeks of Christmas events, stories, and art projects. From Twin Day to PJ Day, door decorating, ornament-making, and Santa and Mrs. Claus visiting us at our pancake breakfast, we have not had a dull moment!

Happy Holidays to you and your family! Wishing you and your family a restful and joyous season. We will see you in the New Year on January 6th!

Having fun with patterns

 

Morning Exploration

 

I Am a Story!

 

Game Day! We have been working hard learning how to share with one another. We are learning to think of others, take turns and follow the rules.

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Christmas Art

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Cookie Decorating

 

Pancake Breakfast

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September and October

 

The Kindergarten year is off to a busy start! We have been learning, playing and establishing our classroom routines.  It has been great to see friendships forming among the children as they get to know each other! Here’s a little glimpse of what we have been doing.

 

 

Learning to recognize and write our name

 

We learned Terry Fox is a Canadian hero who raised millions of dollars for cancer research through his Marathon of Hope event.  Our class participated in the event by running around our field and raising money for cancer research.

 

For Truth and Reconciliation Day, we learned the day honours the children who never returned home and survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.  We also learned a Powwow dance and saw a Powwow performance.

 

Playing with numbers 0-10

 

Learning about pumpkins

 

Ask your child to share their Leaf Man story with you.

 

We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch! Ask your child to share their favourite part of the field trip with you.

 

 

 

We had a great time celebrating Halloween together! Thank you for all the yummy treats!

 

Jack-o-lantern art

 

Halloween Stations

 

What will happened to Candy Corn when we put them in hot water, vinegar and Bubly?  Ask your child about the candy corn experiment.