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

 

Bats

Division 11 had so much fun learning about bats! We discovered that bats are amazing creatures that help our environment by eating bugs and pollinating plants. The class enjoyed reading and looking at pictures of bats, writing what they have learned and making a bat mobile.

 

 

Animals in the Winter

In the winter, we learned some animals sleep through the winter by finding a cozy place to hibernate; some animals migrate to warm places; and some animals adapt to the climate by growing thicker fur and changing colours.

 

We read Over and Under the Snow. We discovered many animals live through the winter safe and warm, awake and busy, under the snow.

 

We created our own Over and Under the Snow story.  Ask your child to share their story with you 🙂

 

 

We went on a nature walk to look for holes animals could live in.  Here are some of our predictions:

“I think bugs lives here.”

“I think I see a spider!”

“I think an owl lives in that tree.”

“A squirrel!”

“A bunny lives here!”

“Look at the birds! They are migrating!”

 

We made birdfeeders for animals that live in our Parkcrest forest.

 

We read a story called Mouse Celebrates the Winter Solstice.  We learned the Winter Solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year. It is also the first day of Winter. We then created our own winter story with animals.  Ask your child to share their story with you 🙂

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.

 

 

 

All About Plants

Our kindergarten class has recently been learning about plants. We have been learning all about the different parts of a plant, how they grow, and the importance of plants in our world.  We had such wonderful time exploring and discovering the wonders of nature!

We can plant flowers!

We can draw flowers!

We can make an observational drawing and make predictions!

We can examine different seeds and match the seed to their fruit/vegetable!

We can take care of our plants!

We can tell you the life cycle of a plant!

We can tell you the name of plant parts!