It’s been another week of a lot of exciting things in EY1. After two days of remote learning last week, the children came back so very excited to be learning in person again and to see their friends! “I like school!” some children said, which is music to a teacher’s ears.
We were also super lucky this week that we got to go and see this year’s DP Art Exhibition – a first for many students to be at an art exhibit and a first for all our students to visit the Auditorium where it was set up.
Photo Gallery of Visit to the DP Art Exhibition
Another highlight for us this week were the special guests who visited our classroom – Mr. Gerry and his dog, Cooper! The children were so delighted and had many questions for Mr. Gerry about how he cares for Cooper. This was perfect and supported the students’ tuning in to the needs of this type of living thing – animals!
Photo Gallery of Cooper’s Visit
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This Week’s Learning & Fun
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We are grateful for our Special Helpers – Anya, Proud, Elsa, Vicky, Gawin, Netan, Myra, Zuri, Kim and Sea. As Special Helpers for the day, the children continue to hone their skills of communicating, negotiating and compromising with each other as to who would be the head of the caterpillar and who would be the tail as each entails a different set of responsibilities. They have also learned much about taking turns.
Language and Math
The students continue to build their language and math skills through our morning meetings at Circle Time. They are gaining strategies on “reading” each day’s schedule, using pictures as cues. A couple of students even asked, “Why is there no Playground today?” on Tuesday when we used the time to go visit the special art exhibit.
In Math, students have a better understanding now that when the 10 frame is full, it means that there are 10 and they can count on from there and don’t need to count starting from one.
Unit of Inquiry
This week, we tuned in to another category of living things, animals, for our unit of inquiry on “Taking Care of Living Things.” We know that animals are living things because they need air, water and food to grow. Even though there are different types of animals, they all need these things. The special visit from Mr. Gerry and his dog Cooper helped us to better understand what a dog needs to grow.
As it was the last Friday of the month, it means that it was House Shirt Day. It’s always fun to see the students in their brightly colored shirts. Friday also means FUN FRIDAY in EY1. The students were challenged to try out two different activities – stamping from recycled materials and testing out paper airplanes to see which ones could fly the farthest. Both of which involved a lot of creative thinking, inquiring, testing, reflecting and redoing AND we had a lot of fun in the process!
Due to special circumstances, Ms. Ploy and Mr. Ashley were invited to spent the day with the EY1 classes on Friday. Mr. Ashley is currently a Grade 1 teacher who kindly agreed to support EY1 as he’s taught Early Years before. Ms. Ploy is current an EAL Teacher in the Primary School and can be seen supporting different classes. The children kindly welcomed them both, stretched their flexibility muscles and adapted to the changes of the day as necessary. They got to know two new teachers in the process and had a lot of fun!
Photo Gallery – Week of Mar. 21st-25th
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Parenting Corner
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Some parents wonder when their child will start to read. Well, children cannot even begin to read without developing their early literacy skills. This is where you come in. According to the librarians at Winnipeg Public Library, “Early literacy is what children know about reading and writing before they can actually read and write.” They have shared the following tips on what parents can do at home. Many of our EY1 parents are already doing these on a daily basis. Keep up the great work! Remember to continue to make it a positive experience! It’s not how much they know when they think back to the time shared with you. It’s more how it was shared and the time together that put smiles on their faces.
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Upcoming Dates & Reminders
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For Next Week:
- March 28 – EY1 Swim Day – Bring swim bag and all necessary items.
. - March 28-April 1 | Book Week
Primary School will be celebrating “Tales from around the world.
. - March 30 | 10:30AM | Primary School Q & A
[for link – see email “Parent Update from the HOS – March 25″]
. - April 1 – Library Day – Bring books back to swap!
. - April 1 | Book Character Dress-up Day
Primary school students will be encouraged to come to school dressed up as characters from the tales..
Looking Ahead…
- April 6 | Chakri Day (school & office closed)
. - April 8 | Last Day of Term 2
. - April 11-15 | Songkran Holiday – No school for students.
(April 13-15 school & office closed)
. - April 18 | First Day of Term 3
Thank you for your continued support and partnership! Have a restful weekend!
EY1 Team 😊