Happy Holidays

Our last week before the winter break was very busy. 

Many special events happened throughout the school.

On Tuesday the students and teachers dressed in their Pajamas. 

They watched "Shrek the Halls" and enjoyed popcorn as a special treat.

At 3:00 p.m. the Kindergarten students packed up early to perform in the courtyard for many of our parents and grandparents.  The children sang "Jingle Bells", "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and a Prince Edward version of "We Wish you a Merry Christmas".  

During the performance the students used bells and sang with actions.

During the 2nd performance on Wednesday afternoon, the students sang with confidence (much louder).

Thank you to all the parents who were able to join us.

Mrs. Taylor and Ms. Palmer's class visited Prince Edward's kitchen. 

They baked cookies and decorated Christmas Tree Cones. 

Tuesday afternoon, our Early Learners visited the auditorium to watch the Dress Rehearsal of the Winter Concert.  Our students enjoyed all of the acts, some of the favourites were the dancers, Bongo Buddies and the band.  Although our students did not perform in the Annual Winter Concert, it was nice to see some familiar faces as they watched their older siblings perform.   

Our students visited the auditorium for a 2nd time this week.  We attended a special assembly.  Some of the teachers encouraged the students to collect Aerobathon money by giving them incentives.  Three teachers got whipped cream pies thrown in the their faces, Ms. McGrory bleached her hair and best of all Mr. Romano was dressed like a Princess all day long.  These teachers followed through with their promises and showed dedication to our Prince Edward Family.

We hope everyone has a fun and safe winter break. 

Happy Holidays to you and your family.

Lebanon

Today, Dalida's Aunt Reema visited our kindergarten program, and she talked with the students about her heritage. Her family is from Lebanon. She told the students the story of Aladdin and Princess Jazmin. The students ejoyed dancing with Miss Reema and listening to the music she brought in.

Our cultural potluck was a huge success today, and the students enjoyed trying many new and different types of foods. Thank-you so much to all families that sent something in for us to share.

Continuing to Learn about Countries Around the World

Learning about countries around the world...

Jamaica and Trinidad

Ms. Palmer showed us the flags from where her parents were born.

Through discussion, the students compared the flags to the Canadian Flag.

At the art table, students were given opportunities to design their own flag that represents themselves and their interests.

Guyana

Aaliyah's grandmother and mother visited the Early Years program today and talked about Guyana, their native country. She showed us a picture of the Guyana flag. They discussed how Guyana is warm all year around becuase it is close to the Equator. They also talked with the students about the types of foods they eat in Guyana. The students also enjoyed listening to and singing songs that Aaliyah's grandmother used to sing when she was a child growing up in Guyana.

China

Ms. Lee talked with the students about life in China. She brought in many props such as a silk robe, a wok, a bag of rice, and chopsticks.

Earlier in the week, the students created a Chinese Dragon using a box for the head and a tablecloth for the body. Today the students had the opportunity to play instruments while other students were marching around wearing the dragon.

Italy

Mr. Romano came into the kindergarten program today to talk to the students about his family heritage. He shared stories with the students about his "Nona" and read the story "Strega Nona" to the class.

Dancing Around the World

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      As a part of The Arts in the The Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program, we enjoy dancing together, listening to different songs and learning dances from around the world.

Greek Heritage
Mrs. Calfas brought in hand-made traditional Greek costume- 'Amalia' to show the students.  

She taught us a traditional dance called the "Kalamatiano".

Here are some of the other dances the students enjoyed today.

"Follow the Leader" by Soca

"The Limbo" 

Curriculum Expectations
Music
M4.2 respond to music from various cultures, including their own (e.g., folk dances, Aboriginal chants, songs in different languages)
Drama and Dance
D 2.1 explore different elements of dance(e.g., rhythm, space, shape)
D 4.1 express their responses to drama and dance (e.g., moving and making connections to their experiences with dance, by talking about drama and dance

Student's Voice
Savannah - "My favourite part was dancing to 'Follow the Leader'."
Lydia - "I liked to dance to 'Follow the Leader'."
Arial - "My favourite is the same as Lydia."
Kyiah - "I liked Soca."
Cheyenne - "I liked dancing with my hat today."
Alex - "I liked watching Chatyon and his mom dancing all dressed up."
Lucas - " I liked it when we held our hands together."



                                 

Celebrating our Cultures

Celebrating our Cultures

On Tuesday morning, the students were introduced to some of the traditions of some First Nations people. Mrs. Hegdepeth and her son Chayton discussed Pow-wows, their regalia and showed us three traditional dances. The students learned that a Pow-wow is a gathering of Natives and Non-Natives together to celebrate and dance. Pow-wows occur all over Canada and the United States. Native music and dancing is very popular at Pow-wows. The drum beat in the music represents the heart beat of Mother Earth. In Native music the drum beat is very powerful. Men, women and children of all ages join in the celebrations.Chayton, a fellow Pacer, was dressed in his Grass attire. The Grass Dance originated from Western Canada - the Plains. His outfit was to resemble the long grasses and his dance represented the grasses swaying in a Prairie field.

Mrs. Hegdepeth was wearing her Jingle Dress. Her dance originated from the Ojibway Native people in northern Ontario. The Jingle dance is a healing dance performed by women.

Their clothing is very meaningful and created using items from the environment. For example, the jingles are made of tin, curled soup lids. Mr. Hegdepeth puts a lot of time and patience into the bead work, and Mrs. Hegdepeth sews.The last dance performed together was called a Friendship Dance. This dance is typically a winter/ Christmas dance, and it is usually performed indoors when gathered with friends and family.Thank you to the Hegdepeth family for sharing their culture with us.




Stay tuned to learn about other cultures in our program.

Wednesday -Mrs. Calfas is performing and teaching a Greek Dance and Ms. Palmer will be showing us a Caribbean Dance for the students to practise while wearing their Caribbean hats that the students have made during centre time.  Ms. Murray will also be sharing some popular Canadian Dances.

Thursday - In the afternoon Mr. Romano will be sharing one of his favourite stories that discuss his Italian heritage.


Friday - Dalida's Aunt will be performing a Dance for us , and we will be enjoying a Cultural Potluck during the day.

Personal Hygiene

This week we discussed personal hygiene. We talked about the importance of keeping ourselves clean, ways to prevent the spreading of germs, and the different tools to use for cleaning ourselves.

Some of the recommended tools:

face cloths

shampoo and conditioner

body wash or soap

nail brush

hair brush

nail clippers

Q - tips

tooth brush

tooth paste

dental floss

mouth wash

Students created germs and bug hats.

Discuss with your child some of the ways to

prevent the spreading of germs.

- cough into your sleeve (like a vampire)

- blow your nose with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the garbage immediately

- wash your hands while singing The ABC'S

- wash your hands before and after you eat

- wash your hands after you use the bathroom

- wash your hands after you play with an animal

- wash your hands after you play outside

EXPERIMENTS

We rubbed "Glow in the Dark" cream on our hands. We then washed our hands at the sink. The students then placed their hands under the glow light to see the common areas that are missed while washing hands (back of hands and between the fingers).

We rinsed our mouths with Agent Cool Mouthwash that tints plaque to show areas on our teeth that need better brushing.

Also, we conducted two experiments, using eggs to represent our teeth, to show the effects of liquids on our teeth.

1. We discovered an egg placed in vinegar for 2 days loses it shell and becomes squishy.
This experiment demonstrated for the students that if you do not brush your teeth properly the acid in your mouth will create holes (cavities) in your teeth.

2. Hard boiled eggs left in a cup with some common drinks (milk, pop, Gatorade, juice) created holes (cavities) and tinted the eggs different colours.
This experiment demonstrated for the students the effects of eating and drinking items that are high in sugar.

Feeding the Birds

This year at Prince Edward the Kindergartens have taken on the responsibility of feeding the birds throughout the winter.  We have received a generous donation of bird seed from Home Depot.  We truly appreciate this donation.

On Thursday, Mrs. Taylor and Ms. Palmer's students fed the birds for the first time.

The Ontario Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program states the importance of learning to demonstrate an understanding of the natural world and the need to care for and respect the environment.
Specific Expectation  3.3 - identify ways in which they can care for and show respect for the environment (e.g. feeding the birds in winter: reusing and recycling: turning off unnecessary lights at home:walking to school instead of getting a ride)

After the holidays, we will further discuss the importance of feeding the birds, create our own bird feeders, and discuss other ways to care for the environment we live in.

Some of our friends created a birdhouse using foam blocks early in the week.

What did you learn at school today? -- At home discussions

We have had a very busy week. 
Browse the pictures below and read the captions with your child.  Your child can recall and discuss what he/she participated in last week and what he/she learned?  

Mathematics

We placed the dyed noodles in a variety of containers to continue practising measurement.  Ask your child to talk about other items that were measured and what tools were used to measure with (feet paces, links, ruler, tape measure)? 

Language Arts

Throughout the week the students listened to various nursery rhymes.   Recognizing letters in print and letter sounds was one of the main learning expectations.  We also talked about letter formation, and that some letters have straight lines and some letters have curves.   Students were given opportunities to explore printing their names using pudding, yarn and glue. Some of the Nursery Rhymes we explored this week were:

- Mary had a Little Lamb

- Hickory Dickory Dock

- Row, Row, Row your Boat

- Humpty Dumpty

In the picture above, the students were on Day 3 of creating Humpty Dumpty using paper mache.  They started this process using a small balloon to keep the structure in the shape of Humpty Dumpty.  Then, they used torn newspaper paper, glue, and flour mixed together.  The students had a great time and their characters looked great!!

 

Popular Centres

Building Blocks

This week the students built buildings, castles, and dinosaur homes out of our foam blocks.  They discussed how tall their buildings were.

Doll House

SMARTBOARD

We are happy to announce a great new resource to our kindergarten program -- an interactive smartboard.

A New Look

We have changed some of our classrooms around.  Our carpet is now located in the middle of the room.  This allows for the tables to be spread out for quiet and more focussed learning.