Parachute Play

Not only do we work our minds with our Big Buddies but we also work our muscles! The weather was beautiful the last time that we got together with our Buddies,and it was calling for us to enjoy the outdoors together. No matter your age, parachute activities and games make you smile! I had a difficult time catching a photo, but the one below is of the children playing Cat and Mouse. Too fun!

Last Day For Library!

We know the school year is beginning to wind down when the Library at school closes! Last Friday was supposed to be our last visit to the Library, but we have managed to find a spot for our final book borrowing. Please have your child return his/her book by this Wednesday so that they may take out a new one. All books will need to be returned to the school by Wednesday, June 6th. If you have misplaced, lost, or damaged a book please let me know. Our Librarian will print a replacement cost page that I can send along to you. Thanks!

How Many Cubes

One of the activities that the children were working on last week was measuring the width of a farm animal. Using cubes as the measurment tool, the children measured along a drawn arrow and then counted the number of cubes that were used. Referring to a chart with numbers and pictures on it the students then printed the appropriate numeral below for the animal they had measured. What a great activity that incorporated many different skills such as: listening to instructions, counting, one-to-one correspondence, numeral recognition, and fine motor work. An activity such as this could work at home too by just using common household items like measuring a shoe with toothpicks or measuring a bed with forks!

Kindergarten's Got Talent and Our Farm Visit!

I can't believe it has been well over a week and I haven't commented about our Kindergarten Concert! Weren't they adorable! I hope you had a nice time last Wednesday evening. It is very intimidating to stand up and perform in front of such a large audience and we should be very proud of your child's accomplishments! A big pat on the back for them! Sadly, I don't have a picture of our performance to post here, but I do have some of our recent farm field trip!
I was a little worried about the weather as I was driving to school, but boy did we luck out! Not too hot or mucky, and not a single drop of rain! You really do learn something new every day; ask your child about the magnet that was taken from a cow during an operation and what they saw! Thank you to the parents that were able to join us. I really do appreciate your help!
Midway through the trip I dropped my camera (Yikes!) so I don't have photos of all the fun things that we were able to do! I hope you enjoy the ones that I do happen to have!

Oh My...Another Turns Five!

Romana is five today!

Have a fantastic birthday Romana!

Hmmm....where is it?

Tired of finding one mitten, part of your Rubbermaid containers, or losing sweaters or toques? I don't know how it happens, but every year we end up with a plethora of items without a rightful owner!

Mabel's Labels stick to EVERYTHING and don't show wear and tear! The label is incredible as it can stick to material, plastic, or glass. It won't wash off and even over time it continues to look brand new! Below is a URL address to copy and paste for the latest offer from Mabel's Labels. Unfortunately, I haven't quite figured out how to make this a direct link from here, but typing this into google will work. If you are interested in purchasing products from Mabel's Labels throughout the summer or in September please remember to include Stonecrest in the school you would like to support so that any type of fundraising money earned comes back to the school.

http://www.stonecrest.mabelslabels.com/products/fundraising%20combo

or

www.stonecrest.mabelslabels.com

Thank you, as always, for your support!

Kindergartens Got Talent

Remember that May 16th is our big night at school! Please be sure to drop your child off with me at 6:15 in the Computer Lab; we will begin to come down to the gym and hopefully start our show at 6:30.
Students can be dressed as simply as jeans and a plaid shirt if you happen to have one. Otherwise, roll with a farm theme and dress your child however you choose just as long as they are comfortable and able to move easily! As mentioned in my note home, if Grandma and Grandpa, or teenage sisters or brothers happen to be coming to the show, please remind them that we are a scent free school.
Much appreciated!

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing you all a very beautiful and happy Mother's Day.

Furry Little Visitors!

So cute right! Last Friday these cute little chicks made a visit to our room! It was such great timing because we had just spent some time learning about oviparous animals. Each week on our way to the Library we would check the eggs in the incubator for any changes. Low and behold last Wednesday there were chicks pecking out of their eggs and some were already removed and in a large contained warming zone. On Friday the chicks were well enough for a visit and we let them loose within our circle! So much fun for the children and a great segway to our Farm unit! Speaking of the Farm....don't forget to send in the field trip forms!

What's The Weather?

Aside from working on our Mother's Day gift and card, and practicing our song and dance for the concert on May 16th, we have been diligently tracking the weather on a daily basis and having discussions about appropriate clothing choices. This month has been perfect for tracking since it has had its ups and downs! Using the Weather Network as our constant base we have been graphing the temperature and then comparing it to the previous day. In addition we are using a tally graph to record how many days in the month are sunny, cloud, rainy or windy.

Let's cross our fingers that the trend will start to be some sunnier days! 

Nature Walk

We are so lucky to have a great nature trail that is in behind the school. Last week, after what felt like days of miserable weather, we took advantage of our own school yard and went for a wonderful walk with Mrs. Sonnenburg's class. It was such a great experience as we heard various birds callings, listened for spring peepers, learned about lichen and bullrushes, found the tiniest little strawberry plant with a tiny little bloom, and just enjoyed the sunshine!

We hope to further the experience by looking closely at nature and discovering the many beauties and colours within through the use of paint chips and a matching activity. We'll see what we can find!

Priceless

The final product of our artwork is stunning!

But we can't stop there! Why not have a closer look at the  beautiful lillies floating in the pond? Collaboratively the children painted large pieces of paper using varying shades of yellows, pinks, and greens. Using the painted pieces for the petals we were able to assemble a beautiful lily and adhere it to the "water" that we created from tissue paper with our Buddies!

If you are in the school at any point over the next few weeks you can't miss our Kindergarten Art Gallery in the front display case. What talent our Stonecrest Kids have! You will see work created in the likes of Georgia O'Keefe, Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and Gustav Klimt!

Don't worry about making a special trip in though....you can view or art collection May 16th when we have our Kindergarten Spring Concert!!! Mark May 16th on your calendar for an evening of entertainment provided by the Kindergarten classes of 2012! Stay tuned for more information!

Our Circle Meetings

Do you ever wonder what we are up to during our Learning Circle Times? Today I will give you a glimpse of where we are at and what we are working towards! As sooooo many of the children have a great grasp on letter identification, letter sound awareness, and the concept that letters make words it was time to stretch their understanding and begin to share the marker at the chart stand! Each day there is a message waiting for them that has many letters, or even words, missing. For the most part the sentence is predictable in its structure where we are looking for sight words such as: to, day, is, and, the etc. and then we use the room to help print words that may be posted. We work together to stretch words out if they aren't on the word wall and we listen closely for the letter that is missing whether it be the beginning, middle, or ending sound or all three. This type of activity is tricky for some but the benefit is that it is a constant review of letters and sounds for those the continue to need it. Below is an example of a partially completed writing experience. You will notice a few mistakes, but lightly above it is corrected after the students become detectives and sleuth out  the error.

You will also notice that there is a name in a border. Students identify the number of consonants and vowels and then they practice number printing as we create an addition number sentence. We show our understanding using a ten frame, a number line, or even through pictures. This is something we practice daily as a whole group and there is a lot of support!