Bubbles, Popsicles & Fun :)

Dear Parents,

I can't believe summer is here already!  June has been a very busy and exciting time in the classroom and I am sad to see the school year come to and end.  I have truly enjoyed working with all of the children.  It has been a joy and honour to share this Kindergarten year with your child.  The amount of growth in knowledge and confidence in each child has been unbelievable and it has been very rewarding to be part of it.

Thank you so much for all of your kindness and support this school year.  Have a safe and relaxing summer and all the best to you and your family in the coming years.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Lai

Why Is Summer Reading Important?

Hello Parents,  

We had a guest speaker this morning from the Calgary Public Library.  We had a fantastic time learning all about the Calgary Public Library Summer Reading Club. The students are very motivated to participate in the Summer Reading Club this summer and earn prizes.  

The Calgary Public Library Summer Reading Club is about much more than fun and earning prizes. Reading over the summer is incredibly important for students and their academic achievement. Here's why:

•   Children who don't read over the summer experience summer learning loss. That's right -- kids don't just feel like they've forgotten some of what they've learned -- they actually do forget it. And the effect is cumulative. Kids who lose reading skills over the summer will be two years behind their classmates by the end of 6th grade. By joining the Summer Reading Club and attending free library programs, kids can prevent this from happening.

•   The Summer Reading Club encourages kids to read whatever they want, which helps instill a love of reading for recreation. Studies show that kids who read for fun often out-perform kids who don't in school.

•   The Summer Reading Club is absolutely free, offering everyone safe, educational opportunities throughout the summer.

So I would strongly encourage all of the Kindergarten families to visit the Calgary Public Library this summer and have fun participating in this incredibly important Summer Reading Club.  

Keep reading & writing!  

Warm Regards

Mrs. Lai

 

Fabulous Friday & Slippery Science

Hello Parents,

We had a Fabulous Friday.  This morning we started our day with some mindful yoga to get us into the green zone for learning.  After yoga, the students enjoyed doing some drumming in music class.

Today both the morning and afternoon classes worked on their writing portfolios.  We brainstormed as a class some of the learning adventures and field trip that have happened this month. June has been a very busy and exciting time in the classroom.  Many fun things to write about for sure.  The students loved their field trip to the swimming pool.  So many of the students choose to write and draw about their swimming lessons for their June writing sample.  It is amazing looking at their writing in September and now viewing their illustrations and writing in June. It is very exciting to see how much they have all grown this year as readers and writers.  I am so very proud of all of the students.  I know when you see your child's  Kindergarten Writing Portfolio, you too will be impressed by all their hard work and growth.  

This afternoon. we had a guest speaker in our classroom.  Electric Erin, from Mad Scientist came to teach us all about Slippery Science. 

• We learned that slime is moist, soft and sticky.  It can be found in nature.  
• The two ingredients to make slime are polymers and cross-linkers
• Polymers look like chains of repeating links
• Cross-linkers help clump the polymer chains together
• The more cross-linker you add to the polymer, the clumpier the slime will get
• Polyvinyl alcohol is a type of polymer, and sodium borne is a type of cross-linker  

The students had lots of fun exploring science this afternoon.  Our classroom was filled with laughter, giggles and science fun. We watched some cool science experiments.  We also got to make our very own slime. 

Just a friendly reminder to please return your child's Home Reading Books to school on Monday. Most of the books have been returned, we are just missing a couple.  But we would love to have them all back on Monday so they can be organized for next year.  

Many parents have been wondering about swimming report cards.  Swimming report cards will be coming home with your child's report cards next week.  

Have a great weekend ! 

Warm Regards,
Mrs. Lai

Water Safety Program

The students have been doing an amazing job in their swimming lessons.  Everyone has grown so much in terms of their swimming skills, water safety knowledge and confidence in themselves. It has been a very valuable program for our students.  We are very grateful that our students were able to participate in this Water Safety Program.  A big thanks you to all of our volunteers, for all of your help at the pool!!!  Without your help, we would not have been able to participate in such a great program.  

Warm Regards,

Mrs. Lai