Week 32 Update and Pictures April 23 to 27

Through many class and group discussions, dramatic play, building, drawing and painting, and writing, the students have been demonstrating their thinking on how animals play. A few highlights in our thinking (the rest in the documentation…)

“The meerkats were popping up and down because they were playing hide and seek with each other! They wanted to see where the other one was going!”

“The orangutans and monkeys were swinging and hanging like we do on the monkey bars at school!”

“I think the lizards were playing tag.”

“The rhinos were talking with their friends. I wonder what they were saying to each other?”

Mr. Pearson (our counselor) was in our hub this week to talk with the students about honesty.

So many creative inventions continuing to happen!  We had a big drop off of recycled bottles, tubes, paper…so the creative juices are flowing!  Airplanes, more bags, binoculars and an animal home were just a few of the cool designs!

Transitions from Pre K to Kindergarten…

April and May are months where a lot of transitions are happening, and our students really feel it! We have friends moving away, siblings stressed with exams, families who may have a lot on their plates, not to mention the excitement of kindergarten approaching! We are really sensitive to all of these changes, and try to have a calm, safe and lovable environment for all of our students, but do know that at this time of year your child may need some extra special hugs and kisses. J  Many parents have said that at home they are seeing more cranky behavior, and we really do believe that these transitional months are hard—please let me know if we can help in any way.

One of the ways we do try and help is to give our children plenty of opportunities to visit the Elementary School and interact with the students and faculty there. We have already visited the rooftop playground and the Elementary Library, and will do that again in May. On Monday we will be attending a Kindergarten Assembly, where we will meet many of the K teachers and be a part of some of their songs. We will be visiting Ms. Wan and Ms. Clow’s Kindergarten hub on May 15^th and will be able to spend some time with the Kinder students and see how a Kindergarten hub is the same and different than our hub. In the following weeks we will also visit the library (again,) art, music and PE classes, and have a snack in the Elementary School cafeteria. By June the children will be kindergarten experts! 

REMINDERS

*Please return the BLUE BAG and RED LIBRARY BAG on Monday.

*We would love you to send in more fruit and granola bars for our classroom. Thank you so much!

*May 1^st: Labor Day-No School

*May 11^th: CELEBRATION OF LEARNING! 8:00-9:15am in our classroom

*May 29^th: Vesak Day-No School

*June 7^th: Last Day for Students—11:30 Dismissal

Week 32 April 23 to 27

72 new photos · Album by Lynsey Howitt

More ZOO Photos

Thank you to Amelia's mom Leah for taking some beautiful photos and sharing them!

More Zoo Photos April 20

68 new photos · Album by Lynsey Howitt

Week 31 Update and Reminders April 16 to 20

What an exciting week!

We have a new 5 year old! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHULYNNE!!

Thank you to everyone for your help on our field trip (whether it was coming with us or making sure your child had all the things they needed for a fun day!) What a fun time! The children are exhausted but exhilarated.  I am so proud of these kiddos—they did so well, were so inquisitive and took care of each other while we were there. And they seemed to so enjoy the splash park! It was such a wonderful day.  We will be talking next week about what everyone observed to try and answer our questions.

“How do animals play?”

“What is the same and different about how animals play and how we (children) play?”

There have been some very creative inventions happening in our maker space and classroom lately, from purses, to ties, to hair bow and headbands, to superhero costumes, to toys for animals, to items to collect garbage so our earth is cleaner! All from art supplies and recycled materials!  These amazing kids are going to go so far in the world!  I think they will be leaders and change the world for the better. Love them.

REMINDERS

*Please return the BLUE BAG and RED LIBRARY BAG on Monday.

*We would love you to send in more fruit and granola bars for our classroom. Thank you so much!

*May 1^st: Labor Day-No School

*May 11^th: CELEBRATION OF LEARNING! 8:00-9:15am in our classroom

*May 29^th: Vesak Day-No School

*June 7^th: Last Day for Students—11:30 Dismissal

Week 31 April 16 to 20

127 new photos · Album by Lynsey Howitt

Week 30 Update and Pictures April 9 to 13

Your children are coming home tired today! I realized that I didn’t even take that many photos because so much was going on! 

“How do animals play?”

“What is the same and different about how animals play and how we (children) play?”

We have been trying to find some answers to our questions through books, talking with others, watching short clips of animals in the real world and imagining. The students have been using mark making, building, sensory materials and a variety of other languages to explore the possibilities of animal and kid play and demonstrate how they believe animals play. From grand ideas of kittens and rabbits playing a game of “rock, paper, scissors,” to polar bears gently pawing husky dogs, empathy, care and love for animals has been expressed in a variety of different ways with a keen interest and fascination about how animals are an important and beautiful part of our world.

REMINDERS

*Please return the BLUE BAG and RED LIBRARY BAG on Monday.

*We would love you to send in more fruit for our classroom. Thank you so much!

*April 20^th: Field Trip to The Singapore Zoo

*May 1^st: Labor Day-No School

*May 11^th: CELEBRATION OF LEARNING!  SAVE THE DATE! (See below for details)

*May 29^th: Vesak Day-No School

*June 7^th: Last Day for Students—11:30 Dismissal

*SUMMER BIRTHDAYS: if your child's birthday is in the summer and you'd like to celebrate it at school before the year is over, please send a note and we will celebrate!  J  We don’t want to miss anyone! Let me know what day works for you.

*IF you are leaving early, withdrawing from SAS or will be missing certain days over the next few weeks, send me a note. This will help me manage those last-minute details regarding report cards, work sent home, portfolios etc.

Weel 30 April 9 to 13

35 new photos · Album by Lynsey Howitt

Week 29 Update and Pictures April 2 to 6

What a beautiful week with your children. I’m sure you have heard about our wander down to the Elementary School. We had a blast on the rooftop playground, and the students were so excited to check out new books for our classroom!

We are looking at two questions that were proposed to propel our project on animals forward.

“How do animals play?”

“What is the same and different about how animals play and how we (children) play?”

We will do some more investigating on our field trip. Please do return the second page of the field trip form that is coming home today.

REMINDERS

*Please return the BLUE BAG and RED LIBRARY BAG on Monday.

*We would love you to send in more fruit for our classroom. Thank you so much!

*April 20^th: Field Trip to The Singapore Zoo

*May 1^st: Labor Day-No School

*May 11^th: CELEBRATION OF LEARNING! 8:00-9:15am  

SAVE THE DATE! (See e-mail sent today for details)

*May 29^th: Vesak Day-No School

*June 7^th: Last Day for Students—11:30 Dismissal

*SUMMER BIRTHDAYS: if your child's birthday is in the summer and you'd like to celebrate it at school before the year is over, please send a note and we will celebrate!  J  We don’t want to miss anyone! Let me know what day works for you.

*IF you are leaving early, withdrawing from SAS or will be missing certain days over the next few weeks, send me a note. This will help me manage those last-minute details regarding report cards, work sent home, portfolios etc.

Week 29 April 2 to 6

53 new photos · Album by Lynsey Howitt