Week Eight Photos

Week Nine

Term 1 is quickly drawing to an end! The weeks have flown past because we have been extremely busy making friends and learning lots of new things. The ‘Kindy Kids’ have made excellent progress through the last 8 weeks and have enjoyed their first experience of ‘BIG’ school. It makes us, (teachers) very happy to hear parents say that their children want to come to school, even though it is not their rostered Kindy day! This does prove that LEARNING IS FUN! I’m sure as parents you are proud of their achievements and so are we. 

Literacy

Our letter for this week is the ‘I i’ phonic sound. We are focusing on the short initial sound only as in….. insect starts with i, i, i - igloo starts with i, i, i, - itchy starts with i, i, i. This is quite a ‘tricky’ sound but please have a look around your home and see if you can find some objects. This is a strategy to reinforce the letter sound being taught.

Name writing

Most students can write the first letter in their names. It is most important to encourage daily name writing practice. Start with a capital letter followed by lowercase letters. A handout was given out at the parent Information evening, please use this as a guide for letter formations.

Numeracy

This week we are reviewing numbers 1 to 5. Students are learning to recognise the numerals for these numbers and the dot patterns on a dice. They have also been showing the numbers on their fingers in a variety of ways and making small collections of various objects.

CHAT (Changing Health Acting Together)

A note has been sent home requesting each child to bring in a shoe box and teddy OR doll that can sit in the box, by Monday 8^th of April. We will use these for a road safety activity in Week 10. Please put your child’s name on the box and teddy or doll. We would greatly appreciate if you could send in any extra shoe boxes you may have at home, so that we have some spares in case these are needed.

Science

The outside world shapes children's development through experiences that they have, which include using their five senses—hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch.  Drawing a child's attention to their five senses and discussing them increases understanding of and communication about the world around. We will be learning more about our senses and doing investigations to explore our sense of taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing.

Thank you for another ‘magnificent’ and ‘marvellous’ week learning about the initial sound Mm!

Week Eight

Week 7 has been another fun week in Kindy. We celebrated Harmony Day with a parade and activities with our Buddy Class.  This year our buddy class is Mrs Laycock's Year 2/3 class. It was lovely to see the older students talking with and helping our Kindy children with the different activities. We will continue to meet with this class for different occasions over the year. This is a great school initiative that supports students' sense of belonging at Wattle Grove Primary.

Literacy

This week we are learning a new sound......Mm as in Mum, monkey and Mickey Mouse! 

The process of finding an item at home tunes the child in to the beginning sound of the word. Ask your child "Can you see anything in your bedroom/playroom/living room that starts with Mm?" When your child locates an item, ask them, does ..(the item)...start with Mm?" Pause for a moment and then repeat the word before telling them yes or no. Another idea is to give your child the choice of two items. Ask your child "Does money-box start with Mm or does car start with Mm?". Stretch the sound mmmmmmmoney-box or car to help them tune their ears into the sound. 

We will continue to review the sounds already covered - Ss, Aa and Tt - at school so please continue to revise these with your child's brain cards at home.

Numeracy

This week we are reviewing numbers 1, 2, 3, 4. Students are learning to recognise the numerals for these numbers and also the other ways we can show numbers e.g. dice dot patterns, tally marks, fingers and objects e.g. counters.

We are working on developing students skills in one-to-one correspondence. This is more complex skill than rote counting (counting aloud). One-to-one correspondence is an early maths skill that involves children counting each object in a set once, and only once, with one touch per object. For example, counting the number of marbles in a bag. Students need lots of practise to develop this skill, but it is an easy one to practise at home in the course of your normal daily activities. For example, asking your child "How many apples do we have left in the fruit bowl?". Encourage your child to touch each item once as they count them, ensuring they say one number for each apple they touch. Putting the items in a row makes this counting easier. At school we say "The last number counted tells us how many", so ask your child after they have finished how many apples there were. Another way to practise one-to-one correspondence is by asking your child to count and place a number of objects. For example "Can you put 4 strawberries in your breakfast bowl" or "can you put 3 cans of corn in the shopping trolley". Support your child to touch and count each item once as they go. Talking aloud to your child while you do things e.g. "I'm putting in 2 cups of flour....1....2....." is another good way of exposing your child to this concept.

Gratefulness Show and Tell

Thank you to families for supporting this learning activity. We are putting together a class book to share the things we are grateful of. If the book is not on display outside, the book will be in our book corner.

Parent Interviews

End of term parent interviews will be conducted on the afternoon of Monday 8 April. All parents will all be given a 10 minute appointment to meet with the classroom teacher. This is an opportunity for the teacher to provide feedback on your child's learning and progress at school and for you to ask any questions you may have. Please arrive on time to the meetings, we will do our best to remain on schedule. If you are unable to make this meeting time or would like to discuss your child's learning in more detail, please see me in advance to arrange an alternate meeting time.

Week Seven

Kindy Blue are making the long walk to the library and back in a line! We have also walked to an assembly and to our photos this morning. We are so proud of them.

The children are slowly improving their fine motor skills particularly with hand preference, pencil grip and pressure. We are teaching pencil grip with Polly Pilot and Peter Pilot flying our pencil plane. They have also started to use scissors at school and are learning how to cut using the rhyme “Open shut them, open shut them, give a little snip. Open shut them, open shut them, go along the track.” Cutting is quite a complex task for a child and takes time and practice to learn how to use scissors correctly. To ensure proper scissor grip, have them slide their first two fingers into the long, oval shaped handle and their thumb into the round one. Children need to be given opportunities both at home and school to learn this skill …. practice really does make perfect!

Literacy

This week we will be revising the initial letter sounds….Aa, Ss and  Tt…. e.g. Ant starts with a, a, a. Sun starts with s, s, s. and Tiger starts with t, t, t. Please send in an item from home that starts with one of the letters mentioned above. Your cooperation in this matter will be greatly appreciated, as it will help the children to retain the sounds taught and assist in improving their vocabulary.

Gratefulness is our ‘news’ topic for the remainder of this term.

Numeracy

This week we will be learning the number four. The students will continue focusing on the collection of dots on a dice, without counting. They will also practise to orally count in order starting at one.

Each child is taking home an individualised ‘Brain Box’ which contains concepts for children to use at home to reinforce learning that has been taught in class. Each child is required to practice these concepts at home regularly for a short time each day and return them to school the following week. The teacher will then review them and either return the same, (if further practice is required) or change them for those who have fully grasped the concept. These key tags are school property and need to be taken care of and returned after a week. Thank you for your support.

Assembly

Our *BRIGHT SHINING STARS* on Thursday 14 March were:

Noah and Kirat

Keep up the great work!

Harmony Day

Please don’t forget to dress up in traditional or national costume or wear orange (to support cultural diversity) for Harmony Day on the 21st (Blue group) and 22nd March (Red group). In the afternoon we will be doing some special activities with our buddy class to reinforce the message of Harmony Day …. ‘Everyone belongs.’

We look forward to another productive week to come!

Week Six

Wow, the term is flying by and we are now heading into the second half of Term 1! The students are coping well with the new routines at school. They have come so far in these first few weeks.

Revision

This week students will be sent home a revision sheet for the sound Aa that we learnt in week 4. Please help your child to colour in the pictures that start with the sound Aa, and cross out the pictures that don’t. The students will be able to show you how to do “rainbow writing” (not colouring in) of the large 'a' in the middle of the page. It is important that you refer to the sound Aa rather than saying the letter Aa, as students need to tune in to the sound the letter makes to prepare them for reading and writing. Please return this sheet to school via their zipped folder.

Next week teachers will send home “Brain Boxes” which contain cards to assist you to revise with your child at home. We suggest a quick 5-10 minutes each night, keeping it fun and relaxed. Cards will contain content already covered at school, e.g. shapes, colours, letters and numbers.

Literacy

Next weeks sound is Tt…. as in tap, tadpole, tissue and tiger. Please have a look around your house to see if you can find something to bring in to class starting with Tt for our sound table.

We will be starting our second Speaking and Listening Task in Week 7. Students will receive a note asking them to prepare for this task by bringing in something they are grateful for and sharing it with the class on their next Kindy day. This is an extension of what we have been doing at school. Please ask teachers if you have any questions.

Numeracy 

We are focusing on subitising this week. This means looking at dot patterns (like on dice) and saying the number without counting. Initially we will be focusing on the dot patterns for 1, 2 and 3. Playing dice games, like Snakes and Ladders, is a good way for your child to practise this skill.

Library

Monday we will be going to the library, I will place a tub outside for any library bags that have not been handed in. 

As always, if there are any questions please speak with me. Looking forward to another wonderful week.