Our first week

The first week of school...usually the most exciting, exhausting, dynamic week of the year...is under our belts. Even in just 5 days, we've noticed dramatic differences in our students. Already they are adjusting to the routines (cleaning up, sitting for stories, lining up for recess), the centres in the room, and the outdoor play spaces.

A race car designed and built co-operatively by these boys.

Creating a sign for our Art Gallery

Exploring gravity, fluid dynamics, volume, and co-operation at the water table.

Observing flowers in the Green Classroom (an outdoor learning space)

Waving bye to "Mother Nature"

Exploring sorting, counting, and finer motor skills with loose parts

Time for a rest

Hanging around in the playground

Building in the sand box

Building muscles, reaction times, and visual discrimination on the trikes

Our days are a rhythm of meeting times, play-based learning explorations, eating, quiet rests, and outdoor play. Already we are finding a routine that fits our children and their needs. We can't wait to see what growth week 2 will bring!

The Wishing Tree

Kindergarten is really about working with entire families, not just children alone, and we love having parents involved in our class community. It was wonderful to see so many families visit our Open House event last week.

When teachers welcome students on the first day, we have no expectations or notions of who they might be...all of that is in the future. In a way, our students are blank slates to us. Yet when we pause to consider, we recognize the children have a past that has shaped them, and a family who loves them dearly.

They are not blank slates at all, but vessels of a family's love, hopes, and dreams.

To help mark the beginning of our time together, we offered a provocation for our first collaborative art project. We felt it was important to honour all the wishes, goals, and hopes our class parents have for their children.

On the day of the Open House, Sharon took a group of children to the Green Classroom to collect sticks and leaves. The sticks were arranged in a vase to form the Wishing Tree, and the children used the leaves as templates to make their own leaves.

During the evening Open House visit, we invited parents to write their wishes and hopes for their children on a leaf and to hang it on the tree.

As Sharon and I read the wishes at the end of the night, we were touched by the pride our parents have in their children. As we move forward in our journey together, the Wishing Tree will serve to remind us of the special place each child has in their families and in our class.

Busy hands, busy minds

The first day of school is always a busy one - for both the students and the teachers. I like to joke that the first few days of kindergarten is a bit like herding cats!

But among the excitement, little hands are hard at work.

As I watched our new crop of children yesterday, I got to thinking about the potential held in our students' hands. The feeling of possibility....of what could be... was overwhelming. 

These hands will stack, roll, and dig. They will draw, cut, and press.

They will carefully choose materials and place them just so.

They will build and create.

They will share, give high fives, and dry a friend's tears.

These hands will make food, set tables, and clean up.

They will nurture, console, and love.

These 56 hands will work MAGIC.

All Set!

Our arrival stones are out and we nervously await our new charges. 

Happy First Day!

Come take the tour

Sharon, Ann-Marie and I were thrilled to welcome many of our students and their parents today. 

If you didn't get a chance to come for a visit today, here are some pictures of our class to make you feel at home. 

This is our quiet corner. Here the children can read, research, do puzzles, and explore the science centre. 

Right next to it is the construction carpet, where our young engineers can create. 

The story time corner is where the teachers will sit for class meetings. The blank wall will soon be a smartboard! 

Here are the beginnings of our loose parts and writing centre. We store paper, note pads writing tools and word cards here. It's also home to loose parts that can be used to explore math and art concepts. 

On the writing table, we have a crayon caddy that's irresistible not to spin! Behind is the teachers' desk and the light table. 

Our art studio. We can't wait to fill it with children's creations!

The house keeping centre is in the middle of the room. Many of our girls had fun exploring the dress ups today. Throughout the year this will be transformed into a doctor's office, a restaurant, Santa's workshop, or whatever the children want to create. 

And finally, our cubbies, where all our gear will be stored through the day. We also have a nice big sandbox for building and imaginative play. 

I haven't included pictures of our bathroom or the handwashing area, but I'm sure you can imagine them!

As we launch into an exciting year of learning, I can't help wondering how different our space will look a month or even a year from now. 

Invasion of the little people!

What a great way to start our learning journey! We welcomed our JK friends this morning for a visit to get comfortable with school. 

The children took to the learning materials like fish to water. Check out these pictures of the action:

At lunchtime we met Mrs Kulla, a kindergarten teacher from down the hall, who helps us each lunch every day. 

After lunch, Ms Pomeroy shared a story called "Pete the Cat is Rocking in His School Shoes". Everyone did a great job listening and joining in. 

We can't wait to see what fun our SKs will bring next week!

We've got the keys!

I headed into the school on Saturday to start moving in. Our beautiful classroom is ready for us!

The space is light and bright, thanks to lots of windows. I can't wait to set up our art studio in front of all that natural light. 

The room feels very big right now, with no furniture or children. Look at how gleaming the freshly waxed floors are! They won't stay like that for long...

Even our little child-sized bathroom is ready to move in. 

Now that the builders are finished their work, mine and Sharon's really begin now. Check back later this week for some in progress pictures!