Welcome to the last week of January!  Thanks to everyone who helped his/her child wear red, white or the maple leaf to school on Thursday.  The Kindergarten classes showed wonderful school spirit and we were recognized on the announcements for our participation in Flag Day.  
Both classes participated in measuring activities with their Reading Buddies this week.  The Grade 4's traced the Kindergarten students' feet and then helped them measure with large paperclips, cube-a-links and pennies.  It was a wonderful experience for everyone and it was great to hear the math language being used.  The results are on our bulletin board in the hall.   Take a look the next time you are in the school.  The children are also beginning simple addition using dots on our daily message.
The February leader calendar will be sent home on Monday.  If your child will be away on his/her leader day due to vacation, please find a classmate to switch with.  February is always a busy month with 100th Day and Valentine's Day.  I will be sending home information regarding Valentine's Day and a class list of names on Friday.  Please check the note and the blog for dates for sending 100 day projects and valentines to school.
The children are doing a wonderful job of printing their last names on the leader chart.  We are also beginning to display last names on their name cards as part of the entry process.
As the children progress in Kindergarten, I am encouraging independence in all areas.  When writing, I encourage the children to write the sounds they hear in the words.  This gives them ownership of their writing.  There are high frequency words, I expect the students, especially the Seniors to be working towards spelling properly (such as the, me, like and said).   I also encourage the children to use the classroom resources such as namecards, poems, books and the word wall to find words they need to write.  Spelling the words for the children take away their independence and a learning opportunity.  
You will soon be receiving information from the Grade Parents concerning Parent Teacher interviews.  I will be contacting the parents who I wish to speak with this term.  I will be hosting an Open House on Wednesday, February 20 (7:45 am-8:45 am) and on Thursday, February 21 (3:45 pm-4:45 pm). This will be an opportunity to visit the classroom, see your child's work and have an informal discussion with the teacher.
A reminder that notes for our theatre trip were sent home on Thursday. Please complete page 2 and return the form with $20.00 to school as soon as possible, as we have to inform the theatre of our exact numbers.   Thanks in advance.