September Centre Time

Here are some photos from centre time today. The students are enjoying exploring the new centres. 

The newest centre is the iPad centre. Students have been learning about proper iPad care and the appropriate time use for playing on the iPad. Students can choose a 3 or 5 minute timer when playing at the iPad centre. This is so all students can get a turn and so students can focus on playing at other centres where they are communicating and playing with other students. 

Here is the AM class: 

This is our Cozy Corner that students can use to self-regulate if they feel they need a break due to feeling angry, sad, nervous, worried or other feelings that might keep them from staying focused. Typically students stay in the cozy corner for 3-5 minutes. 

This girl is using our breathing ball in the Cozy Corner. When you breathe in you open the ball. When you breathe out you close the ball. 

Here is the PM class: 

Welcome, Fall

We are happily embracing Fall in our Kindergarten classroom!

The first day of Fall was officially on last Friday, September 22. It feels like fall; the weather is getting cooler and many leaves have fallen off the trees. 

We made Fall hats today! We cut out coloured leaves and glued them to our hats.

Welcome, Fall! 

Next season on the way - Winter! 

(But we won't talk about that yet...)

Top Notch Cutting

Today the Kinders had a little lesson on scissors. 
We practiced proper grip, techniques, and practiced cutting shapes out. 

We learned a couple tips to help us when cutting: 
1. "Thumbs Up" (make sure your thumb is on top, not on the bottom) 

Thumbs down - WRONG

Thumbs up - RIGHT

 2. "Cutting Half Way" (when cutting, close scissors MOST of the way, not ALL the way) 

Correct - Open (ready to cut)

Correct - Closed (cut down)

Correct - Open (ready to cut)

INCORRECT - Closed all the way (leads to jagged edge when cutting)

3. "Crazy Hand" (This is the hand that is not holding the scissors. We call it the crazy hand because it moves around and helps us by moving the page we are holding. Sometimes the Kinders will try to move their cutting hand, but we want to practice keeping our cutting hand still and only moving our crazy hand.)

4.  "Laying down to cut" (This causes the child to keep their arm in the same place and only move their wrist. We pretended our "elbows" were glued down so we couldn't move them or lift them up. Otherwise, sometimes children twist and bend their arm in every direction when trying to cut) After trying this today, the kinders were very successful with their cutting! 




Here are some of the AM Kinders practicing their new cutting skills:

Here are some of the PM Kinders practicing their new cutting skills: