Junior Kindergarten Daily Schedule

Dear Parents,

The children have amazed us with their wonderful efforts and endless ideas for our house project. It is hard to believe that this project began in January and continues to evolve and branch out into other learning experiences. Just as we thought the project was nearing its end, the children would spring new ideas on us! We began with the broad topic "Structures," and through observation and documentation, it was quite apparent that the children had a strong interest and many questions related to homes.

This began our adventure. A few of the children's parents were moving into new houses. The children shared their experiences visiting model homes and the process they were a part of while the houses were being built. This brought us to our first big project, "Our Building Centre." The children used the information their classmates shared, the information we read in books and videos, and prior knowledge and then got straight to work. In small groups, through trial and error, they created masterpieces with an amazing story behind each block and tube. While observing, we heard conversations such as, "We have to put a wall up over here so you cannot see into the bedrooms." and "We need to make our kitchen big, so people can cook and eat in here." This brought us to our next extension, the children discussed how many bedrooms and bathrooms they each had in their houses, and we graphed the information to tie into our Mathematics strand.

Once this was complete, Ms. Josie and I printed a variety of floor plans to show the children the many options you have when buying a house. The children were so excited about investigating these plans that we offered a new learning experience. They had an opportunity to draw and design their own floor plans. Their interest continued to escalate, and we noticed many continued to visit the light table to use transparency paper to design plans, and others used loose parts to create floor plans in many different ways.

We decided to take their interest one step further. We had the children choose one or two partners to work together, to not only create a floor plan but design their own home with pictures from various flyers and magazines. Once each team of architects was finished, they presented their creative floor plans to their classmates. This gave the children an opportunity to show their peers what they had created and also practice speaking in front of a larger group. What amazed us was the amount of information the children were retaining and sharing in various areas of the project. Children were also taking these ideas home to create mini projects with their parents, and some children also took this opportunity to teach their parents a few things they had learned. The project culminated with the children creating a listing for the house they designed. They drew pictures of their houses and wrote an advertisement to entice buyers to purchase their property.

This has now evolved into our new project. Many of the children have shown an interest in landscaping. When we created our small-scale communities, one of their many focuses was landscaping. We began researching through books, videos, the internet and also by taking nature walks in our community to observe the various options we have when it comes to landscaping. The children have created a web outlining all the different things they want to plant as a class. They will have opportunities to plant seeds, observe their growth and learn to take care of them. As a class, we will also be designing the front garden at Autumn Hill. They will work together as a team to design the layout and choose the flowers. Once we have completed these steps, the children will have an opportunity to walk to our local grocery store and purchase our plants as a class.

As we have all noticed, the weather is ever-changing. Please dress your child in the appropriate clothing, as we do go outside twice daily. Please bring in sunscreen and place it in your child's cubby, as we will apply it prior to going outside. Also, I am kindly asking that you please try and make it to class before 9:00 a.m. to avoid any disruption to our morning routine.

To keep you up to date, each month, you will receive emails detailing the curriculum, outlining the objectives, a newsletter, trip forms and other important information. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email me.

Reminders

• Label all belongings
• Autumn Hill enforces a strict no-nut policy. All foods sent to school must be pre-packaged with the list of ingredients clearly visible. No food prepared at home will be allowed, due to the possibility of cross-contamination, such as cut-up vegetables or fruit; if you would like to send full servings, we would be happy to cut them.
• Please bring in a cup or water bottle daily and bring it home to be washed daily
• Please supply an extra set of clothing, clearly labelled, which can remain in your child's cubby

Important Dates

• May 9 & 10 – Graduation photos
• May 23 – School closed for Victoria Day
• May 30 & 31 – Build a Bear Workshop with The Kids Fun Factory