NEWS >> Upcoming AFTERNOON TEACHER CHANGES!

This news is for AFTERNOON SENIOR KINDERGARTEN classes only.

In case you have not received the yellow letter sent home with your child on Jan. 7th nor read the January newsletter about Mrs. Maxwell's early retirement, we would like to inform all parents about the upcoming teacher changes.

On Friday, January 31st we will sadly say “Good-Bye” to Mrs Maxwell and wish her a happy retirement.

Then on Monday, February 3rd we welcome some familiar faces to replace our beloved Mrs. Maxwell,  Mr. Skinner, who will be teaching the English program and Mme. Holmes, who will be teaching the French program. They will share one class, referred to as Blue Group, which means there will no longer be a rotation between classrooms.  Blue Group will receive both English and French instruction on a daily basis; English the first 75 or 85 minutes and French for the remainder of the day. The other class, referred to as Red Group, will stay with Mme. Blahout for both French and English instruction, the same as her morning JK group has been enjoying since September.

If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact us.

Once again, thank you for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,
The Kindergarten Team

FAMILY LITERACY DAY is THIS MONDAY!

 Check out this website for inspiration.
http://abclifeliteracy.ca/fld/family-literacy-day

Remember that familiar words are easier to read than unfamiliar words. It is very important to expand your child's vocabulary as much as possible. Oral language is the first step in the learning hierarchy, followed by reading, and finally writing. Research shows that the more language your child has attained in the early years, the better they will do in school.

So - - - 
READ, TALK, and SING! 



Please read every day! 

Ms. Schlesak's class
Mrs. Mclay brought a bit of spring with her today when she came to volunteer in the classroom. I asked the children to close their eyes and to sniff the blossom of a hyacinth.  I asked them to think of what the scent reminded them of. Some said spring, others said dancing in the sun, and one said planting flowers in his grandfather's garden. Yes, we can recall what spring feels like in the dead of winter.
I sent home a sheet about brushing teeth and I asked the kids to record the times they brush their teeth in the morning and the evening. Tomorrow, we will be discussing healthy snacks that promote healthy gums.
We all look forward to warmer winter days so the children can enjoy the gifts of winter!!!

SENIOR KINDERGARTEN MATH EXPECTATIONS

Dear Parents of SK students,

Report cards are around the corner, they will be arriving February 13th.

As we update our assessments of your child's knowledge in Math, it has come to our attention that many children do not RECOGNIZE NUMERALS to 20 and beyond.  Many of them are also not able to COUNT as high as they should at this point in the program.  We practice these skills every day and we would really like all students to be able to count to 100 by June, so we are asking for your assistance.

PLEASE PRACTICE identifying and printing numerals at home and point out numbers in the environment whenever you have the opportunity to do so. Teach your child their phone number, address, and birth date.

Also try to do some counting up to and beyond 50 a few times per week. Use small toys, such as lego, marbles, etc. Based on your child's current ability, work your way up from 10, then 20, then 30, etc. progressing on a weekly basis for each group of 10. Meaningful repetition is better than drill; so count items they are interested in. Ask questions like: "I wonder how many legos are in that container? Let's find out!"

Remember the rule: "Attention span is the same number of minutes as their age in years." A 5 year old child only focuses for a MAXIMUM of 5 minutes! Make it fun and they will be motivated to learn. Good luck!

SNOW-SHOEING FUN!

All Kindergarten students were out in the fresh air today learning how to snow-shoe! 

We had lots of fun and exercise (despite a few moments of frustration with "les raquettes".)!

JKs were outside for most of the morning and the SKs were out for most of the afternoon!!

* FYI: This was a provincially funded activity that included experienced instructors and proper equipment.

OTTAWA 67's HOCKEY TICKETS AVAILABLE!!

Holy Redeemer has been given free tickets to more Ottawa 67's games through the Adopt A School Program thanks to our sponsor Capital Security & Investigations. The games dates are:

Friday, Jan. 17 - 7:30 pm

Sunday. Jan.19 - 2:00 pm

Saturday. Feb. 1 - 2:00 pm

Friday, Feb. 7 - 7:30 pm

If you would be interested in tickets for one of these games please send a note in. Please include the game date(*s) (*In order of preference) and number of tickets you would like.

In order to accommodate as many families as possible, a maximum of 4 tickets can be given per family. Tickets will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis. 

If you have received tickets in the past, please don't forget to 

send in their thank you notes for our sponsor from the previous ticket distribution.

Ms. Schlesak

We have been discussing rhyming words. When reading to your child and you come across some rhyming words please point them out and see if they can identify some other words that rhyme. Don't worry if they are not words as long as they rhyme (i.e. pig or sig).

JANUARY NEWSLETTERS - Check out the NEWS!

Click here for the JUNIOR Kindergarten JANUARY NEWSLETTER.

                        Click here for the SENIOR Kindergarten JANUARY NEWSLETTER.