Fall 2016
Our 2016/2017 school year began in September. We have a wonderful group of children and are feeling very lucky to be able to teach them every day. September was a time of exploration and learning as the kids got to know their new friends and got acquainted with their new surroundings. During the month of September, we learned about Back to School and All About Me. We did many activities to learn our colours and shapes and taught the children about our routines and rules in the classroom.
Our All About Me unit was an opportunity to get the children thinking about themselves and their family. We discussed hair colour, eye colour, likes, dislikes, family members, pets, and everything in between. We created an All About Me Book with daily crafts to send home at the end of our unit. We love to create keepsakes for our students and their families.
In October we learned about Apples, Thanksgiving and Fall. The kids made their own apple pies, did apple taste tests and learned a wonderful story about how an apple has a star inside. Our fall unit allowed us to explore the outdoors and all of the amazing colours of fall. We collected fall leaves, discussed the changing season and did many crafts full of fall colours.
The last week of October was dedicated to Halloween and pumpkins! We made cookies, carved pumpkins, measured pumpkins, counted pumpkin seeds and learned about how pumpkins grow! Our favourite Halloween story is, Five Little Pumpkins. The children learned the story and were taught actions to each page. We hosted Halloween Centre days for all of our classes. The children were encouraged to dress up in their costumes and we had a fun filled day of Halloween themed activities and crafts!
During the month of November at The Happy Place we are learned about bears, and the five senses. We completed a unit on teddy bears and had a "Teddy Bear Picnic". We taught the children about real bears such as grizzly, black, panda, koala, and polar bears. We graphed our favourite bears, made a fun bear craft each day and learned all about hibernation!
We are focusing on learning our letters, writing our names, proper pencil grip, scissor skills and learning to recognize our numbers. Each day includes large group activities, small group focused learning centres, gross motor (exercise), a craft, music, fine motor skills, and literacy. We keep the children busy through fun and exciting activities!!!! Our next post will be about our Christmas season. Stay tuned :)
