Best Day Ever!

This was the chant heard from many kindergartners on Wednesday.  The children were quite excited by the days' activities.  Here are a few highlights.  We started the day with Choice Time during which they developed their fine and gross motor skills along with  interpersonal and conflict resolution skills.  Then we enjoyed Meeting For Worship in our lovely Music Room with the other kindergarten and the 4 Early Childhood classes.  During this time they developed their reflective capabilities and strengthened their impulse control.  Then we had Morning Meeting and Snack.  This was followed by Library and Writer's Workshop.  They were overjoyed to have their first experience of the year using laptops in Library.   During Writer's Workshop, we shared our journal entries, talked about leaving spaces between words, and we reinforced sight word recognition by referencing our word wall.  We also practiced a new decoding technique called tapping.  For a word like "cat", you would tap your thumb to your pointer finger and say the hard "c" sound.  Then you tap your thumb to your middle finger and say the short "a" sound.  Then you tap your thumb to your ring finger and say the sound for "t".  Lastly, you slide your thumb across all three fingers from pointer to ring and say the sounds blended together.  Ask your child to show you how it works!  We also got to make letters and numbers with our fingers on a tabletop covered in shaving cream!!  After writer's workshop we had a discussion about symmetry, and we practice d making our bodies symmetrical and asymmetrical.  Now we are making symmetrical patterns with pattern blocks, and soon we will make color tile designs applying the concept of symmetry.  It is inspiring how the children approach these concepts with such joy and excitement.  May we learn well from the positive attitudes of our young friends!