Mrs. Croft's Kindergarten Class

We had 2 fire drills, a hold and secure drill, a bus evacuation and a lockdown drill... all in one week! I emphasized that these were just that, drills, and that we need to practice so that we know what to do in the event of a real event. Students met their grade 7 buddies this week! There was such excitement among everyone! I was very impressed with how patient and kind the grade 7’s were and how excited they were to have a kindergarten buddy.  We read a story titled, “I Wonder”. It’s a wonderful story about how the world is full of wonder and we all wonder things, whether we are old or young. The grade 7’s helped the kindergartens write something they wonder about and helped them with an illustration. I heard so many inquisitive “wonders”, from how does the moon change shapes, how are TV’s built, and how do trees get so big. Another focus this week was on fall colours. We explored how the color yellow mixed with red makes orange, and yellow mixed with...

Students LOVED safety city! This is always a favorite field trip as they get to drive quads around a small city! How cool is that?! We started off the morning with a lesson in the classroom about the 7 rules of road safety! See if your child can tell you some! 1.) Stop 2.) Point your hand 3.) Listen for cars and sirens 4.) Look 4 ways 5.) Look the driver in the eye 6.) Wait for all the cars to stop 7.) Keep looking as you cross the street We then went out to safety city where students were divided into 2 groups. One group got to drive the quads while the other group were the pedestrians. The 2 groups switched half way through so every student experienced being a driver and a pedestrian. Many of your children ran through red lights, were driving on the wrong side of the road and we can all be glad that it will be a long time before any of these little drivers are on the real road! They did have FUN though!! For some, riding the bus to safety city w...

The Strathcona wilderness Centre came into our classroom to teach the students about looking for clues outside that indicate that winter is coming and how animals get ready for winter. Students learned about a muskrat, a beaver, a squirrel, and a mouse. We learned about the foods that these animals eat, how they get their food, and how they build their homes. We even got to hide under a beaver skin and many of these little kindergartens were the size of an adult beaver which allowed them to disguise themselves perfectly!  Yes that is Kali underneath!  We then got to go outside where students got to pretend they were animals in the forest searching for food! They needed to put their food in a certain spot (either a tree, or a hole in the ground or their bird feeders). Thank you to the parent helpers who played these roles!  All in all it was a great day of learning and I hope your children came home and told you a little bit ...

The kindergarten social curriculum focuses on the theme of “ I am Unique”. We read a story this week titled “ All about Me”, which showed that we all look different, which makes us unique! There was a mirror in the back of the book and each child shared what they liked about themselves. Their answers were precious! I took this theme and combined it with our EICS division theme, “We are God’s Masterpiece”.  We all created a unique hand print and made a beautiful masterpiece! We jumped right into phonics this week! Students learned the sounds P and U. I hope many of them showed you a painting action for P and pointed up for U. The research from animated literacy shows that, "We all remember things best when we move our muscles and stimulate our emotions. How many of us can learn to ride a bike, put it away for 20 years, and still ride it on our first attempt? The recent discovery of “mirror neurons” has helped us understand why it is critical for young children to u...

In case any of you have forgotten, Chester is our kindergarten raccoon friend we met in the story “The kissing hand!”  Today we read another story with Chester in it,  while Chester sat on my lap and listened.  Students then made some cute Chester headbands! They were excited to finally be able to use the glue sticks!  After snack, Chester went missing! He did leave us a clue and sent us on quite a hunt!  We walked to the library, our outdoor shoe rack, the gym, the office and finally found him in Mr. Kucy’s office!  Students loved visiting all the places in the school and their faces lit up when they saw him peeking out of Mr. Kucy’s office. 

Welcome Kindergarten Parents!! This blog page will serve as a way for me to share the fun things we are doing in kindergarten. Please check back frequently as I will add to the page as the year goes on. In addition to communicating through here, I will also send monthly newsletters home, send weekly email reminders and will send reminders through the remind app (Please download this if you haven't yet done so). If you ever need to get a hold of me, email or the remind app are the two best ways. If it is something that I need to know quickly (a change in pick up for example), I don't have the opportunity to check messages during the school day so you must contact the office. Please check the weekly smore each week for updates on what is happening at the school. I'm so excited for an exciting year of learning and fun! I feel school should always be a place where kids want to come and can learn while having fun. One of my goals this year is to instill this love of learning ...