Open House and Q&A!

Hello families!

Thank you so much for coming in tonight for Open House :) It's so nice to see how excited our students get when they get to show off their classroom to their families. It means so much to them :)

As I'm sure you're aware, we're still working on getting some stuff up on the walls like student work, paintings, pictures, etc. We will get there! We have to work on routines and expectations before we can get to the good stuff :) Walking down the hall in a straight line with 30 little ones is pretty challenging! They're doing a great job though :) Also, we're still waiting on some furniture and supplies like our art easel before we can get everything up and running.

A lot of you had some great questions tonight, and we noticed many of you had the same questions, so we thought we would address them here so that everyone is in the know :)

How many students are in the class? 

30.

How many Kindergarten classrooms does Gatestone have?

4 - 3 classes of 30 and 1 class of 14. Class sizes are not decided by the Kindergarten team.

Is the class composed of JKs and SKs?

Yes! There are 15 JKs and 15 SKs.

Do you teach the JKs and SKs the same thing?

Yes and no. We do a lot of things together like our lessons and circle time. However, during Guided Reading/Small Group Instruction (which hasn't begun yet), we will pull small groups of students at similar ability levels and do a mini-lesson to teach specific skills.

What does my child have to know by the end of the year? How can I help at home?

Stay tuned to the blog as we will keep you posted on what we're learning in the classroom. If you want, you can take a gander through the Kindergarten curriculum  (http://edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/kindergarten_english_june3.pdf) to read what we teach in Kindergarten. At home, read to or with your child every night, practise letters and sounds, counting, etc. (see http://edu.gov.on.ca/kindergarten/ for more information).

Will the JKs have you as a teacher next year?

We aren't sure yet. That is a decision made by Administration.

When will your Home Reading program begin?

We are aiming for early October. We have to do multiple assessments on each child before we can begin. Parents of children in SK will receive their child's reading score as soon as we finish assessments. JKs don't receive reading assessments until the new year, however, you will be informed  of reading scores and what they mean when home reading begins.

We hope that was of help to you and answered some of the questions you may have had. Check back  tomorrow to see what we were getting up to this week in Room 110.

Have a great night!

~ Miss Pliura & Mrs. Tortola