Special Events: Supporting Team Canada

We wore red and white today to celebrate Team Canada in the World Cup of Hockey! GO CANADA GO!

General Happenings: Our First Picture Post!

Finally!!! Our first picture post of the year:) Hope you enjoy, there are more to come shortly!

Announcements: In School Speech Support

Hi Parents!

I hope everyone had a good weekend :)

I wanted to make a quick post about Speech and Language. I know I asked JK parents if you had any Speech and/or Language concerns for you child, and some of you filled that out on your parent survey.

I wanted to explain to you how our Speech and Language process works, so hopefully you'll have a better understanding:

• If your child is CURRENTLY receiving support from Early Words, they unfortunately are not eligible for in school support for their speech.
• If you have reached out for your own support (i.e., McMaster, Speech and Language pathologists, etc.), you are eligible for support, but unfortunately, that doesn't mean you'll receive it.

How it works is we put names forward of students we have speech concerns about (that follow under above eligibility) and our Speech and Language Pathologist (SPL) will come visit them. Please know that only students with severe speech delays/issues are suggested for review. You would have been contacted by now if this is the case for permission for our SPL to speak to your child. From here, your child will be assessed and recommendations will be put forward.

I want to make you all aware that this is something completely out of my hands. All I can do is refer them and leave it up to our SPL. If I can be very blunt with you, only children with severe speech problems often receive support (and unfortunately, sometimes what you think is severe isn't according to their standards), and support doesn't usually start until SK or Grade 1, as many speech issues cannot be deemed either developmental or an issue until a certain age. Now, I'm clearly not a SPL so I can't really even speak on that, but I want you to know that:

a) If you have speech concerns and your child won't be receiving support, there is little in the classroom I can do due to time and limited knowledge.

b) If you are wondering about activities you can do at home, services you can utilize within the community, etc., I can certainly get you in contact with our SPL, who can then send you some resources, etc.

I hope this has given you some clarification. As I read through these parents surveys, I want to ensure that you are aware that goals such as improved speech, being fully potty trained, etc., are not something I can directly help with, but will do everything in my power to ensure you feel content with what I can do to help. Thanks for reading!

PS: It is STRONGLY recommended that all children have hearing tests and vision tests. Please keep us updated if you've had one done recently!!

Announcements: Update!

Hi parents!

We've officially gotten through the first two weeks of school. It has been crazy! From trying to establish routines and reorganizing our classes, it's been pretty chaotic, but we're getting there!

• I wanted to let you know that we have received photo consent from every family in our classroom, so thank you!! It's wonderful to have :) We can't wait to start sharing pictures with you. Please know we will never post it anywhere other than what we've mentioned, and we never use last names. Thank you for trusting us :) I'm sure you're all looking forward to seeing pictures of your child.
• Please continue to have discussions at home about how we act in school and the consequences for not listening. Our classroom rules are:

1. Be a good friend
2. Listening ears
3. Walking feet
4. Clean up after yourself
5. Hands and feet to yourself

Hopefully with it coming from both you and us, we can help minimize some behaviours. 

• Our milk program has started! Everyone has received a sheet informing you of when it begins and how to purchase tickets. $9.00 is a weird amount, but please bring in exact change to help us out :) Remember to put tickets in your child's lunch bag and not their important bag.
• We kindly ask that everyone brings in a labeled water bottle that they bring everyday. We sometimes stay outside for outdoor play, and we want to limit the number of bodies going in and getting drinks from the fountain (and it's more hygienic!) 
• We will be cashing in cheques for special events next week
• IF possible and only if possible, please pay for scholastic online OR using a cheque. When money is sent in, I have to write a cheque... which I don't mind, but we can't send cash in the mail. I'll still accept it though! :P

Things I'm still waiting on clarification for:

• Tribes
• School Cash Online
• Pizza!

Announcements: Back Field Under Construction

Please read the following note from Mr. Castellani:

(click to enlarge)

Announcements: Updates and Reminders

Hi Parents,

A couple of reminders:

• Please remember to label your money and what it is for! Scholastic order forms have to be filled out with your child's name and what books they want. We can't fill them out for you! Exact change is required or we will not provide change. Unlabelled bags will be sent home.
• We have said goodbye to Savo, Stefana, and Jake. We had multiple parents asking after my last post if their child was leaving. The possibility of reorganization of classes happens every year, but often there is no change. Please know for future reference that I would never make a public post if we didn't already know who was leaving, and we would never, ever make this change without your knowledge! All parents were contacted by Mr. Castellani Friday afternoon.
• V.I.P starts next week! Every week we will have a V.I.P. That student gets to do something special each and every day during our morning routine. They also get to be the line leader, choose first for play time, etc. We do this in alphabetical order, so don't worry, your child will get their turn! Just like last year, everyone will get to be V.I.P for a whole week. You will get your V.I.P package the Friday before your child's V.I.P week. 
• We are collecting money for the Terry Fox run! If the school raises enough money, Mr. Castellani will get a pie in the face. All of your support is appreciated! The date is in October. You will see this on our October calendar when you get it.

Thanks so much!

Announcements: Goodbye Friends!

We are sad to announce that as of Monday, we are saying goodbye to 3 of our classroom friends. Due to such high numbers in our classrooms, we are expanding the Kindergarten class of 18 to 27. It's unfortunate that this had to happen two weeks into the year, but it was completely out of our hands. We will miss you!!

Announcements: Cool Little Kids Program

Hi parents!

This is a resource available to you if you feel as though your child is anxious, shy, withdrawn, or worried (click to enlarge).

Announcements: Thanks again!!

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to thank everyone who came to our parent night last night. We had about 24 families show, so a really great turn out! I hope I made everything clear last night and you have fewer questions about what to do and how to do it. I hope I wasn't overly anal, heh! It's just when these practices are put in place, it saves us so much time, which ultimately means more time spent with students. Please hold onto your newsletter as a reference throughout the year. I have updated it and it is now under Important Documents if case you lose it.

If you're reading this and weren't able to attend, please read through the welcome package thoroughly.

There are a couple of points I forgot to mention last night that are important:

• I am only available to talk from the hours of 8 am - 4 pm. Therefore, if you message me on Twitter at night time, for example, I won't respond until the following day. Phone calls will not be made at night or on the weekend. If you're picking up your child from daycare and you would like to speak, I'm only available to talk until 4pm.
• As a reminder, gym occurs pretty much every day (days 1, 2, 3, 4) and book exchange occurs on day 5. Book exchange will start soon.
• It's probably going to take two weeks for everyone to send in their forms, which means I won't be contacting you about volunteering until after this is done.

The following are things I promised to inform you about as soon as I find out:

• Milk program
• School cash online
• Tribes

Thanks! :)

Announcements: Welcome Back!

Hi everyone!

I cannot believe how fast this summer went by and we're back already starting a new year :) I'm looking forward to a great year with some new and old friends. I'm excited to see our now SKs take a leadership role in the classroom to help out our new JKs. We also have high expectations for them as they know all the rules! :)

As mentioned before (and put in your child's important bag), this upcoming Monday September 12th from 4-5:30 pm, we are having our first ever parent night. This is an opportunity for us to have you all in one room and go through the newsletter, forms, etc. with you and (hopefully) answer any questions you may have. Please sit tight until then and save any questions until after it! This is also for SK parents, as we are changing some things from last year and want to keep you informed.

Just a heads up that we will be having gym 4 days a week for 25 minutes, so appropriate footwear should be kept at school at all times, or have your child wear them every day.

Please send in your supplies as soon as possible. And please, LABEL EVERYTHING!!! Backpacks, containers, lunch bags, shoes, hats, etc. We look forward to having a great year together!! :)