Welcome to January!

           

We are ready to get into the swing of things here in 1B!  I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday and enjoyed time with family and friends. 

Some important news for you:

Clifford’s Spelling Words – We are learning 10 words a week!!!

In order to enliven spelling a bit, I have adopted Clifford as the spelling mascot.  We will learn a new list of “Clifford’s words” every week, and will spend time in class studying and using them.  Please feel free to include the words in your homework times with your child – perhaps two or three a night.  Keep it manageable and fun! 

Home Reading

Your child should be coming home regularly with a home reader.  Please have your child read it to someone (who can already read) the day it comes home.  Encourage your child to figure out as many of the words as she/he can, without help.  If your child is really stuck, then help them with the word.  Please encourage your child to point to the words as they read them.  (This helps them keep track of where they are, and also decreases memorization.)  Your child should read the book enough times that he/she is able to read it fluently.  Please fill in the home reading record and then send the book, reading record, and CHASE folder back to school for exchange.  Make it a goal to return the home readers as soon as possible, perhaps the next day. 

Special Events and Dates

Chapel  (January 7, 14, Primary chapel on the 21, and Community Chapel on the 29)

½ Day of School (January 9) on Friday, the students will be dismissed at 12:00 and teachers will be having professional development sessions in the afternoon.

Skating Field Trip (January 13) on Tuesday afternoon, we are going to go to the Stuart park outdoor skating rink after lunch.  We will ride the bus at 12:05 from the school and arrive at the rink for skating by 12:30.  Parents and family members are welcome to join us for our 12:30-1:30 skate time.  All students need to wear gloves/mitts and a helmet when skating (a bike helmet is fine).

Kelowna Rockets Visit (January 19) some players from the Rockets hockey team will be visiting our school this day.  We always look forward to this visit and the chance to watch our oldest students play against the Rockets!

Family Gym Night for Kindergarten and Grade One Families (January 20) in the evening, from 6pm-7pm, families are invited to attend a PUA event in our gym.  We will be playing games and having fun together!  Please wear comfortable clothes and bring a water bottle then be ready to participate and have fun. J

Mountainview Trip (January 22) we will be walking over to Mountainview for our third service visit.  We would love to have some parents join us to walk over at 10am and return at 11:20.

Polar Day (January 28) we will be enjoying a number of polar themed stations for the afternoon and are looking for volunteers to help us between 12:00 until 3:00.  It will involve leading a lesson to a small group of students and then repeating that lesson.  All of the lesson materials and instructions are provided and lessons are focused on reading, math, science, art and writing.  If you are able to help, please let me know or sign up on the parent board.

Kindergarten/Preschool Open House - Would you like to know more about our kindergarten or preschool programs for your child's 2013-2014 year? We are offering both part-time and full-time kindergarten programs next year. Join us on Monday, Feb. 3 at our K/PS Open House. Parents are invited to join us at 7:30 p.m. to learn about our preschool and kindergarten programs through an interactive information session with the teachers and principal, and having a tour of the facilities. Interested parents are asked to RSVP to the school office (elementary@kcschool.ca or 250.861.5432).

Volunteers 

We will have a number of volunteer opportunities this month.  We are restarting the reading groups on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  I will be looking for volunteers to help with bulletin boards and art projects. Please let me know if any of these opportunities appeal to you and could fit into your schedule.

I hope you have a terrific January, experiencing health and joy as we continue our grade one adventure together.