Backyard Bugs

 Our Backyard Bugs workshop presented by the Scientists in the School program was a huge success! The children had a blast being entomologists. 


Thank you to all of our parent volunteers for making this fabulous learning opportunity possible!


The children were able to meet the insect family and discover their unique anatomy while developing a new appreciation of bugs by investigating how bugs behave, eat, see and hear. 

We learned that insects have three body parts (a head, thorax and abdomen) and six legs.

We created insects of our very own!

We helped butterflies play hide and seek using camouflage and learned what it means to be symmetrical. 


These are just a few of the activities presented to us by our scientist. The children and I have been inspired to look at bugs in a different light and will continue to explore the wonderful world of insects for the remainder of the school year.


At home: Search for insects around your home and neighbourhood and bring them to school as a specimen study.

Ten Frames

 The children pretended they were math detectives and used ten frames showing numbers from 1 to 10 as their clues. Their task was to figure out the fastest way to move from one number to the next. They were given a number card and asked to show this number on their blank ten frame. 

Then, they were given a different number card and asked to show this new number on their ten frame. The key was not to completely clear their frame, but to add dots (to move from 6 to 10, for example,) or subtract dots (to move from 8 to 3, for example). 




At home: Create your own ten frame by dividing a piece of paper into ten boxes. You can use circles cut out of construction paper as your counters, or any set of ten objects (e.g. beads, beans, cotton balls)

Song of the Week: The Green Grass Grows All Around

Sesame Street: Feist sings 1,2,3,4

SMART Board

We are fortunate to play host to one of our school's SMART Boards. You have probably noticed the new large white screen in our classroom and this SMART Board is like a cross between a white board and a computer with many more neat features. The children and I are enjoying playing and watching educational games and videos on sites like http://www.abcya.com/  and http://www.sesamestreet.org/. 
These are sites you can visit on your home or library computer, as well. 

Leo Lionni Inspired Art

We have begun studying the art of the author and illustrator Leo Lionni. The children have become familiar with his stories and discussing the ways in which he creates his illustrations. One of the ways Leo Lionni illustrates is by using watercolour paints and the children are enjoying experimenting with their own watercolour paintings and designs. 
Here are some books by Leo Lionni that you might want to look for at the public library:

Growing Grass

After saying goodbye to a successful unit on water, we are now moving onto an exploration of another natural element, soil. As a jumping off experience, we decided to grow grass in soil, in our classroom. 

First, we spread grass seed (rather generously!) over soil in a wooden planter and covered it up.


After about a week, and a good amount of watering by the children, we began to see grass emerging from the soil.






Later that week, we were very excited to see how much the grass had grown!

More, Less and the Same

We have been exploring the ideas of more, less and the same to help us begin to understand number relationships. Some activities the children engaged in were: identifying and creating sets of more, less and the same and using counters to show a quantity that is more, less and the same as a given number. 



Thank you to those who were able to attend our S.K. visits earlier this month. One of the activities you observed was a number line game in which a doll was moved 1 or 2 numbers more or less on a number line after the flip of a "more or less" coin.


At home: You can ask children about quantities of more, less and the same using everyday objects at home. You might like to create your own number line game by drawing one or using a ruler as the number line, and moving objects (e.g. beans, beads, cheerios) 1 and 2 numbers more or less than a given number. For example, place a bean on the number 5 on a ruler. Ask your child to move the bean 2 numbers more. 

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

We are living in an age in which children receive less natural physical activity than before, lured indoors by various forms of technology (t.v., computers, Wii) when they could be running around outside. In order to cope with our picky eaters, it is often an easier choice to give in to their demand for processed, sugary foods (hot dogs, cookies, candy) rather than what we know is nutritious. 

A topic the students and I have been exploring is healthy eating. We have discussed healthy "growing" food versus unhealthy "junk" food. The children created displays for our Snack Table of food that is good for you and enjoy talking about their healthy food choices during Snack Time. In order to continue to promote healthy eating, please encourage your child by packing healthy snacks for him or her on a daily basis. Healthy snack ideas include: fruits, vegetables, yogurt, granola, crackers and cheese. 

Also, as we do not have a water fountain in the classroom, please ensure that you pack a water bottle, especially as the weather continues to get warmer.

Found Art Family Members

Thank you to all of the families who brought in materials they found around the home to help us with our "found art" project. The children worked hard to use the math principles of sorting and classifying to organize the wide array of materials. 

After exploring the book My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks, we brainstormed family members we might like to create pictures of using our found art materials.


The children had a great time experimenting with the different objects they had access to and the finished pieces were nothing short of phenomenal. 

Welcome to Our Blog!

Dear Kindergarten Families,


Welcome to the new blog for Miss Singh's morning and afternoon Kindergarten classes! It is my hope that this space will act as an additional way for you to witness some of the learning experiences your child engages in on a daily basis. I will be posting classroom highlights every week. Scrolling through our blog with your Kindergarten child would be a wonderful way to further connect with them about what they are learning and enjoying at school. Please feel free to subscribe to our blog. Any positive comments you may wish to leave in response to a posting would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you for your continued support,
Miss Singh