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Dear Parent(s) / Guardians, Welcome to Kindergarten! Please read the following information about the Kindergarten Program. This information will ho efull! answer an! "uestions that !ou ma! ha#e. $f !ou find that !ou still ha#e unanswered "uestions, lease contact us and we will be ha ! to hel . The ur ose of the new %ntario &ull'Da! (arl! )earning Kindergarten Program is, *To establish a strong foundation for learning in the earl! !ears, and to do so in a safe and caring la!'based en#ironment that romotes the h!sical, social, emotional, and cogniti#e de#elo ment of all children.+ The rogram aims to ro#ide e#er! child with the ,ind of su de#elo .elf'regulation /ealth, well'being, and a sense of securit! (motional and social com etence 0uriosit! and confidence in learning 1es ect for the di#ersit! of his or her eers ort he or she needs in order to

2 word about la!- %ne of the fundamental rinci les of the new &ull'Da! (arl! )earning rogram is Pla!. *Pla! is a means to earl! learning that ca itali3es on children4s natural curiosit! and e5uberance.+ $t is how children e5 lore their world, e5 eriment with new ideas, learn and ractice new s,ills, e5 ress ho es and fears, collaborate and ma,e new friends. 6oung children learn best when all of their senses are acti#el! in#ol#ed. The! also need to tal, about e#er!thing the! do. Therefore, Kindergarten is an acti#e, nois! laborator! where children are e5 erimenting with their bodies- their feelings, tastes, sounds, sights and smells' life!

What did you Do in School Today?

When children come home at the end of the da!, the "uestion the!4re as,ed as the! scurr! to la! is... *Tell me, what did !ou do toda!7+ 2nd the answer the! gi#e ma,es !ou sigh with disma!, *8othing, $ did nothing toda!!+ Perha s nothing means that $ ractised m! 2904s or made a attern with :rs. 8ollert (:rs. % or :rs. 1ichards) :a!be $ ainted a icture of red or blue or heard a stor! about a mouse that flew. :a!be $ watched a cater illar eat toda! or went outside on the swings to la!. :a!be toda! was the #er! first time that m! scissors followed a #er! straight line. :a!be $ led a song from beginning to end or la!ed with a brand new friend. When !ou4re ; (or < or =) and !our heart has wings 8%T/$8G can mean so man! things Anonymous

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2 &urther Program $nformation and Things to Kee in :ind>. Please ensure that !our child brings to school? 2 regular si3ed bac, ac, (large enough to fit lunch bag, boo, bags and other school wor,). $ndoor shoes @ Aelcro or sli on referabl! if !our child is not !et able to tie his/her own shoes. Please send shoes for indoor and outdoor use that !our child can ut on inde endentl!. . are clothes in a labelled bag @ s ecificall! a air of ants, a shirt, underwear and soc,s in case of accidents or s ills /ealth! food and drin,s for nutrition brea,s. 2 blan,et or towel (no bigger than a beach towel) for rest time. B. Home Bag @ (ach school da!, !our child will bring home his/her /ome 9ag. This large Ci loc, bag ser#es multi le ur oses? 2ll im ortant notes and newsletters will be sent home in this bag. 6ou can send tri forms and other information to school in the bag. We will chec, the /ome 9ag each morning. 2ll of !our child4s wor, will be sent home in the bag. Please ta,e time to celebrate his or her efforts and accom lishments. 2lso, each da! !ou will find !our child4s Home Book in his/her /ome 9ag. The /ome 9oo, will be used for all home @ school communication. 2 Kindergarten newsletter and calendar will be sent home in the home bag monthl! to enhance home'school communication. We will attem t to highlight dail! e#ents and curriculum e#ents. $m ortant dates to remember will also be shared. 1eading the newsletter with !our child will ro#ide o ortunities to discuss school ha enings. <. Home Book ' $f !ou ha#e a message for us, lease write it in the /ome 9oo, (blue duotang) on the age entitled /ome @ .chool 0ommunication and lea#e the boo, o en, with the front co#er folded bac,. $f we ha#e a message for !ou we will also write it in the /ome 9oo, and lea#e the boo, o en so that !ou ,now to read the /ome 9oo, that da!. DDDDDPlease ma,e sure that !ou send !our child4s /ome 9oo, bac, to school in the /ome 9ag each da!.DDDD =. Jolly Phonics ' We will be using the Eoll! Phonics rogram to hel children learn their letter sounds. 6ou will ho efull! see !our child ma,ing actions while ma,ing letter sounds, the ,inaesthetic ractice ro#ides a further brain hoo, for learning.

;. Jolly Phonics laminated place mat: 2 Eoll! Phonics learning lace mat will be sent home with all EK students to keep at home. We recommend that !ou either hang it on the fridge or ,ee it at !our table where !our child sits and reads or writes so that letters and letter sounds can be re#iewed often. )earning through re etition and fun is the best wa! for !our child to grow their literac! s,ills at this age.

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F. OOPS Bag 2s mentioned in G>, we would li,e all children to bring s are clothes to be left at school. Please send !our child4s clothes in a large Ci loc, bag labelled with !our child4s name. This will become !our child4s %%P. 92G in case of an accident. $t will be ,e t in !our child4s cubb! in case !our child needs a new set of clothing. $f an accident occurs, soiled clothing will be sent home and it would be a reciated if !ou could send re lacement clothes for the oo s bag as soon as !ou can so that we are alwa!s re ared. 2t the end of the school !ear we will send this bag bac, home with !our child. $f !ou are unable to send a large Ci loc,, lease Hust send the clothing in a labelled sho ing bag. Than, !ou for !our co'o eration. I. A i!al and Dismissal .chool !ard su er#ision begins at J?<; am. 0hildren la! outdoors until the bell rings at J?;K am. The children enter from the la!ground #ia the Kindergarten doors which are located near the Kindergarten classrooms. &or the safet! and rotection of all of our children, school wide, we as, that arents lease refrain from coming down the hall to dro off !our child. $f !ou are dro ing off !our child, lease dro him/her off to the la!ground so he/she can line u at the door with the other students when the bell rings. Parents ic,ing u their children at <?BK can do so at the Kindergarten doors located outside the Kindergarten classrooms. Please feel free to use the wal,wa! that enters from the sidewal, at the Kindergarten end of the school. J. Home "eading P og am 1eading at home is #er! im ortant and will la! an im ortant role in hel ing !our child learn to read. #ach e!ening$ please eco d the title o% the &ook in the "eading 'og( S)*s ' .K4s will bring home a 9oo, 9ag e#er! school night starting the second wee, of school. 6our child will ha#e a boo, which will be at his or her indi#idual reading le#el. Part of the reading readiness rogram includes ha#ing !our child read (re'tell or memor!'read at the beginning) familiar attern boo,s at home and school. $n the beginning le#els, we as, that an adult or sibling read the boo, to !our child. Then, ha#e !our child read the boo,. 1emember that this is Hust the beginning of learning to read. 2s !ou encourage !our child4s efforts to read, he/she will feel em owered as a reader! The ne5t da! at school, !our child will re'read the boo, to me or to a #olunteer to ro#ide the re etition that is im ortant for learning new words. We will ro#ide strategies in the reading log which !ou can wor, on with !our child to hel !our child grow as a reader. 2s !our child ad#ances in his/her reading, he/she will be able to read without !ou first reading the stor!. 6ou will ,now when !our child is read! for this! J)*s @ The home reading rogram will begin in %ctober. During the first art of the !ear, the EK4s will bring home stor! boo,s. $f !our child is a EK student, lease read the stor! to !our child, and discuss it. &ostering a lo#e for boo,s and a lo#e for reading is our to riorit!. When !our child is read! he/she will also bring home letter boo,s to wor, on de#elo ing letter ,nowledge. .o, cuddle u and read, and enHo! the boo,s! There will also be an al habet and sound boo,let (called *.inging the 2l habet .ong+) to wor, on. $t is essential that !oung learners remember letters and sounds to romote reading and writing s,ills. We will be singing this song at school so ho efull! !our child can teach it to !ou! J)*s + S)*s ' We ha#e included a reading card (with animals on it) with strategies that we will be learning and racticing at school. We would a reciate if !ou could tr! to use similar language as !ou notice !our child4s efforts with these strategies during reading or as !ou coach them in their reading e.g., Get !our mouth read! for the first sound, .tretch out the sounds (instead of sound it out) and Do !ou see a chun, that !ou ,now7 Tr! to as, some "uestions to dee en !our child4s thin,ing. Three t! es of "uestions !ou might as, are- /and' Luestions where the answer if right in the boo, and !our child can ut their hand on it. /ead' Luestions that re"uire !our child to go be!ond the te5t and consider wh! something might ha#e occurred7 2nd /eart' Luestions where [Type text]

4 !our child needs to share how the! feel about a certain e#ent or to ic, where the! ha#e to consider their feelings or o inion. Please ,ee the atmos here ositi#e and the ace li#el! and fun. $n addition to the home reading boo,s that !our child will bring home, we encourage !ou to enHo! their librar! boo,s and read with !our child as often as ossible. M. Special Helpe s (ach da! we will ha#e > s ecial hel er. The s ecial hel er assists with attendance, calendar, other o ening e5ercises and s ecial Hobs throughout the da!. >K. Sho, + Tell - (ach child will ha#e an o ortunit! to share something from home on his/her s ecial hel er da!. 2s a wa! to guide the children4s .how N Tell choices, a show and tell to ic will be chosen for each month and will be indicated on the classroom calendar. The .how and Tell to ic will hel !ou to ,now what t! e of item should be brought to school for !our child4s sharing time. This acti#it! will hel children de#elo their oral language s,ills, become more comfortable s ea,ing in front of their classmates, and learn to as, and answer "uestions. 2 show and tell oc,et will come home the da! before !our child4s show and tell da!. Please return it to school the ne5t da!. 6our child4s show and tell should fit inside the oc,et. >>. 'i& a y @ We will #isit the librar! wee,l! for a stor! time and boo, e5change. When librar! boo,s come home, lease hel !our child care for his/her boo, and we encourage !ou to find time to snuggle u and read together. 1esearch has shown that children who are read to do better in school. Therefore, it is im ortant for us to foster a lo#e of reading in our children. 6ou will be notified when our librar! da! will be. %nce boo,s start to come home, lease ma,e sure that !our child4s boo,s are returned rom tl! on our librar! da! for boo, e5change. >B. .ut ition B eaks 2t school, we begin at this age to educate children about the t! es of food we eat and the #alue certain foods ha#e for our growth, strength and general well'being. We will be celebrating health! food and drin, choices in our classroom. Please ,ee in mind that we are a eanut free school and that we ha#e students in our school and classrooms with se#ere eanut allergies. Please be es eciall! diligent to a#oid sending eanuts or food that contains eanuts to school. Than, !ou for !our su ort and care in this area, we greatl! a reciate it. ><. /lass oom /ommunity We will stri#e to create a communit! in our classroom through the de#elo ment of shared agreements. We will focus on res ect, on highlighting the ; Ke!s to Kindergarten and on self'regulation' directing one4s own acti#ities, controlling one4s own im ulses, ta,ing res onsibilit! and initiati#e. $f a child is ha#ing difficult! following our classroom agreements, the! ma! be as,ed to ha#e short thin,ing time awa! from the grou . 2bo#e all, our guiding rinci les will be- be ,ind, be bra#e, wonder, learn, laugh, lo#e and ha#e fun! >=. 0 )eys o% )inde ga ten( $n our classroom, we will be using the ; ,e!s of Kindergarten to hel build a ositi#e en#ironment and to establish shared e5 ectations in the classroom. The ; ,e!s are? . ea, with Good Pur ose, 0ommitment, %wnershi , )earn from !our :ista,es, and &le5ibilit!. These are im ortant #alues that we all need to em lo! in our li#es. The ; Ke!s are useful in Kindergarten because the! are eas! for !oung children to understand. There are actions we do for each one that hel the children to remember them. This common language hel s the children ,now what is e5 ected. $f !ou ha#e an! "uestions, lease feel free to as,.

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>;. Toys ' We discourage students from bringing to!s to school (other than for .how N Tell). The! can be distracting and create hard feelings if the! become bro,en or are not easil! shared. $f !ou decide to allow !our child to bring to!s to school, lease note that we will not be res onsible for an! lost or bro,en to!s and !our child ma! be as,ed to ,ee the to! in his/her bac, ac,. >F. Outdoo s - 0hildren are e5 ected to go outside for the recess times each da! (unless it is raining or dangerousl! cold) so lease ma,e sure that !our child comes to school with outdoor clothing and footwear that is a ro riate for the weather each da!. >I. /lothing @ We wor, and la! hard in Kindergarten and sometimes we get dirt!. Please dress !our child with this in mind. >J. P'#AS# 'a&el A'' /lothing and 1oot,ea ' Please be sure to ut !our child4s name on A'' clothing items? boots, shoes, snow ants, coats, mittens, sweaters, sweatshirts, etc. (s eciall! items that !our child might remo#e if he/she is too warm. These are the items we find around the classroom and often man! children ha#e difficult! recogni3ing their own clothes. >M. 'ost and 1ound @ There is a lost and found bin in our school. )ost items are laced in this bin. $f !our child loses an item on the la!ground, he/she will be encouraged to chec, in the lost and found and !ou are welcome to, also. BK. 2nclement Weathe @ Please chec, the school board website to see whether the buses will be running or not due to inclement weather conditions. $f it is #er! fogg!, snow! and or ic! be sure to chec, the website or listen to an a licable radio station that announces bus cancellations for 0entre Wellington buses. B>. 333333*s Please ma,e sure that !our child gets lent! of rest at night. The first da!s at Kindergarten can be #er! tiring, es eciall! if !our child is riding the bus. 9edtime at home is a wonderful time to listen to !our child4s thoughts of the school da! and for !ou to interact with their stories. Plent! of rest will hel re are !our child for our full school da!s and ma5imi3e their success. BB. 4uiet Time 5 "est Time ' 2 *"uiet/rest time+ will ta,e lace each da!. Please send a small blan,et or towel (no bigger than a beach towel) for !our child to rest on or with. 0hildren ma! na , read, draw or onder life during this time! Their blan,et will be ,e t at school and sent home regularl! for a wash. $f !ou find !our child4s blan,et in his/her bac, ac,, lease wash it and return it. Than, !ou. B<. 6OOS Pape @ We use G%%. (Good %n %ne .ide) a er fre"uentl! in Kindergarten. $t is ro#ided at the 0reation station (0raft and creati#it! center in the classroom), and at the drama center. .o, if !ou see man! ages come home with drawings etc., on the bac,, it is because we li,e to reuse a er to sa#e trees!!

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B=. )2.D#"6A"T#. 2.7O'7#8#.T ' :an! arents as, */ow can $ hel m! child and be in#ol#ed in Kindergarten7!+ He e a e some suggestions? Dail! reading with !our child .howing an interest in and assisting with school wor, .haring items from home (or s ecial s,ills or talents' !ours or that of a famil! member or friend) to enrich our learning to ics or themes Aolunteering in the classroom 2ssisting with su er#ision on class tri s :a,ing Pla!doh $n"uir! will be our main focus this !ear. We are going to stri#e to create a OWorld of Wonder4 in our classroom! $f !ou ha#e an! Owonder'full4 natural obHects that !ou belie#e would be of interest for the students, to dis la! at our Wonder Table for a time, lease send them in. We would lo#e to ha#e #olunteers after the first few wee,s of school. We will wait until our classroom communit! is u and running smoothl! and e#er!one has settled in. When we are read!, an information / signu sheet will be sent home so that we can find out how !ou would li,e to be in#ol#ed. Than, !ou for !our interest and su ort. )oo,ing forward to a Owonder'full4 !ear of learning and growing together!

6ours in (ducation, :rs. 8ollert, :rs. %ls3ews,i N :rs. 1ichards

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