M

THE KINDERGARTEN
POSSIBILITIES
HOW WE LEARN THROUGH INQUIRY AND PLAY
REFLECTIONS, RESEARCH & REMINDERS

Reflections

Stand aside for a while and leave room for learning. Observe carefully what children do and then, if you
have understood well, perhaps teaching will be different from before.

DEAR KINDERGARTEN FAMILIES

February was a busy month filled with lots
of learning. With that, we are very excited
to share some of our learning moments
with you in this months newsletter.

Educators
Ms. Lyndsy Moffitt, OCT
Ms. Raquel Cortes, DECE

Phone

(289) 342-1001
Extension 131 & 504

Email
lyndsy.moffitt@yrdsb.ca
raquel.cortes-vico@yrdsb.ca

This past month, during Thinking &

Learning Time, the children were very
interested in telling and writing stories. We
noticed that children were telling stories at
many of our sensory learning areas, using
either PlayDoh, water, sand or waterbeds.
as a foundation for their stories. In order to
extend their thinking, and prepare some of
our children for Grade 1, the educator
team introduced Story Maps at these
various sensory areas to encourage children
to, not only orally tell their story, but to
help them write it as well. There are 3
important parts of any fictional story: The
Beginning (this part introduces the
characters and setting), The Middle
(often where the problem is
presented) and The End (where the
problem is solved with a solution).
Children have been writing stories about
the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. They have
also written about 3 frogs and shapes. We
hope to extend the idea of story telling into
our building centre and within our Seeds
and Flower Investigation.
During Math Exploration & Learning
Time, children continue to explore the
importance of oral language in Geometry
and Spatial Awareness. Much of this

-Loris Malaguzzi

month was spent facilitating and modelling

how to play The 2D and 3D Shape Barrier
Games. More information about the
importance of Barrier Games
can be
found in Research portion of the
newsletter. Moving forward, children will
continue to explore positional and spatial
language as they solve and create their own
tangram puzzles.
During Free Exploration & Learning
Time, children are still very much
interested in seeds and flowers. We have
planted many things and have looked
closely at the parts of plants. During our
Knowledge Building Cirlces, we have
wondered about how things can grow
without seeds? and how do seeds
grow? Both of these wonders have led the
children to plant and observe things that
dont grow from seeds such as potatoes and
garlic. As well they have been encouraged
to use their imagination to predict how
they think seeds grow, keeping in mind that
the right answer is not what we are
interested in, but rather the childs
imagination that is present when sharing
their theories about this wonder.
We know that March will bring a lot more
great learning and growing! Stay tuned!
Sincerely,
Lyndsy Moffitt, OCT & Raquel Cortes, DECE

www.thekindergartenpossibilities.weelby.com

THE KINDERGARTEN
POSSIBILITIES
HOW WE LEARN THROUGH INQUIRY AND PLAY
REFLECTIONS, RESEARCH & REMINDERS

Research

Spatial thinking is integral to everyday life. People, natural objects, human-made objects, and human-made
structures exist somewhere in space, and the interactions of people and things must be understood in terms of
locations, distances, directions, shapes, and patterns.
-(National Research Council, 2006, p. 5)

THE COMPREHENSIVE MATH PROGRAM

A DEEPER LOOK INTO SPATIAL REASONING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF GAMES AND PUZZLES
One component of the YRDSBs Comprehensive
Math Program is Games and Puzzles. Math games
help students develop the ability to think critically
and solve problems. In addition, well chosen games
can provide an enjoyable way for students to
practice and master skills. During Math
Exploration & Learning Time, children have been
learning how to play 2D and 3D Shape Barrier
Games. The aim of a Barrier Game is for one child
to place objects onto a surface while describing to a
partner what he/she is doing. The partner follows
the verbal instructions to replicate what is being
done, sight unseen. At the end of the game the
barrier is removed and the objects should be in
identical positions on both surfaces. Barrier Games
are a great way to develop mathematical
vocabulary as they promote listening and speaking
skills by requiring students to interact and use
language to complete a task by giving and receiving
instructions. The educator team chose Barrier
Games in order to help children develop skills
when naming 2D and 3D shapes and using spatial
language (ie: on top, beside, in front, behind).
The games are simple, one child rolls a 2D shape
dice, chooses the shape from a selection of pattern
blocks and then places that pattern block onto the

surface in front of them. All the while describing to

a partner what he/she is doing. For example, 'Put a
yellow hexagon in the middle. Then put a orange
square beside the hexagon.

A.K. (SK child) and L.S. (JK child) play the 2D Shape
Barrier Game during Math Exploration & Learning
Time.
Source: http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com/math-games.html

THE KINDERGARTEN
POSSIBILITIES
HOW WE LEARN THROUGH INQUIRY AND PLAY
REFLECTIONS, RESEARCH & REMINDERS

Research

Spatial thinking is integral to everyday life. People, natural objects, human-made objects, and human-made
structures exist somewhere in space, and the interactions of people and things must be understood in terms of
locations, distances, directions, shapes, and patterns.
-(National Research Council, 2006, p. 5)

THE COMPREHENSIVE MATH PROGRAM

A DEEPER LOOK INTO SPATIAL REASONING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF GAMES AND PUZZLES

We extended our childrens

experience by having them write
instructions about how they built
their 2D Shape design. This not
only provides educators with a
glimpse into how the children
communicate their math thinking
in writing, but it also serves as a
tool for the children who wish to
rebuild these designs.

A.N. and A.S. (SK children) write instructions about how

they built their 2D shape designs when playing the 2D
Shape Barrier Game.

THE KINDERGARTEN
POSSIBILITIES
HOW WE LEARN THROUGH INQUIRY AND PLAY
REFLECTIONS, RESEARCH & REMINDERS

Reminders

www.thekindergartenpossibilities.weebly.com

Homework in FDK

Shared Reading, Think Work Journal,

Think Work Calendar & Levelled
Readers

We feel that homework is

something that has to be
meaningful to children. With that,
we hesitate to send too much
homework as it tends to be
pencil paper tasks that have little
meaning for the children. We have
designed our reading, writing
and oral language Think Work
program in a way that makes
each task familiar, meaningful
and personal for your child.
Our Shared Reading text is
practiced daily for one week, which
not only allows your child to
become familiar with
concepts of print, but allows

your child to read it to you

with confidence.
Our Think Work Journal is an
opportunity for you to reinforce
writing skills that we practice
during our Guided Writing
groups at school.
Review of Our Daily Learning
Collage is a great opportunity
to build your childs oral
language skills. As well, it
provides you with a glimpse into
important learning moments
that happen in our day.
We send home a monthly Think
Work Calendar which provides
prompts and suggestions as to
activities you can do with your
child everyday to build on
what we are learning in the
classroom.

your childs Portfolio and will come

home at the end of the year. Most
We make our learning transparent by student art work is kept at school. It
providing parents with a classroom
adorns our walls and honours each
website? As we embrace the FDK
child. With that, the amount of
program, we understand that literacy paper coming home with your child
and numeracy worksheets are thing
will be limited. We encourage you to
of the past. Important work is kept in visit our classroom website daily in

Did You Know...

Finally, research has shown that

most children do not start
reading until the age of 6. Up
until that point, children are
memorizing words and becoming
familiar with concepts of print. For
now, we will only be sending
levelled readers home with our
SK children. We would like to
allow time for our JK children to
become familiar with the concepts
of print through reading their
Shared Reading text.
Should you wish to discuss your
childs reading further, please
connect with us. We are happy to
discuss resources that can help your
child learn to read.

order to see our learning on Our

Daily Learning Collage. This collage
captures important learning
moments that take place daily. When
reviewed daily with your child, it
serves as a tool to develop and foster
oral language skills and gives you a
glimpse into our learning everyday.