Drama and Dance!

Our new collaborative drama and dance time on Tuesdays has proven to be so much fun thus far! The great space we have in the rec centre gives the kids so much room to try things out, and also work together and learn from one another. Lorna has been doing a great job creating engaging and fun lessons for the kids.

Warming up and making sure they have enough space to do the activities.

Freeze! The mirrored wall really helps the kids to look at the movements and patterns their bodies create during this time as well as to help them follow Lorna.

Here the kids are following Lorna's movements.

Look at that flexibility and range! The kids really enjoy the time they have during drama and dance days.

Our Adventures at the Drop-In Centre

We are very fortunate to be able to frequent the drop-in centre not only as a warm place to eat lunch, but a GREAT place to do lots of fun activities,experiments and an opporunity for the kids to socialize with one another.

Fresh snow+food colouring = a great art experiment. The kids used droppers to release different amounts/concentrations of colour onto the snow.

Making snowflakes, and animal chains has become a favourite past time. It is also great for the kids to work on their dexterity and development in relation to their hand muscles by doing so! Also helps them improve on their cutting abilities, something they all seem to want to be more comfortable and confident with.








Here the kids are enjoying a healthy snack after completing a ton of activities! Time to re-fuel and then head outside for more fun!

The drop in centre is always a lot of fun, and gives the students the opporunity to explore different learning options in a unique space. Thanks for always welcomming us!

........................................................................................................................................................................

Great Books!

I have brought in a bunch of books from my own personal collection for this month. Please feel free to take a look at them when you come for pick up. You may be interested in reading one of them with your child! Leah and I will be reading them as well, but I think its great for kids to hear about these themes more than once, even if it is from the same book. They are around the themes of Black History as well as ways to show you care+compassion and empathy!

-Erin

Celebrating Chinese New Year

It was a fun week learning about Chinese New Year. On Tuesday we went to Chinatown with the Twirly Birds to look around. We saw a ton of decorations for Chinese New Year and explained to the kids that each year, a different animal is celebrated and that each animal has special traits/characteristics.

We bought some decorations for our individual spaces to celebrate the year of the rabbit, as well as some traditional envelopes. We discussed with the kids that it would be a really nice idea to put nice thoughts or pictures in the envelopes and give them to someone they care about since we are learning about ways to show we care this month.

Then, we headed to the rec centre for drama and dance, and had a great time. Lorna brought in a very cool Chinese dragon that the kids had the opportunity to wear and dance around in to music made by them (thanks to some pot covers!). Lorna also read the kids a very neat story about how certain animals became a part of the Chinese New Year celebration

We will continue on with these concepts this week as well as learning more about Chinese New Year, even if it has passed.

Fun at the NFB

The kids are really becomming pros at travelling-anywhere! I think hands down, the NFB has become one of our favourite places to go. The kids are exuding more independence by learning how to log in, and with some assistance pick the films of their choice.
..........................................................................................................................................................................

Our Themes for the Month of February

February will be an exciting month for the Wandering Hamsters. Lots to see and do! Also, we have some very special things we will be learning about in February. We will be learning about and celebrating Black History Month, Chinese New Year, and Valentine's Day+ ways to show you care. I think that all of these things go so well together and I am sure we will have a blast doing lots of different things.

Please take a moment to let your kids know a bit about these different events, I always think that sharing with them creates a deeper learning experience for them and gives them a basis of knowledge in regards to future information to come.

Some of the things we discuss may be sensitive issues, and we think its very important for the kids to understand the history of different peoples in different places. This is an opporunity we are going to use to not only talk about the trials and tribulations associated with Black history month, but that of all different peoples of different cultures, races and religions. We don't want to promote just tolerance within the kids; rather, we want to foster a deep understanding, appreciation, acceptance and ability to embrace one another no matter what race, religion, culture, etc. In order to help with this, I will be doing lots of character development activities with the kids to further build upon their intial understandings of these themes.

I have tons of great books I will be reading with them and lots of fun activities. I am looking forward to what this month has in store. If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please feel free to chat with Leah and/or I or drop us an email!

Our Month So Far...

January has been a very busy month for the playschool students. We have a new welcommed addition to our student body! The kidshave done a great job re-adjusting back to the swing of things since the Winter Holidays. And I can say with pride, that I can really see how much the kids have grown since they all first started playschool. They are a great bunch of kids, and I know Leah and I feel very privileged to not only have great kids to work with, but great families that support what we do!

We will continue to learn about the Arctic this month. That is, the people of the arctic, the food, food chains, culture, etc.

We also have lots going on in February, I am looking forward to next month, it will be exciting!

LOTS of pics to come over the next coming week so stay tuned!