I know that many people believe that ​primary students often do nothing but play all day. Especially in Kindergarten. And while it is true that we have some time set aside every day to have unstructured play time- where the children decide which activities they will engage in and how that will look- sometimes we have to actively fight to keep that time unstructured as the demands and expectations of what we should be doing instead increases. On top of that, the time allotted to courses like art, music, and physical education is being whittled away to make more room for reading, math, and traditionally 'heavier' courses, so kids in general are spending less time moving, less time being creative, and more time preparing for tests. Play has been gradually taken away from children and replaced with structured activities, academic work, and digital experiences to the point where they hardly ever “play” at all. As this trend has continued, there has been a rise in childhood anxiety, childhood suicide, and a growing number of kids who simply don’t know how to play.
Three California educators—Eric Saibel, Scott Bedley, and Tim Bedley— along with a group of other educators, launched Global School Play Day, a full day in February set aside to just let students play. All day long. No screens, no structure, no adult interference. Now in its seventh year, Global School Play Day has spread across the world. Although one day out of the year isn’t nearly enough, they are hoping that the day will inspire schools to build more time for unstructured play into every school day. And so some of the BEST classes will be participating for some part, if not all, of the play day on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Our students need play and all the rich learning that comes from play in their lives, even if for just one day. ​​

We were going about our usual morning routine on Thursday when we noticed a random pink sock all on its lonesome laying on the carpet. Now it is not unusual to find odd bits and bobs of clothing strewn about as the day goes on, especially when its warm, but as we had just begun our day and it was chilly it was an odd sight. As often happens, when Team Awesome was asked who the sock belonged to everyone shrugged and said, "Not me" and looked around to see if maybe a friend would claim it. No one did. So Mrs. Farber and I had the children tug up their pants to show us their socks but everyone was wearing two. Curiouser and curiouser. Eventually we concluded that maybe it was a hitchhiker on a sweater and as the aforementioned sweater was taken off, its staticky grip loosened and it fell onto our carpet. So if this lovely warm pink sock belongs to your child, just let us know and we will send it home with them. Makes me wonder if all my single socks have lost their mate to static cling..... 

• Please return library books by next Tuesday for exchange.
• We will be participating in a video conference with Royal Tyrell Museum on Tuesday, Jan. 26. The topic is Mammals: Into The Ice Age.
• Saturday, January 23 to Saturday, January 30 is Unplug and Play Family Literacy Week. The goal of Unplug and Play is "to promote the message of finding a healthy balance between active family time and recreational screen time". There are different themes each day and there will be free events advertised within the community. Each student received a flyer and those who return their completed flyer will be entered for a prize.
• Next week, January 25-29, is Literacy Week at BEST. Please check the previous blog post or notice sent home for a list of planned activities.
• Kindergarten registration for BEST for the 2021/22 school year opens on Jan 25th. This registration is not first come, first served. Check the SD73 website for more information. ​
• The next Point of Progress report will come home with your child on Friday, Jan. 29. Please look for it in their zipper bag. Sign and return the envelope so we know you received it and if you have any questions, please contact us.
• The February Sharing/ Family Project came home this week. It is a collection of 100 items for 100s Day. Please return by Thursday, Feb. 4 or when it is done. Thank you!
• Scholastic digi-flyers for January can be found here. 
• Please have Team Awesome read any little paper books that come home (approximately 1 per week) multiple times for practice/ fluency. Thank you.
• The BEST newsletter can be found here.
• Check out what Mrs. Phillips is doing with Team Awesome here.
• Sight words we are learning in class: be, big, can, it, little, me, on, us, with, we. Please feel free to practice them at home. 

Go forth and Be Awesome!​

Schools of Choice Kindergarten registration takes place from Jan. 25 at 9:00 AM, until 12:00 PM on Feb. 5, 2021.

• Please register anytime during this period.
• This registration is NOT first come, first served. If there are more children registered than there are seats at the School of Choice, a random draw will be held. 
• Parents will receive notification directly from the School of Choice between Wednesday, Feb. 9 and Friday, Feb. 12, 2021.  
• For more details on Schools of Choice, read more here.