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Good morning! As always, I hope this post finds you and yours all healthy. Although today is a Pro D day for teachers, Mrs. Farber and I did up a full week learning plan so you can choose to have Team Awesome involved in some learning today or not as you see fit. Please note that Mrs. Phillips has scheduled a Zoom class meeting on Tuesday at 11:00 and you should have received that invite on Friday. If you have not let me know. Rather than a small group sharing session this week, we are going to have very short learning check ins on Thursday and Friday where the children can share what they have been learning with me. If none of the sessions available work for you we can set up an alternate time. I have only allotted 15 minutes for each session as the children's interest and attention span begins to wane after about 10 minutes. There are yellow highlighted 'Breaking News Stories' most days next week. Please don't miss them!! Very exciting! And a Ninja Kindness Challenge on Wednesday which the children are always enthusiastic about. What a fun learning week! If you have any questions or concerns about this week's Learning Plan, or any of the other resources I have sent that you are choosing to use, please contact me and I will do my best to help. And although I am sure you have already received the message from the BEST staff for the children, I have attached it to this post just in case it missed you. Please be safe. Be well. 
Look what I found hiding in my files! This was made on September 27. The children are so much smaller than they are now. I love seeing how they have grown physically as well as emotionally and mentally. Enjoy!
Mrs. Farber and I have been searching the internet to provide you with more, quality resources to use at home with the children. Here are a few you might be interested in:
Mathletics is an online program similar to Headsprout but for math. Many of the classes at BEST use it to supplement their classroom curriculum but it has to be partly paid for by parents. I have signed up for a free trial but it is only for 30 days. If you were to sign up for the free trial it is for 2 days. Team Awesome has been set up and it is ready to use if you would like to try it for the next month. Contact me if you would like your child's username and password. Unfortunately I am unable to change the user names but was able to edit the passwords. I am brand new to the program but let me know if you have any difficulties or questions and I will do my best to help you. https://login.mathletics.com/ I have created an account with Epic! Books which is a cross between Headsprout and TumbleBooks. It is free until the end of June. It is not necessary to use it but if you would like to have your child set up with it let me know. It will require me adding your email to their site so they can send you instructions. Take a look at it here: https://www.getepic.com/ TumbleBooks’ databases are easy to use, and feature unlimited access from home! Your kids can read/watch as many books as they want, when they want, and on any device. There are no check-outs, holds, or bulky downloads. Books are available instantly. We use it regularly in class. TumbleBooks is free until August! They have a kids book area, Teen reads, and a math area. Contact me for the user sign in information and passwords. Let me know if there is anything else you need help with or would like to see in terms of resources to help with at-home learning. I hope this bright sunny morning finds you all healthy and well. This week's Weekly Learning Plan can be accessed on the BEST Kindergarten site here.
We have included a number of discussion-worthy activities for Earth Day, which is on Wednesday. We hope you enjoy them and use the activities to spark interest in our responsibilities as global citizens. In my experience the children always display an intense desire to do the most they can to make the Earth a better place for everyone (and everything). You might find that the included links and lessons are not sufficient and only lead to more questions, which is the perfect opportunity to deepen their learning through a mini research project or further internet investigations. Be aware that some of the 'save the Earth' type videos on YouTube might contain some images which the children find upsetting. As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns regarding the learning plan or anything else that pops up. Be Well. Be safe. I hope your Easter weekend was lovely! The Learning Plan for this week has been posted on the BEST Kindergarten site here.
As before, the lessons are guidelines and Mrs. Farber and I appreciate anything you choose to do from them. We are striving to provide you with plenty of options while still maintaining our mandated BC curriculum and keeping in mind we are delivering a limited services model which is by no means exhaustive. A reminder that the Headsprouts program should be done independently by your child- they should require no support from you. If you are finding that they are asking for a lot of help and it is too difficult for them to complete on their own, it is possible the placement test put them at a level that is too high. If you find that this is so, contact me and I will have them start at level 1, which will help them gain confidence as they are successful with the easier levels and the difficulty will increase incrementally as they proceed. I am loving the home learning photos you are sharing with me via the blog! The children all look so happy to be spending their days at home, with their first teachers- you. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please contact me. Be well. Be safe. |
