​To trick or treat or not to trick or treat. I'm sure it is a question many of you have been struggling with and unfortunately there is no definitive answer. Whatever you decide, here are some tips from pediatricians to keep children safe if you decide to let them trick-or-treat:

1. Have kids wear a face mask.
2. Adhere to social-distancing guidelines by standing six feet apart.
3. Have a parent accompany children to hold them accountable with mask wearing and social distancing.
4. Avoid congregating around doorsteps and porches.
5. Use hand sanitizer after receiving candy from each house.
6. Do not eat candy while trick-or-treating — make certain hands are clean before kids start touching their faces and eating candy.
7. Make certain kids wash their hands as soon as they get home.

If you choose to not participate in trick or treating this year, there are plenty of fun alternatives to celebrating Halloween. Some options include but are not limited to:

1. Have a scary movie night
2. Do some spooky story telling
3. Have a Halloween treasure hunt in your yard
4. Cook a spooky family dinner or do some Halloween themed baking
5. Create Halloween crafts
6. Send Halloween cards
7. Plan a wicked family game night

Whatever you decide is best for your family- have an awesome and safe Halloween night!

• Please refrain from sending more than 1 Halloween treat to school each day with your child in November. They will be encouraged to eat their healthy food (ie sandwich) before having the treat at lunch.
  
• The first of three videos full of fun Hallowe’en activities and stories for you and your little ones is up. There are crafts and stories and games that the whole family can join and get in the Hallowe'en spirit! On-line to November 1 – Free on WCT’s Facebook and website.
• Please return library books by next Tuesday at the latest so your child can choose a new one.
• A pair of inside shoes has become necessary because of the weather. If you have not already sent a pair, please send some soon.
• Friday, Nov. 6, is PAC pizza lunch.
• We will participate in a pre-recorded BEST Remembrance Day assembly on Tuesday, Nov. 10
• Wednesday, Nov. 11 is Remembrance Day and we will stay home to observe it.
• Friday, Nov. 13 is a possible Fresh Air Friday- it is not for sure yet and we will confirm closer to the date.
• The November newsletter went out this week and can be found here.
• Sight words we are learning in class: am, for, is, my, to, was. Please feel free to practice reading them together at home.

Go forth and Eat Candy!

On Tuesday or Wednesday we will have a discussion about what Team Awesome can expect on Friday, Oct. 30 and we had better share the details with you before you get a 5 year old's version (which we are sure would include tons of treats in their lunch and a new puppy each). The children are welcome to wear their costumes throughout the day (or not) but no weapons, masks or gore are allowed. Please note that if your child wears their costume all day it probably will not come home in the same shape it came to school in. Please label all costume pieces with names and refrain from sending little bits and pieces/accessories as they are difficult to keep track of and often end up lost. Various Halloween activities will take place throughout Friday, including a Halloween safety review discussion, some fun stations and a dance in the gym towards the end of the afternoon. Fun fun fun!!
Please refrain from sending more than 1 Halloween treat to school each day with your child in November. They will be encouraged to eat their healthy food (ie sandwich) before having the treat at lunch.

​​The school day seems long when you are four or five and sometimes it can be difficult to remember all the things we do in a day. If we had been able to have an Open house this week, as we have in the past, we would have posted some question suggestions for you to initiate conversations with your child while they were showing you our classroom. But school conversations ​often happen at home so we are going to post them here as a jumping off point for those conversations to happen outside of our classroom. We are sure you will think of many others. Ask your child:
What is easy/ hard about school?
What do you like/ dislike about school?
What are you proud of? 
What are you still working on? 
Which book bin is your favourite? Why?
Which centre is your favourite? Why?
How are you respectful/ responsible/ safe at school?
Can you tell me more about _____?
Tell me about your friends.
Tell me about your classroom jobs.

• Please return library books by next Tuesday at the latest so your child can choose a new one.
• As the weather has turned and become wet, a pair of inside shoes has become necessary. If you have not already sent a pair, please send some soon.
• Scholastic flyers are available online monthly. October's is available here. All Scholastic orders will be done online whenever you like and orders sent directly to your home. Our class code is RC210022.
• PAC Pizza Day order forms are due back by Friday, Oct. 30 with pizza delivered on Friday, Nov. 6.
• November school lunch order forms are to be returned no later than Wednesday, Oct. 28.
• Team Awesome will be participating in Halloween activities on Friday, Oct. 30 and are welcome to wear their costumes. More info closer to the date.
• Sight words we are learning in class: am, for, is, my, to, was. Please feel free to practice reading them together at home.

Go forth and Be Awesome!

We will begin to use our iPads as a learning tool during centres very soon. At this time only a few children have brought in headphones. We do have a couple extras but they are cheap earbuds for adults and are uncomfortable for the children to use (and who wants to share something other people have put in their ears?). We are also reluctant for the children to share headphones due to the possibility of lice. A set of over-the-head earphones from the dollar store, rather than the insert-into-your-ear type as they can be uncomfortable and often don't fit the children well, in a labelled plastic ziplock bag for your child's use would be appreciated. 

​Summer is over and fall is certainly certainly on its way. In fact, it seems as if it arrived when we weren't looking because wasn't it just too sunny and too hot out there? In Kindergarten, one of our Big Ideas in Science is that daily and seasonal changes affect all living things and therefore we keep a close eye on the weather. In September Team Awesome was surprised we changed the season from summer to fall when it seemed as if it was still summer outside but with the leaves beginning to fall they have decided that it is now indeed autumn. To notice all the changes the cooler weather has brought, we went on a 'Signs of Fall' walk around our school. We began with a review of our senses and which ones we could use to investigate changes fall has brought to the world around us. We smelled the air, we listened closely for autumn sounds, we felt the cool wind on our faces and tried to taste it with our tongues and talked about which things we love to eat in the fall (pumpkin pie!). Then we used our sense of sight and touch to search for signs of autumn in our schoolyard and finished up with a brief discussion of the difference between coniferous and deciduous trees. Throughout our walk we gathered up items Mother Nature had thrown away to make a poster to label and display so we could share our signs of fall with the rest of the school. Now, how will we make a 'Signs of Winter' poster?

​Thursday is our visit to the Pete Murray Corn Farm's pumpkin patch in Chase and Team Awesome is very excited. We will be leaving on the bus as close to 11:00 as possible. The weather in the mornings has been damp and chilly and the corn maze can get muddy so appropriate footwear, as well as a heavier coat (with a tissue in the pocket), hat and mittens are suggested. We can all choose one small pumpkin to bring back to school where we will use them for some scientific observations. The children must be able to carry their own pumpkin and we will mark names on them before loading them up. We will explore the pumpkin patch and corn maze, walk to the river and have a snack from our lunch kit before coming back to school by the end of the day. We will eat half of our lunch before we leave the school in the morning and consume the rest at the pumpkin patch so please send items that are easy to eat. Masks will be required at all times for parents attending and parents are not permitted on the bus due to SD73 regulations. Unfortunately there is a limit to how large our group can be so we are asking that if you are joining us there you have prearranged it with us and your smaller children have a sitter. There is a cost of $5.00 for each parent joining us.
​Pete Murray Corn Farm rules: 
Pumpkin Patch Rules
Do not kick or throw pumpkins
Do not sit on pumpkins
No running in the pumpkin patch
No rough-play in the pumpkin patch 
No smoking in the pumpkin patch
Do not roll pumpkins to your destination. Our pumpkins might look tough, but they are easily bruised and are no good once damaged!
Sorry, no dogs permitted on the property with the exception of service dogs.

Corn Maze Rules
Stay on the trails! No cutting through corn.
Do not touch, pick, or throw corn
No running in the maze
No smoking in the maze
Call for help if you get lost, someone will come lead you out.
Be courteous to others. Rude and disrespectful behaviour to our customers and/or staff will not be tolerated.
Sorry, no dogs permitted on the property with the exception of service dogs