It's that time of year again! Canada Post would like to send your child a letter from Santa but they have to write to him first. According to Santa’s CPE (Chief Postal Elf), Holly T. Elf, there are three golden rules in sending a letter to Santa:

1. Make sure you include your return address! While Santa knows where you live, his postal elves need your address to deliver Santa’s letter to your home. After all, not everyone has access to Rudolph!
2. Send your letter soon! Already letters are arriving from across the world and Santa is busy reading them every night with Mrs. Claus. He encourages you to send your letter soon to ensure he’ll have enough time to answer each and every one of them. Letters must be mailed by December 9 to allow enough time for travel to the North Pole and back!
3. Remember Santa’s address: When your letter is ready, drop it in a mailbox anywhere in Canada and the postal elves will make sure it gets to the big man quickly. Santa has a special arrangement with the post office and a stamp is not required. But please remember any other letter or card being sent to Grandma or anyone else needs a stamp. Santa’s address is:

SANTA CLAUS
NORTH POLE H0H 0H0
CANADA.
What an awesome opportunity to write for real life, which enables the children to launch out and explore new opportunities for their emerging writing skills. So break out the special paper, the pens, pencils and markers and encourage your child to practice their literacy skills and write a letter to Santa soon! And how exciting to get a personalized letter back!

Don't you love a spontaneous Friday dance party? So does Team Awesome!

• Please return library books in their special bag by next Monday for exchange.​
• PAC pizza orders are due by Wednesday, Nov. 30 with lunch delivered on Friday, Dec. 9.
• The Cookie Dough/ Cheesecake order form is due to the office Nov. 30 with order pick up on Dec. 15. Yum!
• Once again the PAC will be sponsoring the impressive Christmas Basket Raffle! Our class basket theme is Crafts. Families donate items based on the theme. Craft items are due by Dec. 7th and the last day to buy a basket ticket will be announced. PAC will choose the winning tickets shortly after. Thank you for your donations to our class basket. Good luck!
• We are doing an activity Wednesday, Nov. 30 that requires a box of some sort for each child but have not managed to collect enough yet. If you have an empty box of some sort (cereal, cracker, tea, kleenex etc.- nothing huge) would you please send it. Thanks for the help!
• Friday Dec. 2 is a possible Fresh Air Friday. Look for a notice on our exit door on Thursday Dec. 1 and dress your child for the weather if attending.
  
• Friday, Dec. 9th BEST will host a Santa Picture Fundraiser from 3-6pm. More info/ notice has come home this week. 
• BEST will be participating in the Salvation Army food drive from Dec. 1 to Dec. 9. Thank you for your donations.
• ​We will be looking for uneaten Halloween candy the week of Dec. 16 for an activity. If you have leftovers you would be willing to donate, we will accept them gladly. Thank you!
• We often put notices, order forms etc. past their due date in the extra paper box so the children can use the blank side for drawing and writing. 
• Christmas gift idea? We have scheduled two skating sessions- Wednesday, Jan. 18 & 25. If your child does not have skates they are welcome to borrow them from the school but the sizes might be off and they are a kijillion years old so not terribly warm or comfortable. This is a good time to start looking in secondhand shops for something suitable as the school books skating time for all classes most every year.
• With the colder weather and hand washing some of the children's hands are becoming chapped and sore. Please apply lotion at home often to help combat dryness. 
• It is  'zipped up' coat and mitten/ glove season. Please practice with them at home.
• Please remember to label all outdoor items as best you can.​
• Please have Team Awesome read any little paper books that come home (approximately 1 per week) multiple times for practice/ fluency. Thank you.
• Sight words we are learning right now: at, and, do, from, go, he, she, stop. Please feel free to practice at home.​

• Scholastic flyers are available here monthly. They are done online and sent directly to your home. Our class code is RC210022.
• Newsletters can be found on the BEST website at best.sd73.bc.ca.​

• If your child is exhibiting illness symptoms of any kind they must be kept home. Thank you. ​

​Go forth and Dance!​ 

Knowing positional words and terms like over, under, beside, in front of, behind, between, etc. is an important skill for children to have. Not only do they develop spatial awareness — where an object exists in space in relation to themselves — but by practicing this skill they are also learning the fundamentals of early math. Using words in connection with concrete objects and situations helps children develop vocabulary, a process that extends over the entire year. Modeling situations with emphasis on positional words also helps children learn the meanings of the words. Our lesson with Pete the Cat: The Wheels On The Bus was not only fun but accomplished all of these things. ​

Get cozy in your PJs for this year’s Santa Parade!
The Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association and Thompson Rivers University are excited to announce the return of the 42nd annual Santa Parade on Sunday, November 27, 2022.
This year’s theme is Pyjama Party. EVERYONE is invited to show up in their coziest PJs and join Kamloops’ biggest pyjama party! All participants will be illuminated for the evening parade and encouraged to be in pyjamas as well.
Executive Director Howie Reimer is enthusiastic about building on last year’s success.
“Kamloops loves this event and we want to make sure it’s a cherished time for families and all Kamloopsians. The Pyjama Party theme will add another fun element, and the lights at dusk make the event such a spectacle. We anticipate filling up fast, so register early. Thanks so much to TRU. This event couldn’t happen without their generous community support.”
Thompson Rivers University is thrilled to once again be the title sponsor for the event.
“The holiday season is so important to so many people. It’s a chance for all of us to get together with family and friends, and with each other as community neighbours. Events like the Santa Parade bring people together in celebration,” said Brian Daly, TRU’s Vice-President of University Relations. “All of us at TRU are excited to be part of this event, and we encourage everyone in Kamloops to take part — either as participants or spectators. Truly, there is something here for everyone.”
Time: Parade festivities will begin at 4:10 p.m. on Sunday, November 27th with a special “wake-up Santa,” followed by the parade at 4:30 p.m.
Location: Starting at 2nd Ave & St. Paul Street, down 2nd Avenue to Victoria Street and along Victoria Street ending at 6th Avenue

​​After experiencing the corn maze on the pumpkin patch field trip, some of the children became fascinated by mazes. They wanted to draw them and solve them and talk about them. So we did a quick lesson on mazes and labyrinths, drew our blueprints and then went outside so we could built our own mazes. Some were more successful than others but everyone had a great time using what was available and creating their own maze.