Borrow-a-Book

…make reading fun. It shouldn't be like homework. Make reading entertaining – make funny sounds and act it out together – kids really like that! 

Robert Munsch, 2005 
“A Moment with Munsch”

The children have been bringing their borrow-a-book bags home for a week. Everyone is very excited about borrowing a book, but some of the children are forgetting to return their book bags the next day.  If you could help your child by reminding them each morning to return their bag, they will have an opportunity to exchange their book and have a fresh book each night.  Also, this provides us with an opportunity to read the book along with your child after they have practised at home with you.

Reading the borrow-a-book should only be taking you and your child about 10-15 minutes at night. It's okay for you to read the book to your child - they don't have to read to you. If your child is attempting to read a book to you and he or she is getting frustrated it's best to stop and try again later. Remember, as the quote the beginning of this blog entry points out, reading should be a fun experience for both of you!

If you would like some suggestions about how best to support your child while reading at home, check out the link below.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/parentGuideLit2012.pdf


Here are a few websites which help teach letter recognition and word recognition.

http://www.starfall.com/

http://www.tvokids.com/games/magicmailboxabcs

http://www.tvokids.com/games/letterella

http://www.tvokids.com/games/melvinsmarvellouswords

Trip to the Fire Station

Why Playdough?

We cook a lot in Kindergarten, and one thing we cook almost every week is playdough. Why playdough?Young children often use playdough as part of their imaginative play (pretending to make birthday cakes or pizza, people or animals, etc), which provides children with wonderful opportunities to develop language and problem solving skills. Children like to help make the playdough which provides them with opportunities to measure, pour and mix. While making and playing with playdough children learn about concepts such as volume, wet/dry, full/empty, hot/cold, etc. I've included a recipe below so you can make playdough at home with your child. While cooking with your child you can encourage language and problem solving: “What do we need? What will happen next? How is the salt like the flour?

Scented Playdough

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

2 small packs of unsweetened Kool Aid

1/2 cup of salt

1 tbsp of alum

2 cups of water

3 tbsp of vegetable oil

1. mix the first four ingredients together

2. Boil the water and add it to the dry mixture. Then add the oil.

3. Mix with a wooden spoon until cool enough to mix with your hands.

4. Knead the dough until it is not sticky

5. Store the playdough in a airtight container.

Have fun!