PK3.3 News - Pets
4th - 8th April 2016
Parent Conferences - Thank you
Thank you all for attending our parent-teacher conference meetings this week. It was so nice to meet with you all and I appreciate you taking the time to come in. I hope that our conference was able to provide you with some valuable insight into your child’s progress in PK3. I look forward to our continued partnership throughout the remainder of the school year. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child or our classroom, please do not hesitate to contact me at JMcDonald@isp.edu.pa
Introducing our class pet (S!)
We surprised the children with a new addition to our classroom on Tuesday......Waffles the Hamster. After the initial excitement and introductions were over, together we came up with name suggestions and voted on our favorite. Waffles it was! We then spent time discussing how we look after pets and came up our pet care rules. It was wonderful to see the children thinking not just about its food and water, but also about its feelings and how we should behave around our pet. Way to go PK3.
We also had a further surprise on Friday when Waffles became a Mom to 5 beautiful and tiny pink pups !! I will keep Waffles home with me for the next week or so as the pups grow and will be bringing them all back to the classroom very shortly. If you are interested in adopting a hamster please let me know :)
Caring for a pet helps a child to know that what they do matters, and in turn they will want to do more of it. The more successful they are feeding, walking, or bonding with a pet, the more confident they will feel.
- Observing and caring for an animal builds a sense of responsibility and respect for life.
- A pet brings increased sensitivity and awareness of the feelings and needs of others; Children learn how their behavior and actions affect others. It encourages them to treat not just animals, but friends carefully and kindly as well.
- Children learn that all living things need more than just food and water to survive.
We wish you well Eric!
Happy 4th Birthday Amir
Mystery Reader
Thank you to Omar's Mom, Racha for surprising us on Friday with The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli. A funny story about a crocodile who eats watermelon every chance he gets. One day though, he swallows a seed and starts to panic. Will it grow inside him and come out of his ears? Will he grow bigger and turn pink? He is so worried until eventually buuuuurp.....and out pops the seed. Never again he vows, but maybe just one more?!
We got creative afterwards with a watermelon activity that Racha and Amir's Mom Nasira brought with them and all finished off with a refreshing slice of watermelon to eat. Yum yum!
what have we been singing this week?
This week we have been moving and shaking as we wagged our tail like dogs and stomped around like elephants. We have also been singing along with Old McDonald and all the animals on his farm.
In our centres this week we have been:
- Measuring - it was great to see the children applying their learning as they measured first each other and then their feet. We extended this activity with clipboards and paper for them to record their results and compare if their measurements were bigger or smaller.
- Planning - in toys and games they have been drawing building plans (blueprints) before using legos to build their design.