Ask Me About Wednesday, September 13th, 2017

It was so nice to see so many families at Back to School Night last night.  I hope you left with a better idea of what happens during the day in kindergarten!

As part of our study about rules, we read a beautiful story called The Golden Rule, by Ilene Cooper.  This book is beautifully illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska.  The story is about a little boy and his grandfather who see the Golden Rule on a billboard in the city.  The little boy asks his grandfather what it says, and he explains that this is a rule that all religions and groups around the world have in common.  He reads "Do unto others and you would have them do unto you."  The story tells how the rule is said in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and the Shawnee Tribe.  The grandfather goes on to tell the boy this is really thinking about how others feel.  We took time to talk about the word empathy and what it means and how it helps you to make good choices. If you live by the  Ask me to tell you about the Golden Rule and empathy.  I don't work for Amazon, although I probably should, but this is a book I strongly suggest to families looking for a new book for the family or as a gift.  I told the children this is a book we will read many times throughout the year to remind ourselves how important it is to think about others and to use empathy as you are making choices about your behavior.
One thing that I didn't mention last night or put on our schedule are our Brain Breaks.  Children and adults need that chance to take a break from their work and move.  We will have many different kinds of Brain Breaks during the year, but the ones we do most often are dance.  We watch a few Dance Party songs, mostly Disney, that are for Wii.  The kids watch what the characters are doing and copy it.  Here are a few snaps of the kids dancing today.

We learned about writing lists today.  We thought of different kinds of lists and why we use them.  Then we made a list of things we can do.  We made a title, I Can..., then wrote a word of short phrase to list things we can do.  I also introduced a writing tool the children can use to help them make sound/letter connections, as well as to remind them of how certain letters look.  
We had a great lunch together in the lunchroom today.  I will be sitting at one table each day, and we will rotate the groups of kids who sit at that table with me.  On Friday I will eat at the Peanut Free table with children who sit there.  As long as there is room, children who buy a lunch may sit at that table with a friend who needs to sit there.  Here are a couple pictures of lunch.

Of course, the highlight of the day was going to the library and getting to chose a book to bring home for the week.  Ask me to show you my library book!

Have a nice evening!
​Miss Wolfe