Multicultural Day

 Multicultural Day was incredible experience! Our Parent Council took us all around the world and very generously shared their cultural games and exotic treats with us. We got to visit Japan, Ireland, Finland, Kazakhstan, China, Korea and of course Malaysia. You could see all the hard work the parents put into their booths and the kids enjoyed every single country.

A HUGE thank you to all the parents that came in to teach us about their culture over the past month and to share their food with us during our Multicultural potluck yesterday. I really feel lucky to be part of such an International community! 

                                     

The United Kingdom

We stepped inside the magic telephone booth and traveled right into the U.K. with James Y and his dad! The U.K. is a unique country that's made up of four nations: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. We loved seeing photos of James as he traveled across the continent and explained the history of the flag and all the cultural icons that come from each of the countries, like Harry Potter, Thomas the Train, Bob the Builder, Peter Pan and of course, the Queen of England!

Find out more about the UK or any of the countries we visited during International Month at
National Geographic Kids!

kids.nationalgeographic.com

South Korea

Minkey, Arthur and Jinu's moms all came in today to whisk us away to Korea!

We were literally blown away when they gave each of us fans with our names written in Korean on it! We got to decorate one side and paste the flag on the other which was much trickier than it sounds. We also got to watch a really cool video on Taekwondo and see Arthur in his dobok!

Thanks so much to our Korean Moms! 

Indonesia

Today we took the ferry to Indonesia with Erika!

We had a fantastic trip and learned so much about the thousands of islands that make up Indonesia. We learned about all the volcanoes that dot the country and one super volcano called Krakatau. Indonesia is known for it's amazing animals like the Sumatra Tiger, Komodo Dragons, wild boars and orangutans. James T taught us some phrases in Bahasa Indonesia!

Kazakhstan

Today we flew to Kazakhstan with Saniya and her family! 

What did we learn about Kazakhstan?
 It's part of both Europe and Asia, and has one of the world's coldest capital cities!

What languages do they speak?
They speak Kazakh and Russian.
Thank you in Kazakh is Rahmet.

How do they live?
Some Kazakh people still live in yurts; a circular structure prevalent among traditional nomadic people. A yurt requires only sturdy, simple materials, can be built in two hours and is easy to dismantle, making it the nomad’s perfect home.

My favourite part of visiting Kazakhstan?
The baursaki! Baursaki are a doughnut-like pastry consisting of fried dough, and are shaped into either spheres or triangles. Delicious!

 

Is it Normal for my Child to Write Backwards?

Yes! 
 It's completely normal for children to write "backward" at this age. Reversing letters is common until around age 7. 

Why?  
The brain doesn't completely form the concept of left and right until somewhere between ages five and eight. That means almost all children will have persistent reversals when they first start writing. 

Should I correct their mistakes?  
Don't stop your child from writing this way, and don't make them correct it. If they asks if it's correct, you can point out the errors, but don't make a big deal of it. You don't want to limit your child's creativity by constantly pointing out what's wrong. 

When will they grow out of it? The more children write, the easier it becomes for them. Children should be free to practice and make mistakes. By first grade, teachers will start asking children to correct their reversals, and by the end of second grade almost all children have stopped doing it completely.

Round Trip to Russia!

Today we took a trip to Russia. Eva and Sergei looked majestic in their traditional outfits. We played a game called The Brooke, watched Masha and the Bear; a cartoon based on a Russian children's folk story. Then we ate traditional home-made apple pies!  

Spasibo to Eva and Sergei's families for coming in today and sharing a bit of their culture with us!

 

Masha and the Bear

Pinwheels for Peace

Peace Day is Thursday, September 20th. We will be wearing white or light blue and joining together in the MPH for the first assembly for Kinders. We will create the peace sign with our bodies and sing a song as one. After the assembly we will be planting our Pinwheels for Peace in the school yard as a visual statement about our feelings about war, peace, tolerance and harmony.

 

Come see our pinwheels 'planted' in the Kinder playground!

 Saniya's Pinwheel

China

We took a flight to China today with special teachers Ms Fanny and Ms Jessie. We learned all about pandas and kung fu! They also showed us an amazing video explaining that some Chinese characters were originally pictograms. Watch it with us below!

Terry Fox

Please join us on Friday, September 14th, beginning shortly after 9:00 am, as all SIS students will be going on a Terry Fox walk around Emerald Lake. We will be walking with our Reading Buddies and the Parent Council will also be supervising and providing water and snacks during the walk. Please wear your orange PE uniform, a hat and sunscreen. Classes will also be bringing in small change in order to donate to a local Malaysian Cancer Research Foundation.

Thank you for supporting us in honouring a true Canadian icon, Terry Fox.  For more information about him, you can visit the following:

 

Save, Spend, and Share

We are learning about money in Kindergarten. Each time your young child sees you spend money or use the ATM, they are building an understanding of what money is. You can guide that understanding with simple activities about making good choices; what has value; and spending, sharing, and saving. Over time you'll see that, through everyday conversations and fun, you can help your child grow up to make good financial decisions.

• Play pretend store together. Take turns playing the role of the customer and cashier. Download and print the Play Money Reproducible to use when you play.
• Put a little money every day into a savings jar to show your child how to save over time. 
• You can help your child understand that spending, sharing, and saving are three important ways people make choices about money. Download the 3 Jar Labels and decorate them with your child. Encourage your child to talk about what they plan to do with the money they put in each jar.

Watch these videos with Elmo by clicking on him and create opportunities for your child to make money decisions of their own!  

  

https://www.sesamestreet.org/toolkits/save

 

Sight Word Snowballs

Our Patty Sight Words for the first week in September are:

at / ate / did / do / went 

 

You can practice at home by having a snowball fight!  

You or your little one can write each sight word on a piece of paper. Take the paper and crumple it up into a snowball. Play some fun music while you toss the snowballs around the room. When the music stops, so do you. Pick up the nearest snowball and read the sight word. When the music begins again, crumple it back up and continue the sight word snowball fight.