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.