Kindergarten Week 3: Building Routines and Exciting Learning Moments

Dear Family,

We hope you all had an amazing week! Our week went so smoothly and was filled with both fun and learning. Now that our children are getting used to the routine inside and outside we’re able to take things more seriously while still keeping them joyful. Our sessions are becoming more educational and engaging each day. Let’s take you through our week…..

Large Group

As we all know, large group time is one of the most important parts of our day. It helps us start off calm and organized as we go over the daily schedule and tasks. This week, our main focus was on letter sounds, with ‘s, n, a, p, i, t’ as our letters of the week, and the teen numbers (13–19) as our numbers of the week. We set up our calendar, checked the weather chart, sang songs in between, and practiced our letters and numbers. Everything went really well thanks to the wonderful participation of our children!

“s is my name” -Samuel

“a is for Ahmed” - Ismael

“1 and 7 is seventeen” -Liyat

Literacy

This week, our literacy sessions were active, engaging, and full of learning! In our first session, we played ‘Letter Hopscotch’ using the lowercase caterpillar letters painted near the bike area. Our children sat on the rock bench, then took turns hopping along the caterpillar letters while following the sounds called out by both teachers and friends. Everyone had a chance to explore and enjoy the activity while strengthening their letter sound recognition. In the next session, we made learning even more exciting with a ‘Musical Letters’ game. We placed letters on top of chairs arranged in a circle, played music, and when the music stopped, our children quickly sat on a chair, picked up the letter, and said its sound. Each child had a turn, making the activity interactive and lively. Both activities connected beautifully with our Large Group focus, helping our children review letter sounds they already know while also learning new ones in a playful way.

“H is for my mommy’s name; her name is Hanna” -Leul

“I know this game okay, when the music stop we stop too” -Alen

“I got your name Liyat see I got L” -Ismael

“T is for my dads name, and A is for my mom and my sister” -Liyat

“I get O” -Yichen

“I didn’t get mine, my name” -Samuel

Math

Our math sessions this week were just as delightful! In our first session, we played a game of ‘Number Bingo’ in the infants and toddlers play area. Sitting together in a circle, each child received four numbers to place on the grass. When a number was called, the children who has it proudly shouts “Bingo!” The game brought lots of excitement and also gave us a clear picture of each child’s number recognition skills. For our second session, we did a fun Number Hug Game. Each child held a number card while one child stood in front, ready to listen. When a teacher calls out a number, the child in front had to run and hug the friend holding that number. Everyone had a chance to be the “listener” which made it lively and social. This simple but joyful game helped reinforce number recognition while encouraging cooperation and friendship.

“Jamie and Yichen both got number 10” -Liyat

“You have 25 Ismael, say bingo” -Leul

“10 10 Liyat Bingo” -Samuel

“Bingo Bingo” -Nai

Science

Our science activities this week were once again hands-on and had our students fully focused! In our first session, we explored a classic Sink and Float Experiment outdoors by the parking area. We set up two clear boxes filled with water and placed a variety of familiar materials nearby; cotton, leaves, wooden blocks, toy cars, tiles, and more. Our children took turns choosing an item, predicting what might happen, and then dropping it in to see if it floated or sank. In the second session, we did a similar activity that involved testing, matching, and problem-solving called Which Lid Fits? This time, our children received a mix of containers with their lids separated. Their challenge was to think carefully, test, and match the correct lid to each container.

Both activities were not only amusing but also helped us see each child’s level of problem solving, reasoning, and attention to detail.

“We did this last time in summer” -Alen

“Heavy things go down and when they are light they float” -Leul

“The cotton will sink because it will hold water” -Liyat

“The car go down down” -Samuel

“I know all the lids where I put them” -Ismael

“This is what? Cooking?” -Yichen

Art

In art this week, we explored creativity through a fun Collage Activity in the art room. Our children were given recycled papers and scissors, and they were free to cut the papers into smaller pieces or any shapes and sizes they wanted. This gave us a great opportunity to observe and strengthen their fine motor skills. After cutting, they glued the pieces onto construction paper, creating unique and colorful collages. Each child’s artwork turned out different, reflecting their imagination and creativity.

“My scissor don’t work” -Ismael

“I’ll make my name art again” -Alen

“I’ll make mine very small because I know how to cut with scissors” -Leul

“Jimmy need another scissor it’s not working for him” -Liyat

“Cut cut” -Nai

Library

As usual for library time, we enjoyed reading in two different spaces. Our first session took place in the Zen Den, a quiet and relaxing spot at our school where teachers usually gather to meet or plan. We set it up with chairs and a variety of books, and our children chose their own seats to enjoy reading together in this calm space filled with natural light. Our second session was held in the library room, where they explored books in a more traditional setting.

“I want to sit and read with you on the big chair” -Leul

“This is the baby’s school okay this is my sisters compound” -Liyat

“B-I-N-G-O” -Nai

“I want this book, I can take home?” -Samuel

Next week’s schedule:

Monday – Math, Literacy

Tuesday – Literacy, Science

Wednesday -Library, Math

Thursday - Science, Music

Friday - Library

Specials:

Monday- Art

Tuesday - Gym

Thursday - Ethiopian center/ clay

Friday - Football (happening soon)

Reminders and notes:

• Please make sure that our children are wearing suitable clothes on Monday as we have art class and activities get messy sometimes.

• Every Wednesday and Friday is library day. Our children will be bringing home a book of their choice in their library folder, so please make sure to read the book with them over the weekend. Please return the folder the following Wednesday so they can get a new one.

• 
Every Tuesday, we have gymnastics, so please ensure that our children come dressed in comfortable and loose-fitting sports attire to facilitate their exercise.

Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more stories from our classroom!