Mme. Knapp and Mr. Hemberger with our Reading buddies !!

It is an awesome experience getting together with older grades and reading in French together ! The kids have so much fun learning from their "big friend"! 

Mme. Knapp and Mr. Hemberger - Tie-dye shirts for friendship week

Thank you to our reading buddies who helped us make our tie-die shirts !! 

Happy Halloween

Bienvenue/Welcom Mr.Fullerton

Friday we said see you soon and good luck to Mme. Schertzer as she prepares for the new arrival of her baby! Stayed tuned to his arrival - we are anxiously waiting his arrival :)

Our first nature walk !!

Our first week !!!!

They created a pirate ship with the large blocks ! 

They just love play doh 

The light table allows us to see through things and manipulate items in different a ways 

Practicing out fine motor skills making beautiful apple trees with fall leaves 

Sailing on his sailboat 

We're starting a kinder band !!

Number jumping 

The wind in his hair feel great !

Big trucks are great for digging, building and getting creative !

More from our first week!

Playing dress up in the rock garden

Just hanging out !

Good friends catching up !!

Meeting new friends

Pretending your on stage singing !! 

Game on ! 

The girls make it seem so easy :) 

When their not on the "ice" their practicing in their band !

Windy days make it fun to twirl ribbons !

Have a great summer!

To our sk students who have flourished into strong, brilliant and intelligent students we wish you nothing but success in grade 1!!

To our jk students we hope you have a safe and happy summer with your families and continue growing ! We are excited to be your teachers in September !! 

To all the parents we are so blessed to have the love and support you have giving over the past two years !! 

Here is a link to our own lip dub video !! 

https://youtu.be/vgA9KLAtSss

Mindfulness matters

Over the past month our class has shown promising progress in our individual yoga practices. Yoga is great for people of all ages, and mobility. We've noticed a big change in our students ability to relax as our practice has progressed. This week we introduced them to the idea of meditation, in the form of guided meditation. Not only did they do a great job at relaxing and following the meditation, they also really enjoyed it! So much so, we had an overwhelming demand to do it again! The second time around they did even better! Many of our students could vividly describe their experiences, and even brought them to life in their journals. 

We'd like to continue to explore guided meditation and have discussed with the students what they feel could help them. Keeping it simple, we decided a small blanket and pillow would be the most beneficial to expand this experience. Please feel free to send them in your students bag and we will make sure they are returned next week. 

If you would like to incorporate guided meditation into your students home life, YouTube "guided meditation for kids". It's a great resource to help restless friends to get a good nights sleep when played before bed. 

Petit Van Gogh

As our year wraps up we've been taking time to reflect on our time together, and begin to imagine what the future holds for us. Having had our final career presentation, we have started exploring what are future careers may be. We've discovered we have many future professional soccer players, police officers, and doctors in our midst. 

One student in particular dreams of being an artist. Together we learnt about Vincent Van Gogh, and worked on our own interpretations of his "Sunflower " period. 

We hope to see you all tomorrow for our annual pic-nic at Mccauliffe park! 

Our new outdoor learning space

A great big thank you goes out to some of our awesome staff for all their hard work to make this such a beautiful space 

We are truly grateful to have somewhere to relax and enjoy a story

Hillman Marsh

What a great day shared by all learning about nature. Many great activities 

Fun in the sun

Tomorrow is our We Care for Kids walk ! Jk-12 will be walking to raise money  for a great cause! Students were asked to donate $5 for hotdog(chicken) , pop and chips !! Please apply sunscreen and dress appropriately as we are outside for an hour in the middle of the day. 

Hillman Marsh Pictures

If you captured pictures of our great field trip please send them in with your child we would love to share them with the children. We will return you media stick 

P.A Day tomorrow

Enjoy getting out with your families and have a great weekend 

Congratulatons Mrs. Gallagher

Margaret Gallagher

 

There are some families at Tecumseh Vista Academy who doubted, for a time, that Margaret Gallagher even existed. Children would come home from school talking about this wonderful woman who wore a green coat, had a bun on the top of her head and made dresses every day. It was easy to assume that this was some fictional story book character… like the Grimm fairy tale of the shoemaker and the elves.

 

The reality is though, that like the cobbler in that classic fable, there was actually a magical character who arrived at the school each day and made an incredible difference in the lives of the students.

A particular interest in fashion of one early years student became the pattern for this all too true story. The child’s fascination with fabric and glitter and making clothes spread like an unraveled ball of yarn throughout the classroom and soon some expert intervention was required.

 

In rolled Margaret Gallagher with 2 sewing machines, fabric, scissors and thread. She immediately became a daily member of the teaching team as more and more students wanted to design and make their own piece of clothing.

 

Four months, miles of thread and an immeasurable amount of imagination later, 52 students had created their own dresses or sports jerseys and modelled them for classmates and families at a special fashion show.

 

Besides the basic skills of measuring, cutting and sewing, Margaret taught the students about different fabrics and the parts of a sewing machine. She also modelled important qualities of patience, cooperation and compassion.

 

The testimonials from children and families were uniform in their gratitude for “guidance on a project that was personal to each child”, “allowing a student to show her creative side” and for making “52 children very happy”.

 

But unlike the magical elves in the fairy tale, Margaret has not disappeared after this life-changing experience. She continues to volunteer in the classroom on a daily basis and she’s now considering a quilting project.

 

Margaret Gallagher is a real life Champion for Education.   

It's Migration time!

The local birders have been keeping busy with our regions annual migration of the return of our feathered friends. Our friends in Mme. Schertzer and Mme. Prestias class have been keeping in the spirit of things by helping out the grade 6s with their study of local birds. We've been very excited with all of the new friends we've seen! We're hoping to have some birds move to our side of the school but we discovered were missing one key element! A bird house! We've done our research and believe we know what we need to make one. We're drawing up our blue prints and hope to be putting our houses up by next Friday. 

If you have any supplies you think we could use please feel free to send them with your student. 

Pop bottles 

Orange juice containers 

String 

Etc.

We're hoping this will be a great introduction to our trip to Hillman Marsh. 

Google earth

Part of our curriculum covers learning about community helpers. We've been very lucky to have had so many of our parents volunteer their time, and help us understand the many different roles people play to help our community function. 

We became curious about the different places in our community, and with the help of google earth we've been able to explore all over Tecumseh and Windsor. We had so much fun with Google earth we've downloaded it to our class desk top and have been using it as a centre. We've especially loved finding our own homes and exploring our neighbourhoods. 

It would be great if at home we can start learning our addresses and exploring our neighbourhood. It's even one of the tasks in our blue folder!

Earth Week

As you may know here in our classes, we make an effort everyday to help minimize our carbon foot print. Our students have worked very hard to make our class as Eco-friendly as possible. We had a great time celebrating earth week! We cleaned our over flowing compost, made some amazing art out of 100% recycled products. With help from our friend the Lorax, we learned all about the importance of trees, and all of the things they impact. 

Thank you to all our families who participated in our garbage-less lunch. Your students beamed with pride as they showed off their re-useable containers. 

Within the next week our class will be receiving a compost and a digester, which will be permanent fixtures in our school yard. (Information on both was sent home last week.) We're very excited to extend our learning as we document the changes. Please try and keep in mind our efforts when packing lunches. 

Some tips we received from EWSA included: 

- cutting fruit (apples or oranges) at home 

- buying juice in big containers and filling re-useable bottles 

- limiting pre-packaged snacks to one a day (ex. Bear paws, fruit roll ups)  

- buying yogurt in big containers and filling containers 

Thank you for your support ! 

Special visit from EWSA

Together with the help of the wonderful Mrs. Heather, we learned even more about composting! Mrs. Heather visited us from Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority. She shared a great video explaining where our recycling goes, and explained to us what's really happening in our compost. 

Look out in our mail bags for some cool goodies to help us extend this learning at home! 

Strike a pose!

Fashion week may have wrapped up in Paris, but it's just starting in Tecumseh. We've been studying the runways from all over the world, and have started to to perfect our poses. We were lucky enough to have some great engineers in our classes who could help build us a temporary runway. We even had budding photographers who captured our struts. 

All of this hard work will be put to good use when the lights go on and the music starts on Thursday, April 2nd at 2:15 on the big stage in our dramatic arts room. We hope to see everyone there! 

We're super excited to announce that a local hair salon will be donating their time to make sure we're all runway ready! If you would like to volunteer your time in any capacity we are still looking for help. 

Keep an eye out after March break for your hand made invitation. 

Wishing all of our families a happy, fun-filled, and safe March break! And don't forget to fill your "capturing a moment" folders with any amazing moments your family may create! We have had so much fun sharing, and discussing all of your entries so far! Keep them coming! 

 

Getting the most out of a fading winter.m

With the temperatures beginning to warm, we thought we would take one last opportunity to enjoy the beauty of winter. Our walk to our local nature reserve was nothing short of spectacular! Everyone (students and teachers alike) had a great time! 

We would like to thank all of the parents who sent thermoses. A special thank you to Bianca's family for sending the delicious rice crispie squares, they were enjoyed by all. 

We had so much fun, we're hoping to make this a regular trip. 

Winter picnic

As its starting to warm up, we're itching to explore! We would spend every moment outside it our teachers would let us. We've been talking about having a picnic in our snow suits, and even tried on Mme. Allin's carpet. This Friday March 6, after lunch we'll be heading out for a (small) hike, where we will a snack and even some hot cocoa! On that day, please pack me an extra snack, (preferable one that isn't in a package) and if possible a thermos to keep my hot cocoa warm! 

Technology Dinosaurs

A few old electronic items have found there way into our classroom. It has been extremely interesting listening to the students discuss what they think the items are and problem solving how to take them apart

"Is that a radio...I see the word play?" 

"I think you record your shows like a PVR."

"Look I cut a wire with this thing(holds up wire cutters)."

"No that screwdriver won't work, we need one with a star on the end."

We borrowed a few tools from the custodian and have been working hard at dismantling the technology dinosaurs(VCR & old computer hard drive). Our fine motor skills are getting really good!!

If anyone has old technology items they want to get rid of such as a microwave, t.v., phone etc please let us know. We will gladly take them off your hands! Our next step is to up cycle the dismantled pieces in our art studio. 

Another lesson from a pro

We would like to thank M. Fullerton for spending the morning with us, and helping us sharpen our floor hockey skills. We had so much fun trying on all real hockey equipment! We got so carried away we accidentally broke a mini stick! Thank you again M. Fullerton !

Thank you for your continued support !

We are so proud of each and every one of your children and we would like to thank you again, for coming to see how we learn in kindergarten. We are even more excited to see you create a moment with your son/daughter at home over the next few weeks/month. Please don't hesitate to write a note in your child's "sac-en-plastic", if you have any questions or if you need anything in supporting you at home to create (paints etc ) and record (printing a picture) your moments. 

Graphic design

Thank you to all of our families who have shared their excitement of our amazing clothing design project. Our students beam when they share with us your reactions of their creations.

Although not all of our students decided to create a design, some of our families have extended this learning at home in different ways. 

Sophie's parents worked with her to design one of a kind t-shirts, with the help of sand paper, crayons, and an iron. Our class is amazed by Sophie's unique designs. So much so, that we have had students interested in creating their own shirts. 

If your student is interested please feel free to send a plain t-shirt and wait patiently for a one of a kind masterpiece!

Shall we dance?

Our class recently showed a growing interest in dance. We thought we'd take it a step further than "dance des pingouins" and with the help of our music teacher, Mme. Lee-Diagle have began learning a simple three step waltz. Please encourage us to show off our new dance moves. We've been practicing to the music of Mozart and Beethoven. 

A lesson from a pro!

We would like to give a big Vista thank you, to Mr. Eberwine who shared with us his love of photography. Avery's grandfather is a retired principal who has spent many years as a weekend photographer, and has travelled the world through the lense of his camera. He amazed us with his exciting pictures, and made us rethink how we see the world. He even taught us a pretty cool trick with a magnifying glass.

Thank you again!