Happy Holidays!

Thank you to all the parents yesterday for making the last day of school a special celebration! The students loved making, selling, and buying goods at the Christmas Market and were so excited to perform AND receive a gift from Santa! Thank you again for all you do for our students and school. 

News:

We just got word that Preschool will have 2 new students starting in January! I would usually prepare the students for this, but as we are on break, if you could let your child know to please be extra welcoming and a good model showing our routines to the students, that would be very helpful. 

Library Books and Oxford Reading Tree Books:

Please read and reread as much as you like over the break. We will have library the first day back: Thursday, Janauary 9th so please bring the books to return then.  

What can we do to help us remember our learning over the holiday?

Over the Winter Break, please continue to talk about healthy habits, choices and consequences. 

Also, please have your child create a journal about their winter break. The only requirements are:

1. they do their best to write words using their knowledge of letters and sounds, and
2. there are pictures (photographs or hand-drawn).

It is most helpful if they do this a little at a time rather than all at once at the end so maybe writing a page every other or every two days. We will share these journals when we return in January so please have them read them to you a day or so before coming to school to be sure they remember what they wrote.

Other ways to practice writing: A letter to Santa! Thank you notes for gifts!

Finally, (of course) READ READ READ! They were given a short book for independent reading (Santa's Workshop) yesterday. Being read to, reading with you, and independently reading are all the best things they can do!

Thank you again and always and wishing you and yours a very Happy Holiday!

Half Week & Christmas Market!

Have you been tracking your daily health habits? Please be sure to bring back the tracking sheet you got last Tuesday this Tuesday so we can reflect on our habits.

This week in Preschool we begin to explore what "balanced" means. We will also be getting ready for the Christmas Market by making our items to sell and decorations for our booth. We hope you will come see all of our hard work on Wednesday! Don't forget your child will have a 15 minute selling time at the Preschool booth with me then have a chance to wander the market with you from 10-11am. The schedule was sent in a previous email as I don't publish student names on the blog. The schedule is as follows:

9:-00 - 9:30  Ground floor hallway  Market Set-up PTA Set up for Breakfast Buffet

9:30 - 9:50 Classroom  Snack Time / Play 

9:50 - 10:00 Playground Welcome and Choir: Opening Song

10:00 - 11:00 Ground floor hallway Market open PTA Breakfast Buffet Opens

11:00 - 11:15 Ground floor hallway Pack up 

11:15-11:30 Transition / Break 

11:30 - 12:45 Multi-purpose Room PROGRAMME

Presentation:

   Grade 4 - Deck the Halls (5 mins)

   Pre Kindergarten (Anita) - Snowflake (5 mins)

   Kindergarten (Azusa) - Nikolaus Song / Jingle Bell (7 mins)

   Preschool - The Ha! Ha! Holiday Song (5 mins)

   Grade 1 - 10 Little Elves / S-A-N-T-A  (7 mins)

   Grade 2 (Lance) - Bell (5 mins)

   Grade 3/4 - (5 mins) 

   We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Everyone)

   Santa gift giving 

   12:45 - 1:00 Dismissal

Don't forget we will be offering the Flu Vaccination Tuesday at school!

17th December 2.30pm - 3.30pm

Dr. Adachi from Dr. Masatoki Adachi Clinic at Shin-Kobe will come to DSKI to administer flu vaccinations to interested people. The cost of the vaccination is 4,000 yen. 

To sign up: Flu Vaccination at DSKI Google Form

Have a great week!

Week 14

Greetings!

The Preschool was so excited to get some treats in remembrance of Saint Nicholas and his spirit of giving last week! We also started practicing a song to sing at the Christmas Market next week. If possible, it would look really nice if Preschool came dressed in something red, white, and/or black (for example: a red or white top and black pants or skirt OR a black top with red or white pants or skirt) on Wednesday the 18th. Thank you!

This week in Preschool we will learn the sight words: we, will, go, to. We will continue to strengthen our reading super powers by stretching out words to sound them out, chunking longer words into parts, and skipping words we don't know to see if we can figure them out after finishing the sentence.

In maths we will continue with 3D shapes exploration and begin to think about measurement.

We have begun thinking about healthy choices and students will bring home the Health Habits Tracking sheet today. Please just start with Tuesday and return the completed chart next Tuesday the 17th for us to reflect on.

Please note that we have started Term 2 PE schedule this week so PE will be on Thursday and Friday from now until Spring Break.

Also, please don't forget to check the DSKI Blog for important dates and sign-ups like the Parent's Cafe tomorrow and flu vaccinations offered conveniently here at DSKI.

Lastly, the last day before Winter Break is next Wednesday (the 18th) and we will be hosting our Christmas Market. The students will do 15 minute rotations selling goods at our table and will browse the market with their parents the rest of the time. I will email the schedules to you. You can find the day's schedule again at our DSKI Blog. Please plan to be at school for the full schedule by 9:50am.

Have a great week!

Upcoming
Wednesday, December 11th: No PE - PE will be Thursday and Friday until Spring Break
Wednesday, December 18th: Christmas Market; School Finishes at 1:00pm
Thursday, December 19th-Wednesday, January 8th: Winter Break

Week 13

Greetings!

Last week we wrapped up our How We Organize Ourselves unit on Transportation with a trip to the Kobe Airport and reflected on our learning. This week we will begin thinking about Who We Are: Balanced Choices and Healthy Lifestyles unit. The students will begin bringing home a journal to track their habits at the beginning of the unit and at the end of the unit to compare any differences in their choices based on their learning. Please help your child fill this out - this is not to make judgements on but for them to reflect and learn from.

This week week in Literacy we will learn the sight words we, will, see, big and practice two-letter blends. In Readers Workshop we will practice two new superpowers: Lips the Fish (readers make the first sound of the word) and Eagle Eye (readers look at the pictures). Ask students to show you their super powers when reading at home!

In maths, we will continue to explore 3D shapes.

As always, don't forget to check the pictures link for all that the students were doing and learning last week!

Other news:

Scholastic Book Club
Our new Scholastic Book Club is up and running!
Click here to browse the latest books and order online. 
For every $1 you spend on this month’s Book Club, our school will earn 20¢ in Scholastic Rewards.
Please place your order online by December 3rd, 2019.

Upcoming
Tuesday, December 3rd: Tulip Planting
Friday, December 6th: St. Nicolas
Wednesday, December 11th: No PE - PE will be Thursday and Friday until Spring Break
Wednesday, December 18th: Christmas Market; School Finishes at 1:00pm
Thursday, December 19th-Wednesday, January 8th: Winter Break

Week 12

This week in Preschool we are looking forward to wrapping up our Unit of Transportation with a trip to the Kobe Airport on Monday! We will also finish the train station dramatic play area we have been designing as part of our summative.

In Readers Workshop we will review pointer power and reread power as well as introduce snap word power! We learn the /ar/ sound and continue reviewing all of the letter and letter combination sounds we have learned.

In Writers Workshop we publish and share our transportation books.

In maths we will explore 3D shapes.

Please note a mistake in the Parent Handbook I shared in August - the PE schedule will change December 9th to Thursdays and Fridays. Here is the correct schedule:
PE schedule
August 26th to December 6th: Wednesdays and Thursdays
December 9th to March 18th: Thursdays and Fridays
March 30th to June 16th: Mondays (swimming) and Thursdays

Have a great week!

Upcoming
December 3rd Tulip Planting
December 6th St. Nicholas
December 18th Christmas Market

Week 11

Last week was an exciting week in Preschool! We celebrated St. Martin's with the lanterns we made and the treats care of the PTA (thank you!), took part in the island-wide emergency drill and training, and all of the teachers/assistants (Ms. Shirai, Peter, and Ms. Mami) celebrated another trip around the sun!

This week we will continue writing our All About Books for a mode of transportation of our choice. We will also discuss the features of particular transportation systems to prepare for our trip to the Kobe Airport on Monday.

In Readers Workshop, the students will be inducted as "Super Readers"! In this unit they will learn to use reading super powers to help them read.

We will learn the sounds for /ou/, /oi/, /ue/, and /er/ and begin learning sight words. This week's words are I, a, the, is, and has.

In maths, we will talk about patterns.

We are so excited for our trip to Kobe Airport on Monday. As mentioned in a previous email, preschool students will experience the features of transportation systems and how those systems meet the needs of all people first-hand on a field trip to the Kobe Airport. We will need 1-2 parent volunteers for this trip, please advise if you are available. The train fare for each child is 380 yen one way to experience the transportation system and we will return on the school bus. Adult chaperones would be responsible for their 770 yen in train fares.

If you haven't had a chance yet, please remember to fill out the form as to if your child will attend and if you are available to chaperone.

Have a great week!

Upcoming
DSKI Tree Lighting Ceremony 
Wednesday 20th 3pm

No School (Teacher Training 22nd-23rd)
Friday 22nd

Field Trip - Kobe Airport

Monday 25th

Week 10

Greetings!

I hope everyone had a rejuvenating fall break.

Last week in Preschool we looked at the different kinds of transportation and signs on Rokko Island and talked about how we got to different places over the break. We began writing All About Books about a mode of transportation we are interested in. We learned the letters and sounds for w, ng, v, oo, and y. We reviewed and grew our understandings of 2-dimensional shapes and numbers.

We also began learning about the Zones of Regulation. These are ways to think about our feelings so we can find appropriate strategies to self-regulate. Whether that is energizing our bodies and minds when we are in the blue zone, or calming our bodies when we are in the red zone - it is important to know when we are good to go, we need to slow down and be careful, and when we need to stop. Some helpful vocabulary can be found here. Please ask your child about this at home and utilize the vocabulary as much as possible to reinforce what is happening in the classroom.

Next week we will continue to explore transportation through our All About Book writing. We will also use our knowledge of 2D shapes to create traffic signs we will use when creating our own transportation course in PE. We will learn the sounds for x, ch, sh, th, qu and have daily celebrations of our names to reinforce the letter names and sounds we have learned. We will also practice more with rhyming words.

This week is action-packed so please mark your calendar with the following:
No clubs Tuesday and Friday.

St. Martin Celebration
Tuesday 12th 4~6pm
Send an extra snack with your child!

The schedule will be as follows:
● school children: 3.30 to 3.45 pm: small snack in the classroom
● Early Years children: 3.30 to 4.00 pm: small snack in Early Years
● 3.45 to 4.15 pm: break time on the playground
● 4.15 pm: stage play by the German Grades
● around 4:45 pm: lantern procession on Rokko Island (around 30 minutes)
● around 5:15 pm: getting together with drinks and “Weckmann”
● 6.00 pm: end of event

Rokko Island Disaster Preparedness Drill
Wednesday 13th 2pm
Rokko Island will be having disaster preparation practice on Wednesday afternoon. Our school will be taking part with an earthquake and tsunami drill.
If any parents would like to take part, please goto Sun Hiroba on the 3rd floor of the Kobe Fashion Museum where you can take part in emergency and first aid training.

DSKI Tree Lighting Ceremony 
Friday 15th 2:30pm

Osaka Christmas Market
Friday 15th 4.30pm - 5.30pm Grades 1 - 6
We will once again be performing at the Osaka Christmas switching on the tree lights ceremony at the Sky Building in Umeda. Its a huge event and we are very happy to be on stage, it is also the venue of the German Christmas market, so please come along and enjoy!
Our students will be on stage from 4:40 pm for the opening ceremony of the Christmas Market.

Upcoming
22nd No School (Teacher Training 22nd-23rd)

Transportation Event!

Sky Day Event 2019 at Kobe Airport

Come learn about how airports and airplanes work!

Date: October 26, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Venue: Kobe Airport Terminal Building 1 Kobeko, Chuo Ward, Kobe

Fee: Free entry

Happy Halloween and Have a Great Fall Break!

The students all looked great today for the Halloween Party!

Thank you for making time for parent-teacher conferences this week. I enjoyed speaking with everyone personally and sharing what we are doing in the classroom.

This week we thought about all we know and want to know about Transportation:

I am sure the students will have more knowledge and questions after thinking about the transportation they use over fall break. Please have the students draw and write (they should be able to write most first letter sounds - we have not taught /qu/ /v/ /w/ /x/ and /y/ yet) about a few of the ways they got where they were going over the break on this sheet that is inside their zipper folder:

Lastly, if you finish any boxes of tissues over the break, please save them and bring them in for use in our classroom.

Thank you always and have a great fall break!

Upcoming
28th-November 1st Fall Break
12th St. Martin's festival 4-5:30pm
15th November Osaka Christmas Market Opening 5pm (1st-6th grades)
22nd No School (Teacher Training 22nd-23rd)

Suma Rikyu Park Field Trip and Week 9

What a week we had!

Last week we started tuning-in to our new unit How We Organize Ourselves by sorting different kinds of transportation.

On Friday I am sure all of the preschoolers slept well after an active day at Suma Rikyu Park! Please look at the pictures I was able to snap of the students I could keep up with here.

Thank you to everyone for a fun and successful Oktoberfest event on Saturday!

In literacy we will be practicing blending and using the letter sounds we have learned until now. We will start exploring information books (non-fiction) as part of our unit of inquiry.

In maths we will continue to build our number sense and learn about 2D shapes.

In UOI we will continue to tune-in to how we organize ourselves by looking at what we know about transportation and looking more closely at the learner profile attribute: caring.

Halloween Party!
Our PTA is unstoppable! They have sponsored a Halloween Party for the students on Friday the 25th - yay! There will be a costume parade so if your child's costume won't be distracting or uncomfortable to wear the entire day, please send them in costume. Otherwise, please send the costume with them to school and they can change around 1:35pm.

Have a great week!

Upcoming
19th (Saturday) Oktoberfest
22nd (Tuesday) No School - Japanese National Holiday (Emperor's Enthronement)
25th (Friday) Halloween Party
21st-25th Parent-Teacher Conferences
28th-November 1st Fall Break

Week 8

Last week in Preschool we wrapped up our unit on Communities and reflected on what learned and what we might still want to know more about. This week we'll start tuning-in to our How We Organize Ourselves unit on Transportation.

In literacy, we'll practice words with consonant blends (st, cl, dr) as well as double consonants that make the same sound (ll, bb, ck). As readers we'll practice finding word boundaries, one-to-one word association and making our words match the pictures in the books.

In maths, we'll continue building our number sense through 10 and do some data handling with bar graphs.

On Friday will be the field trip to Suma Rikyu Park if the weather cooperates, otherwise we will go to the nearby Suma Aquarium. Don't forget the students should come in the school shirt with easy to move in clothing and PE shoes. Please also bring a hat and a small backpack with:

• a healthy snack
• lunch (there will be no school lunch on this day!)
• a big water bottle.

Please be sure to apply bug spray and sunscreen before leaving home.

Also, we are looking forward to Oktoberfest this Saturday, the 19th! Thank you for all you are doing to make this another successful event!

Lastly, Parent-Teacher Conferences are next week (the 21st-25th). Many of you have already picked a time, but if you haven't yet, please do so here.

Have a wonderful week!

Upcoming
19th Oktoberfest
22nd National Holiday - No School
21st-25th Parent-Teacher Conferences
28th-November 1st - Fall Break

Parent-Teacher Conferences

DSKI will have Parent-Teacher Conferences the week of October 21st. Each conference will be about 20 minutes long and the purpose is for you (the parents) and myself to check-in about how your child is doing in preschool so far. In Term 2 the student will have be involved during our 3-Way Conferences and in Term 3 they will run the conference in our Student-Led Conferences.

Please schedule childcare as needed for this 20 minutes. In case you don't have the option for child care after school, I have also opened a couple of slots during the school day when the students are not in my classroom. I hope this makes an option for everyone, but if you are not able to find a time that works for you, please let me know and we can work something out.

Please respond to this poll with the time and day that works best for you. I look forward to meeting with you!

Oktoberfest Week Rescheduled

Dear parents of DSKI,

As many of you have seen we have a very big, category 5 typhoon heading for us, due to hit on the 12th of October.

Unfortunately because of this we have made the decision to move Oktoberfest to the19th of October, so one week later.

It is true that the typhoon can change course, but we have made the decision which makes most sense given the information we have today. If we leave it later to cancel, it will be much more difficult to change the plan and let the community know plus much more expensive for the school. We did discuss moving to the 13th or the 14th, but we felt the best and easiest thing to do is push Oktoberfest really clear of any possible conflict.

For your shift sign up, we understand parents may have plans. If you need to change your shift, so please just go to the shift plan here and adjust as needed.

Attached to this email is a new Date is Changed flyer, could we please ask all parents to pass and share this via social media, email etc to anyone who may need to know the new date. Please if could you add as a post to any Facebook groups you may be a member of, that would be really great.

So dates will be as follows -
12, 13, 14 October - School closed
18th October - Oktoberfest set up and school trips for students
19th October - Oktoberfest!
20th October - School closed
21st October - School day as normal
22nd October - School closed for new emperor coronation

My sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused, more information to follow regarding cake baking and food preparation dates but we are really looking forward to seeing you all on a bright and sunny 19th of October!!

With many regards,
Alex Inman
Head of Administration/ Primary Years Programme Coordinator

Week 7

Greetings!

Last week in Preschool we had our first Mystery Reader! The students were so excited to have someone from our community come and read a favorite book to them. Thank you, Mystery Reader! If you are interested in sharing a favorite picture book with the class, please contact me and we can plan it for November.

This week in literacy, we will learn the phonic sounds and letter formation for oa, ie, ee, and or. We will publish our first book in writers workshop and talk about characters in readers workshop.

In maths, we will continue building number sense and begin to learn two dimensional shapes.

In Unit of Inquiry, we will be finishing up our Where We Are in Place and Time unit on Communities and reflecting on all that we have learned.

Reminders
Oktoberfest is this Saturday!
Biggest thank yous to all who will be coming on Wednesday to bake cakes and who will help with the cake booth on Saturday! We still need volunteers for the Food Stall on Saturday, if you have some time in the morning or afternoon, please sign-up to help out!

Field trip to Suma Rikyu Park Friday the 11th!
Please respond here if your child will be attending this all-day field trip. Please remember to pack a snack, lunch, water bottle and to put sunscreen and bug repellant on your child that morning. Also, please wear the school shirt and a hat.

Thank you and have a great week!

Upcoming
12th Oktoberfest
14th National Holiday - No School
22nd National Holiday - No School
21st-25th Parent-Teacher Conferences
28th-November 1st - Fall Break

Suma Rikyu Park Trip October 11th

Dear Parents,

Deutsche Schule Kobe International’s Oktoberfest is coming soon! Many preparations are underway for our largest fundraising event thanks to the PTA and parents of the school. The school staff are very grateful to the dedicated parents who have spent a lot of time and energy preparing for this event.

Keeping with tradition, the students will be out on a whole-day school trip the day before Oktoberfest. 

This year, on Friday, October 11th, the Preschool-Grade 6 students will spend the day at Suma Rikyu Park. Suma Rikyu park provides great learning experiences for the children and gives them the opportunity to play with friends among all grades. Should it rain, we will visit Suma Aquarium instead.

Departure:   9:15 am (school starts at 8:45 am as usual)

Back at school:  around 3:15 pm (school ends as usual at 15:30)

Transportation:  Gr. 1 - 6 will take the train to Tsukimiyama Sanyo station, and then walk. PS & ½ of Grade 1 will take the Blue Bus to and from Suma Rikyu Park.

On the day of the trip your child should wear a school t-shirt and a hat and bring a small backpack with

• a healthy snack  
• lunch (there will be no school lunch on this day!)
• a big water bottle.  

Please have your child wear clothes that are easy to climb and play with, the school t-shirt and a hat. As the play area is in the woods please put bug repellant and sunscreen on your child.

We also would need one parent volunteer to join us that day. If you are interested, please note it in the response form. In case there are multiple volunteers (thank you!) I will confirm if you are the volunteer in a follow-up email. 

Please respond if your child will attend here by October 7th. 

Thank you always,

Heather

Week 6 - Happy October

Last week we took our first excursion to our community police box and fire station! The students had so many questions to ask the police and fire fighters about how they help our community. We also got to try out some of the tools they use like getting in the ambulance and fire truck, holding the heavy hose, and wearing the oxygen pack. Those firefighters have to be strong to use all of that heavy gear! Check it all out in our pictures!

This week for our Unit of Inquiry we will reflect on the questions we had and how we answered them through our trip to the fire station and police box. We will also role-play problems and how different community helpers could help us solve them. Lastly, we will think more about how the community helpers work together.

This week we will continue learning our letter sounds and formation with l, f, b, ai, and j. We continue to practice working with sounds by blending, segmenting, and counting sounds we hear in words.

In maths we will continue building and sharing strategies for counting collections, practicing writing our numbers, and composing and decomposing numbers 1-10.

Have a great week!

Important Dates!
Oktoberfest - October 12th!
Please be sure you have signed up to help with the Preschool Cake Shift 
Please be sure you have signed up to bring a cake!
Please share the event!

Week 5 in Preschool

This week in preschool we will continue to explore Where We Are in Place and Time by looking at our community and the helpers in them! This Friday we are so excited to get a tour of our local police box (koban) and fire station around the corner. The students have a lot of questions to ask the fire fighters and police officers, but please talk more about the community at home too! We have really enjoyed seeing the pictures of our friends' communities, so please keep collecting and sending them in for the students to discuss those people they see and who help them in their communities!

We will be learning the sound and letter formation for letters m, d, g, o and u this week. We are also practicing blending with all of the sounds we have learned!

In Readers Workshop we are practicing reading and sharing with a partner.

In Writers Workshop, we are generating ideas for our writing and continuing to add to our books.

In Maths, we are revisiting sorting items by attribute and continuing building our number sense. We will start counting collections this week to build on our strategies and skills.

Thank you and have a great week!

Reminders:

• Thank you for bringing in cardboard rolls for the students to create with! 
• We would like to create some drums in class, but need empty ribbon spools for this, so please donate any if you have them. 
• Thank you for returning the Oxford Reading Tree readers after the students have read them and marked it on their Reading Log. Daily reading is strongly encouraged; however we all have busy schedules so please don't worry about keeping a book a couple of nights before returning it for another. 
• Oktoberfest!
• PE Wednesday and Thursday

Upcoming:

27 September, Friday - walk to Police and Fire Station

12 October, Saturday - Oktoberfest! - Please re-read this post with all of our class Oktoberfest information!

14 October, Monday - No school. 

Zipper Folder and Reading Logs

In my last blog post I mentioned the students will begin bringing home reading books and filling out a reading log. Today is the day!

Today they will bring home:

1. Zipper folder
2. My Reading Log
3. Library book 

If they did not, it is because they haven't returned their zipper folder and/or library book to school.

Today's book has no words, please help them read you the story by looking at the pictures on the page and telling you what is happening. Then, fill in the book title and other information on the reading log. Finally, return both the book and the reading log to their zipper folder to bring back to school. 

Please always return their zipper folder with reading log and book (not library) to school every day. The library book they can keep and enjoy until next Thursday.

Thank you always!

Sports Day and the third week!

Greetings! Tomorrow we look forward to celebrating our health with our annual Sports Day! In Japan, the first Sports Day was held in October of 1966 to commemorate the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Please come ready for a day in the sun at 8:30am tomorrow. Please make sure students are appropriately dressed, have on sunscreen and bring ONLY: a towel, a large water bottle, and a hat. We will not be going to the classroom so they should only take what they need for sports day.

All classes will walk to the nearby sports field at 8:45am. We will head back to the school for lunch and an award ceremony at 12:30pm and all students who haven't already signed up for after-school care will leave school about 1:15pm. There are no clubs tomorrow.

This week we will learn the sound and letter formation for c, k, e, h, r. We are beginning to blend consonant-vowel-consonant words with the sounds we have learned so far (s, a, t, i, p, n) so please practice at home!

We will be continuing our inquiry into Communities, so please talk about the community around you and take pictures of people and places in your community that help you! Please send these to school with your child to share and deepen their understanding.

In Readers Workshop we will begin to send home leveled reader books. Please read the book with your child at home, fill out their reading log, and return the following day in their zipper folder. Many books will have no words, but please have your child tell you the story on the pages.

In Writers Workshop we will begin writing our own books!

In Maths we will be finding "hidden partners" or number combinations to 5. We will also lear the importance of the number 0.

WANTED: Art supplies!
In Arts, we would like to create drums for our community drum circle. If you have any empty cardboard ribbon spools, would you please donate them to our class?

Also, our class really loves creating with loose parts. We have already gone through a basket of toilet paper rolls, so if you wouldn't mind saving and donating all empty toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls, we would definitely put them to good use!

I would like to start welcoming a Mystery Reader for a read-aloud in our classroom one Monday a month. If you have time during the week and would like to share a favorite picture book, please contact me!

Oktoberfest Information - October 12th!

The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since the year 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations that are modeled after the original Munich event.

We will be holding our own celebration on Saturday, October 12th from 11am to 4pm! This is a wonderful even that connects us with families and the entire community. Please note the following ways you can support this important school event:

1. Prize donations (toy or book)! Please donate a new toy or book we could use in our Kids Room Bingo (value 100 yen - 1000 yen. Drop off the book in the donation box at the main entrance on the 18th as the team will prepare the prizes on the 19th.
2. Tombola prizes! Would you and/or your organization be interested in donating a prize for our tombola? If it is a high value prize, please contact me to be one of our sponsors, receive a sponsor voucher and be recognized on our sponsor list. Tombola is very popular and a great way to get visibility for your organization as a sponsor!
3. Cakes! We sell lots of cakes at Oktoberfest, so we kindly ask that every family donate a cake. You can come bake with us and other parents on October 9th at 9am or just bring the morning of October 12th.
4. Work help! We ask each class to take responsibility for one aspect of the Oktoberfest - helping set up, and helping on the day itself. Preschool is the Cake Team! (Team leader Hee-ja Oh)
   Please sign up for your shift on the Shift plan sign up link.
5. Food preparation! Please come join us on Friday the 11th 9.00am - 12.00pm for making the salads, potato salads etc.
6. Drink donations! The children will be thirsty so need a lot of juice and soft drink options for them and any designated drivers. ;) Please bring on Friday the 11th October so we can be sure we have enough.
7. Set up! We also need as many parents as possible in on October the11th to set up the Oktoberfest tents, rooms, stalls etc. Please come and help!!

Many thanks for your school spirit in supporting this fun day! Please bring along all your friends and family to enjoy the day!

Last week we had our first trip to the Library! It was so exciting to see all of the helpful parents sharing the space for a PTA meeting and to pick books out for ourselves!

This week in phonics and handwriting we will be learning the sounds and how to write i, p, n and the numbers 1-9.

We are continuing our introduction to the Reader's and Writer's Workshop this week talking about the routine, how to listen, how to turn and talk to share, sharing our stories orally, and exploring books.

In maths we have continued classifying objects by different attributes and determining the total count. We are also exploring different ways to represent numbers to five.

We are finishing up the Tuning In phase and begging the Finding Out phase of our inquiry into Communities where we use our thinking, communication, research skills, cooperation and knowledge to learn more.

Home connections!
If you could talk about and take pictures of places in your community that work together to help you and send those pictures to school with your child, it would really help deepen their understanding and connections to the unit.

Don't forget to check the photo album links in the sidebar as I upload photos of what we are doing in the classroom regularly!

Looking forward to seeing you all at Sport's Day on Monday the 16th! Please don't forget hats, sunglasses, and lots to drink and stay hydrated!

We rocked our first week in preschool!

We spent our first week getting used to our new space and routines. In preschool we all have jobs to do to keep our classroom running daily and are learning our new schedule and how to transition between classrooms.

We began learning our letter names and will be learning new sounds each week from now too. This week we will learn the names and sounds for s, a, t, i and begin blending.

This week we will begin bringing readers home from school to read and talk about at home. Beginning readers will not have words, but we can read the pictures and tell the story.

In maths, we will be comparing to see if an object is the same or different and beginning to compose and decompose numbers 1-5. We will continue reviewing number names and the count sequence.

We will begin our first Unit of Inquiry: Where We Are in Place and Time: Communities this week. As we begin to see our role in our classroom community, we'll also look at our familial community. 

Please take a look at our first week in pictures here!

Welcome to the 2019-2020 Preschool year

Welcome! It is my pleasure to be your children's teacher and I am so excited to learn and grow with them this year.

I am also looking forward to meeting you and your children on Monday at the Enrollment Party! Please note the time on the flyer you received in June is not correct. We will begin the party at 10am on Monday, August 26th and finish by 12pm.

Please arrive a little before 10am, come to the Multipurpose Room, and sit with your child. Don't forget the lovely cone you made with them and please be sure their name is easy to see on the outside of the cone. 

See you then!