This week we learned about nocturnal animals. Each day of focused mostly on one animal ie: owl, red fox, bat, hedgehog. We learned how certain animals can see better at night, how some use echolocation to navigate the darkness and how they are able to hunt for food. We made paper red foxes, painted hedgehogs with a fork, and craft paper/cardboard tube bats with toothpicks to hold the wings. We also made owls with craft paper, feathers and cupcake liners for eyes. The kids journaling about nocturnal animals as well; with most choosing to draw red foxes and owls.
 
Our letters this week were B and R. In their workbooks, the kids coloured pictures that start with the letter B and using stickers to make the letter R. They also built R using wood pieces.
 
A couple of times this week, we played a game called “I Have, Who Has?”. Each person has a card that either has a number or letter of the alphabet on it and they have to identify if theirs come next in the sequence and then ask whose comes after. They also played a shape search and match game, took part in a pattern clapping circle and played a dice rolling game to identify numbers and count/thread the corresponding number of beads on a pipe cleaner.
 
We had plenty of fun outside this week, building forts with branches, making snowballs and climbing the side of the ravine (that was no easy task). What great practice in perseverance and delayed gratification. We had some wonderful cheerleaders and helpers for those who were having difficulties. Sliding down was so worth how difficult it was to climb up. We were all definitely dirty by the end of the week!

Happy Diwali to those who celebrated last weekend!
 
The kids and I have been learning about Diwali and have really enjoyed the colours, lights and fun together. We learned about the fancy clothing (of which they got to see a real Sari and bangles), the tasty food, the fireworks, the music, Diyas and Rangoli. The kids and I made and decorated Fimo Diyas (clay pots that hold either oil or candles), painted sparkly fireworks using paper tubes and made paper flower decorations. The highlight of our week was using coloured sand to create our own Rangoli (patterns created on the floor using coloured powder, sand, rice, etc). The kids had practice holding and pouring bottled sand into funnels, pouring the sand with control and practiced patience and manners while asking and waiting for the colours they needed. 
 
Our storybooks this week include:
Dipal’s Diwali by Twinkl
Diwali Lights by Rina Singh
Binny’s Diwali by Thrity Umrigar
Peppa’s Diwali by Nevill Astley
Let’s Celebrate Diwali by Anjali Joshi
 
Our letters this week were D and P. They practiced forming the letter P on the fridge with line and curve pieces. For the letter D they had to search through a basket of objects to find those that started with D. 
 
The kids also practiced their shape, number and colour identification through our owl game. They had to find the two pieces, of the same colour, that make up an owl and run it back to me to tell me what colour the owl is, and what number and shape is on its tummy.

Lest We Forget
 
We remember. We remember to say thank-you to those, past and present, who helped to keep Canada safe and free. 
 
Some things they remembered, by the end of the week, about Remembrance Day;
-Peace. We learned about Peacekeepers and their roles in times of peace and conflict.
-Soldiers and Veterans. They can be men or women, past or present. They help to keep our country safe, help other countries and the civilians who live there.
-Poppy. Poppies show that we remember and say thank-you. We learned some places where poppies grow and that they can even provide medicine.
-Thank-you and We Remember. It is important to take time to say thank-you to all the brave people who keep us safe and free, so they know they are not forgotten.
-The Unknown Soldier and The Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa. We watched the Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa),
-Bag Pipes and the Bugle. They are musical instruments that are used notably during Remembrance Day ceremonies. 
 
We made foam poppies with glitter middles, used scissors to create the edges of the paper poppies, practiced using pincher fingers to rip construction paper for torn paper poppies, went on a hunt for little poppies and made a poppy wreath together.
 
The stories we read were;
Ava’s Poppy by Marcus Pfister
I Can See Peace by Amber Connor and Vernon Dew
The Peace Book by Todd Parr
Hero Mom by Melinda Hardin
 
The play foam clocks came out this week. With these foam clocks, the kids practiced fine motor skills, counting, number recognition, number sequencing, and even how to tell what hour it is. 
 
Our letters this week were S and J. The kids made the letter S with little paper squares and used their workbooks to search the letter J. 
 
By choice, the kids spent much of their outside time in the brush in the field. They are quite the little explorers. They also had a bunch of fun playing with Bella dog and the “stick” (more like branch) she found. 

We did and artist study on Piet Mondrian this week. Our look at him was focused on his later work where he used primarily primary colours, black and white and horizontal and vertical lines.
 
We learned what they primary colours are (Red, Yellow, Blue) and how they are used to make different colours. The kids have practiced mixing colours quite often and most are starting to remember which primary colours make which secondary colours. The kids made colour pyramids; primary colours on the bottom and secondary colours on top. They also searched through the house for objects that were mostly made of primary colours. 
 
We have been working on what horizontal and vertical lines are through our letter learning, as letters using those lines were the letters we started with. The kids practiced making straight lines using a ruler, making them free hand, placing squares and rectangles in the corresponding positions, and using their bodies.
 
The kids made artwork inspired by a variety of Piet Mondrian’s work. They used oil pastels, pencil crayons, crayons, popsicle sticks, rulers, black electrical tape, paper squares and paper rectangles.
 
They made popsicle stick art inspired by Piet Mondrian's variety of Boogie Woogie works. They used oil pastels to colour in squares and rectangles inspired by many of Piet Mondrian’s later artwork. They used horizontal and vertical shape placement and line drawing inspired by Piet Mondrian's Composition in Colour series. This was a great opportunity to practice proper pencil grasp as well.
 
The kids are doing so well with pattern making lately, they seem very interested, so we continue to work on more complex patterns (ABAB, AABB. ABC). They can continue and make their own AB patterns in colour, size, shape, even in the weather and food types. They can make an AB pattern out of practically anything. It’s almost turned into a game of sorts while we eat. 
 
The kids did some fine motor work by stretching elastics over square blocks.
 
Our letters this week were Q and G.