Kindergarten
Kindergarten Registration 2019-20
Starting school is an exciting time, for both children and parents. Although exciting, it can also be daunting if you don’t have the information you need. To help, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) has put together an online toolkit to make the transition as smooth as possible for Mills Haven Elementary families.
Registration
Kindergarten Calendars
Find My Designated School
Kindergarten Information Nights
Programming
Fees
Student Transportation
How to prepare
Ways to be involved
When Can My Child Start Kindergarten?
To register for kindergarten in the 2019-20 school year, your child must be five years old on or before Dec. 31, 2019.
German Information
Click here to discover the German language with your child. Or check out the following list- German Websites.
Daily Five in Kindergarten
I am excited to be at the leading edge of introducing Daily Five into a Kindergarten program in eips.
A program to motivate the children to become readers and writers.
Last year I began the process by learning about Daily Five. I attended sessions, did online research and watch many videos.
Once I understood the program I began organizing my classroom for Daily Five. We know have an extensive library where the children go "Book Shopping".
I then began implementing the program, one step at at time.
We create posters together on how to be a reader and a writer.
We discuss and practice and practice and practice some more the skills we need in order to become readers and writers.
We participate in Daily Five lessons directed by the teacher.
We participate in independent Daily Five activities for 15-20 minutes by Reading to Self, Working on Words, Work on Writing, Listening to Reading and Reading with Others.
The students work in small groups or individually with the teacher to develop their reading and writing skills.
I am constantly impressed by watching the Kindergarten children work quietly and independently on increasing their reading and writing skills, sometimes for 20 minutes at a time.
Here is a list of skills that we cover during our Daily Five sessions.
Program
The Kindergarten Program at Mills Haven School follows the guidelines outlined by Alberta Education and Elk Island Public Schools.
The following resources will you give a great idea about Kindergarten.
from Alberta Education
http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/mychildslearning/
To find out more on the German program click here.
Kindergarten Readiness
Often we are asked about a child's Readiness for Kindergarten. Of course, the answer is not simple and straightforward. If you have specific questions please contact the school and the Kindergarten teachers would set up a time to discuss your personal situation. However, we do offer the following information as a guide for you to determine your child's readiness and to help you prepare your child for Kindergarten.
Play
Play is an extremely important learning tool for Kindergarten children.
Here are some of my favourite poems about the Value of Play.
Fine Motor Information
One of the focuses in Kindergarten is developing children's Fine Motor Skills for printing.
Alberta Health Services has some excellent information on fine motor skill development- Drawing, Hand Dominance, Pencil Control, Pencil Grasp and Scissor Skills.
Skill Builders Pediatric Occupational Therapy is a great site with some fabulous free information. Below are some of the most useful documents from that site relating to fine motor development and printing skills.
Fine Motor Skill Development
Speech and Language
Alberta Health Services provides great information on Speech Development and Learning to Communicate.
They also have some great ideas for developing your child's speech and language skills.
Phonemic Awareness
To learn more about the benefits of Phonemic Awareness Instruction in the Kindergarten classroom please check out the link.
Itchy's Alphabet
In Kindergarten we use Itchy's Alphabet to introduce and practice a different letter/sound combination each week.
Check out Starfall for some great interactive alphabet activities.
Reading
Reading is a fabulous time for children and parents to spend time together! Here are some tips and ideas for reading with your child.
Early Reading Support from the Toronto Public Library
Writing
When we talk about Writing in Kindergarten people often think we are referring to Printing. However, in this case we are referring to the process of Creative Writing.
Check out the link below, which illustrates the process of Creative Writing in Kindergarten and beyond.
Early Numeracy
Check out this website that gives you ideas and tips on how to integrate Numeracy into everyday tasks while keepin' it interesting.
We will start by describing objects (shape, size, texture, etc...) and then move onto sorting them into my newly acquired 2 compartment trays.
Next, we use what we have learned about sorting to create patterns using colour, shape, size, texture, function, etc...
Then we begin developing our understanding of numbers from 1-10. To develop the in depth understanding and math language we spend several months discussing numbers and their realtionships.
We finish off the year using measurement to explore objects and investigating 3-d shapes.
School-Home Links
A great resource for literacy activities you can do with your child at home- book knowledge, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, etc... development.