Do you recognize any of the clothing in this pile or hanging up? Do your children recognize any of the items?

These shirts, sweaters, coats, etc. are some of the items that can be found in our lost and found area. Starting tomorrow, November 1st, a group of grade 7’s will be setting up a table and displaying the items in front of our gym. We hope that these items can find their proper home soon. The display will not be up for ever, so we expect that students will look for things they have lost.

How do we get children to take better care of their belongings?

At the end of many lunch periods, there will often be coats or sweatshirts left on the playground. I have been known to bring items to children if their names are in the clothing, but more often than not, there is no name inside. We have items that were left on the playground during recess, or during lunch, or after school, or even on the weekends. I think there must be some sort of magnetic field out there that attracts sweatshirts and coats.

Please come by and look after November 1st. Please make sure your child looks.

Our school is trying to have garbage-free lunches on Wednesdays. Is it a garbage free lunch if a child leaves his/her plastic re-usable container outside and never picks it up? Food containers that are found outside are often left near the lost and found area (on one of the counters nearby). However, if they contain food, they will soon grow mold inside, and we end up throwing them out. Please talk to your child or children about bringing their food containers home.

We keep our lost and found near the west wing of the school, beside door number #4. The students all walk by it one their way to music, yet they never see their own clothing there.

Please come look. Bring your child or children with you to look. In a couple of weeks, any leftover items will be donated to a charity. We cannot keep it all year.

Thanks

Take care.

When Halloween falls on a week day, things get interesting at school. Some classes celebrate, while others continue with business as usual. The children are a bit “wired” and will be for a couple of days afterwards. Hopefully we won’t see a significant increase in litter as the students bring candies to school.

Today, I had the chance to do something I really love to do. I listened to children read stories that they had written. I was invited into the Ms. Medilek’s grade 1/2 class, and heard a few stories that the grade 2’s had written for Halloween. I was not able to hear everyone, but I loved the stories I heard.

• From Lucy – Halloween Town – featuring a witch called Marny.
• From Finn – On Halloween Night – “bats flew up to the full moon.:
• From Leanne – The Witch and the Dracula – where Dracula rescues the trick or treaters.
• From Chase – The 5 Ghosts – 5 ghost have a scary ogre who scares children
• From Dominic – The Haunted House – with a ghost who lives in a tree house who scares children
• From Noah – The Werewolf Saw A Ghost – the ghost scared the werewolf – poor ghost
• From Lily – The Little With and the Black Cat and the Boy – featuring a little witch who liked to cackle

It is a joy to hear children share their creativity through story telling. Their imagination is wonderful. Thank you

Have a great Halloween, and stay safe.

Take care.

Today was quite the rainy and cold day at lunch. It was so bad, that we decided to give the students the option of being inside if they were not prepared for the weather.

Primary students (grades K to grade 3) were able to stay inside their classrooms after they completed their lunch. Their lunch monitors stayed with them and assisted with quiet games or reading. Some children elected to go outside and play on the primary playground.

Students in grades 4 or 5 were able to be outside or in the library. Students in grades 6 or 7 were given an additional option, hanging out inside the west wing with me.

I find it interesting how some students were able to find something to do when it is an inside day, while others were not successful at finding a quiet activity on their own. Are students no longer to keep themselves entertained without a screen? Do they need structure and supervision to play calm games at school?

Not everyone does need help. Some students played board games (Sorry, Monopoly and Operation). Some worked on their art projects, while others tried to solve some puzzles. A few of us even tried out juggling.

Some students played outside for 45 minutes, and they were rather wet when they came in. If your child is coming home today in clothes that are soaking wet, then they made a choice to go play in the rain, run in the puddles, and in a few cases, sit down directly in a puddle.

Rainy days can be really fun for some children. We allow them to go outside, but we do ask that perhaps, in the future, you can send a change of clothes with them just in case they get wet.

The weather is getting colder, and we will be outside almost every day. Please remember to remind your children to dress properly for being outside during recess and lunch.

Have a great weekend.

Take care.