Mother's Day

 Happy Mother’s Day! 

Today we celebrate all the wonderful mothers, grandmothers, caregivers, and mother figures in our school community. Thank you for the love, patience, encouragement, and care you pour into your children each and every day.

In kindergarten, we see the impact of your support through the smiles, confidence, kindness, and creativity of our students. Your nurturing hearts help children grow, learn, and feel safe enough to shine.

We hope this special day brings you joy, appreciation, and beautiful moments with your families. Thank you for all that you do — you are deeply valued and celebrated!

Happy Mother's Day from our Kindergarten Team! 

Chinese Heritage Month

Celebrating Culture in Kindergarten 

This month in Kindergarten, we are excited to celebrate Chinese Heritage Month! It is a special time to learn about the rich history, beautiful traditions, and vibrant culture of Chinese communities in Canada and around the world.

Our students learned that fireworks are an important part of Lunar New Year celebrations, symbolizing joy and new beginnings. To connect with this tradition, we created our own colourful fireworks using paint! With bright bursts of red, gold, and many other vibrant colours, our classroom artwork sparkled with creativity and excitement.

We also learned a friendly greeting in Mandarin: “Nǐ hǎo!” (Hello!) and talked about how celebrations around the world can bring families and communities together.

It has been a joyful time of learning, creativity, and appreciation for the many cultures that make our community so special.

Welcome to Kindergarten!

We have had a busy and exciting start to our school year in Kindergarten. Both our JK and SK friends are learning and growing together every day!

On the first day of school, we explored our new classroom, made new friends, and even mixed paints to discover brand new colours. Our activity was inspired by the book Curious George's First Day of School.

Students also  practiced tracing their names — soon they'll be writing them all on their own!"

Dot Day

We celebrated Dot Day and created our own special dots to show our ideas and creativity. Everyone’s dot was unique—just like us!

Terry Fox Run

We joined the school in the Terry Fox Run. The children showed energy and joy as we learned about Terry’s courage and why he is remembered.

Orange Shirt Day

On Orange Shirt Day, we wore our orange shirts to show that Every Child Matters. We talked about being kind and caring to everyone. We also learnt about the 7 Grandfather Teachings of the Indigenous peoples. We also learnt about the seven grandfather teachings of the Anishinaabe peoples. These are guiding principles for living a good life, including Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility and Truth. These principles emphasize treating others with kindness and making good choices. .

Fun Day

We also had a special Fun Day sponsored by the Wynford Group. The children enjoyed face painting, big slides, and lots of laughter!

Character Trait

In September, we learned about the TDSB character trait: Respect. We practiced respect by listening to each other, taking care of our classroom, and using kind words.

We are excited for all the learning and fun that October will bring. 

Holidays in December

In December we recognize several holidays and celebrations significant to families in our school community. This post will zero in on three such celebrations:

Christmas 

Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays worldwide, blending traditions, religious significance, and universal themes of love, generosity, and joy. For some people, Christmas is a time of faith and reflection. For others, it’s about family, togetherness, and giving. 

For Christians, Christmas is celebrated on December 25 and it is a holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus, who, according to the Christian religion is the son of God. It is a celebration of hope marked with key traditions, including the nativity scene, singing carols, and attending church services. 

Many families come together at Christmas to share meals, play games, and exchange gifts. People engage in acts of kindness like donating to charities and giving to those in need. 

This year students created holiday ornaments and a paper snow globe using finger paint and crayons.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is a week-long cultural celebration that honors African heritage and African-American culture. Created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa takes place annually from December 26 to January 1. It draws inspiration from traditional African harvest festivals and focuses on principles promoting unity, self-determination, and cultural pride.

7 Principles of Kwanzaa:

1. Unity: Striving for and maintaining unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
2. Self-Determination: Defining oneself, naming oneself, and speaking for oneself.
3. Collective Work and Responsibility: Building and maintaining communities together, solving problems as a collective.
4. Cooperative Economics: Supporting and building businesses that benefit the community.
5. Purpose: Working collectively to build and develop communities in alignment with cultural goals.
6. Creativity: Using creativity to improve and beautify the community.
7. Faith: Believing in the people, community, and the righteousness of the struggle.

Kwanzaa is a time for reflection, celebration, and commitment to building stronger families and communities. It serves as a reminder of the importance of cultural identity and collective progress, making it a meaningful addition to the holiday season. 

Students created the Mkeka mat from paper using the traditional colours of black, green, and red on a yellow base. This craft was a great way to strengthen their fine motor skills. It was somewhat challenging for some students, however they did a fantastic job.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday that celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century BCE. The holiday commemorates the victory of the Maccabees, a small group of Jewish fighters, over the much larger Syrian-Greek army and the miracle that followed. 

Hanukkah begins on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually falls in late November or December. To celebrate the eight nights of Hanukkah, people light candles on a branched candlestick called a Menorah. They start with one candle and add a new candle each night. In addition to the lighting of the candles, gifts are exchanged and children play holiday games. 

Other customs include:

• Playing dreidel: A spinning top game with Hebrew letters symbolizing the phrase "A great miracle happened there."
• Eating fried foods: Such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts), to honor the miracle of the oil.
• Giving gifts: Especially to children, a tradition that has grown in popularity, influenced by the timing of Hanukkah near other winter holidays.

Hanukkah is a joyful celebration of resilience, faith, and miracles, making it a time for family, tradition, and reflection on overcoming challenges.

Menorah Craft

Holiday Celebrations

In March we continue to look at holiday celebrations around the world. Students have been doing an awesome job with craft representing different holidays.

Happy Holi

Holi is a Hindu spring festival that is celebrated mainly in Nepal and India. It is widely known as the Festival of Colours. This year Holi will be celebrated on Monday, March 13.