Kindergarten – OJCS KINDERGARTEN / GAN

Mapping Out Our World…

Posted on May 23, 2024 by Andréa Black

Over the last little while, Senior Kindergarten has been exploring maps and how we use them to find our way around. We have compared maps and globes, discovered how symbols can help us to read maps through a variety of in-class activities, and learned about the Cardinal Directions, North, East, South and West. Many of you may remember using “Never Eat Shredded Wheat” to help recall the different directions, but the SK kids have an updated version, so make sure to ask them about it!!! They have also been discovering our place in the world, from the city we live in to our province, country and continent and exploring different kinds of houses around the world and comparing them to their own homes. Earlier this week, they put their practice to use as they followed a map and directional clues to complete a Treasure Hunt around the school. They worked together to find and decipher the 8 clues and received a special cool treat as their treasure at the end. Way to go, SK!!

SK has also been participating in a variety of relay races during our gym time… from jumping over to crawling under, dodging right and left, and weaving around or wiggling through, this has been a great opportunity to move their bodies as well as to practice following relational directions!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Sunday, May 26 – Family Lag Ba’Omer BBQ & Party 3:30-6:30 pm

Friday, May 31 – Dress Down Day for The Cure Foundation

Friday, June 7 – Family Kabbalat Shabbat at KBI @ 3:00 pm

Wednesday, June 12 & Thursday, June 13 – Shavuot (NO SCHOOL)

Reminders

Tomorrow is Dress Down Day!! (and other reminders)

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Andréa Black

Tomorrow, Friday, April 19th, is Dress Down Day!! This month, we are collecting tzedakah in support of Earth Rangers. Don’t forget to bring your loonies and toonies!!

As we prepare for our move to KBI after the Passover break, we will be sending all of your child’s personal belongings home by the end of this week. This includes their spare clothes bags, indoor shoes, kippahs and anything else that we normally keep at school. We kindly ask that over the break you go through the spare clothes and replenish the bags with season-appropriate clothes and return them with you child on our first back to school. We encourage the kids to bring back a pair of indoor shoes as well.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Friday, April 19 – Dress Down Day for

Monday, April 22 – Tuesday, April 30 – Pesach Holidays (NO SCHOOL)

Wednesday, May 1 – First Day at KBI

Monday, May 13 – Generations Day (stay tuned for more info!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to Eyal in SK-B who turns 6 on April 20th!!

Wishing you and your families a Chag Pesach Sameach and a lovely break! We look forward to seeing everyone at our new location on May 1!!

General Studies, Math

Introducing IXL

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Andréa Black

IXL Online Math Forum

IXL is an online forum that provides diagnostics of learning skills, promotes review, mastery and extensions of skills through practice, as well as providing students, teachers, and parents valuable information on student’s progress through grade data points. We have just introduced IXL in the classroom and there will be a handout in your child’s backpack today that explains how to log in with your child’s login and password; if you need a reminder or have not received the handout, please contact Morah Andrea. The program can be accessed through either the link above or by downloading the app for Apple or Android products, though it tends to work better through the website.

We will continue to use this program in class, but practice time at home is also encouraged! However, please ensure that your child is working on this as independently as possible. If a teacher or parent helps out, especially during the Diagnostic process, the recommendations and next steps will be biased and not as authentic for the students to monitor their own growth, be confident in their abilities as well as provide authentic feedback to the teacher on his or her personalized math journey. For a more in-depth tutorial on how to set up the program for your child as well as highlights of the program, check out these past blog posts from our Math specialist, Mrs. Cleveland:

IXL: Online Math Forum for Personalized Learning

IXL: Four Highlights to Understand

Please comment on this post or feel free to reach out if you have any questions!!

Reminders

Welcome to the Senior Kindergarten Blog!!

Posted on September 15, 2023September 15, 2023 by Andréa Black

Welcome parents and friends to the Senior Kindergarten Blog!!!

Moving forward, this will be your main source of communication from us at school. It is on this page that we will post important information, special events and dates, updates on what is happening in the classroom and of course, pictures!!!

It is hard to believe that we have already finished two weeks at school!! Between all of the fun activities in our class and getting to know each other and our new environment, time certainly has flown by!! Check out the pictures below to see some highlights….

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Friday, Sept. 15 – NOON DISMISSAL for Erev Rosh Hashanah (pick-up is at the front door area, not the playground)

Tuesday, Sept. 19 – Back to School Night at 7:00 pm (in person!!)

Wednesday, Sept. 20 – PHOTO DAY! Please wear a white collared uniform shirt.

Monday, Sept. 25 – Yom Kippur (NO SCHOOL)

Tuesday, Sept. 26 – OJCS Terry Fox Run

Friday, Sept. 29 – Orange Shirt (Dress Down) Day

**If you haven’t already, please complete and return the Emergency Card that was sent home in your child’s Note Tote as soon as possible**

Wishing you all a Shana Tovah U’metukah!!

The SK Team

Reminders

Dress Down Day is tomorrow!!

Posted on May 18, 2023May 18, 2023 by Andréa Black

Tomorrow, Friday, May 19th, is Dress Down Day!! This month, we are collecting tzedakah in support of The Cure Foundation for Breast Cancer. Don’t forget to bring your loonies and toonies!!

As well, we are still collecting non-perishable items for the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank in honour of Shavuot. It would be wonderful if you could send any donations to school between now and May 25th! All items donated should have a visible, reliable hechsher (COR, MK, OU, etc) and please make sure to check the expiration date. Check out the poster below to see what items are needed most, but any and all donations are appreciated!!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Friday, May 19 – Dress Down Day supporting The Cure Foundation

Monday, May 22 – Victoria Day (NO SCHOOL)

Friday, May 26 – Shavuot (NO SCHOOL)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to Jared who turned 6 on May 17th

and

to Ariel who turns 6 on May 24th!!

Reminders

End of School Year Information

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Andréa Black

It is hard to believe that we are actually at the end of the year and I am writing this post…. What a year we have had in SK. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to share in a small snippet of your amazing kids’ lives and I look forward to watching them grow as they move up through the grades here at the OJCS!!

There is a lot going on over the next few days, so please read this entire post….

Friday, June 24th – Friday is Dress Down Day and we will be collecting tzedakah for Tewegan Housing for Aboriginal Youth in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day. Don’t forget to bring a loonie or toonie!!

Callie’s family is graciously providing a Pizza Lunch on Friday as it will be her last day of school and she will be celebrating her birthday in July. No need to pack a lunch on Friday, but please ensure that your child has plenty of snacks for the day. Todah Rabah to the Grostern family!!

Friday afternoon is the Staff vs. Grade 8 Softball Game and we will be going to watch at least part of it, weather permitting. Please make sure your child brings a hat and sunscreen to school.

Monday, June 27th – Monday will be an Under the Sea theme day in SK. Your child is invited to dress up as their favourite ocean animal or as if they are going to the beach (while still being school-appropriate, of course!). We will have some special activities throughout the day as well as a special treat in the afternoon.

Tuesday, June 28th – We will be having a full school assembly in the morning, so we ask that you drop your child off at the Front Doors between 8:30 and 8:45 am. We plan to have a snack picnic with JK, weather permitting, and a few other special activities for our last day together. Dismissal on Tuesday is at 12:00 pm.

If your child’s last day of school is going to be any day other than June 28th, please let me know as soon as possible. We have a lot to send home, so knowing in advance will be quite helpful and will save you a trip to school during the summer!

Lastly, on behalf of the SK team, I want to thank all of you for the immense support you have provided to both your children and to us, the morahs, through this wonderful Kindergarten year. It has meant so much to us to watch your children learn and grow through our time together. Thank you for sharing them with us!!

Have a fabulous summer!

Morah Andréa

Reminders

Winter Fun Day – Important Info!!

Posted on March 2, 2022March 2, 2022 by Andréa Black

Tomorrow, Thursday, March 3rd is our (rescheduled) Winter Fun Day at OJCS!! Woohoo!!

We are looking forward to a fantastic fun-filled day, but we wanted to let you know about of a few important things….

Please ensure that your child is dressed warmly!! Students do not need to wear uniforms – comfy, cozy clothes are encouraged (long-johns, ski socks, lots of layers, etc.). We highly recommend sending an extra set of clothes to school as it is likely they will need to change. We will be spending most of the morning outside and the forecast for tomorrow will be chilly, so please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately.

Drop-off tomorrow will be at the front door between 8:30 and 8:45; the kids will come in, drop off their stuff, use the bathroom and then get bundled up for our first block outside at 9:00.

In lieu of a movie afternoon (as advertised on the poster), SK will be celebrating 100 Day in the afternoon…. it will be an extraordinary day indeed!

Also, a friendly reminder that dismissal this Friday, March 4th is at 3:00 pm.

General Studies, Jewish Studies, STEAM

Global Maker Day 2021

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Andréa Black

October 12, 2021 was #GlobalMakerDay and the Kindergarten kids certainly rose to the challenge!!

After listening to a Virtual Storytime with Miss Brigitte, who read “Be a Maker” by Katey Howes, we investigated different types of ramps based on one of the many challenges provided…. What ramps are on our playground? What ramps do we use everyday? Why do we need ramps? Then the kids were asked to make their own ramp using a variety of recycled materials. The innovation and imagination in our classroom was astounding!!!

In the afternoon, we shifted our Maker mindset to the Parashat Hashavuah we read last week: Noah’s Ark. Using only tin foil, the kids were asked to make an ark that could hold small toy animals and stay afloat. We then tested each ark to see how many animals they could hold without sinking…. Believe it or not, Levi’s ark held a record 49 toy animals!!

What an inspiring, incredible day!!

General Studies

Let’s Talk Science…. Nifty Nests!!!

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Andréa Black

Yesterday, KA & KB participated in our final Let’s Talk Science virtual lab of the year. This time, Nia and Kelvin (Science students from the University of Ottawa) introduced the topic of nests to the kids and we were astounded by their ideas and observations as they discussed what kinds of animals build nests and what materials they use to build them. Then we played a Guess the Nest game and even though some of the questions were really tricky, these super-smart kids got most of them right!! To wrap-up our learning, the kids were tasked with building their own bird’s nest out of the materials they were provided, but with the extra challenge of using a clothespin (to simulate a bird’s beak) instead of their hands. Check out some of the nifty nests created:

You may have some blossoming birdwatchers on your hands now as Nia and Kelvin challenged the kids to look for birds’ nests around their neighbourhoods or to build an outdoor next and see if any creatures make it their home….. If your child finds or builds any nests, please share the photos in the comments!!

I want to send a huge thank you to Nia and Kelvin for all of the amazing virtual labs this year and for inspiring our little scientists. A big thank you as well to Morah Taylor for coordinating these amazing virtual experiences for our K students this year!!

General Studies

Innovation Day 2021

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Andréa Black

Thank you so much to everyone who was able to join us for Innovation Day in KA and KB yesterday!! The students worked so hard to create their planet sculptures and to learn space facts and they were so proud to share what they had learned and created with you. If you were not able to join us, you can watch both KA and KB’s Solar System Presentations in the videos below…..

Today, we wrapped up our Outer Space unit by talking about stars and constellations and then the kids built their own constellations out of marshmallows and toothpicks. Their imaginations were in full gear and the different structures they created were truly stellar!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to Asher A. (KA) who turns 6 on March 26th

and to Ariel (KA) who turns 6 on March 30th!!!

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and safe Passover – chag Pesach sameach from the K team!!