Kindergarten’s 27th Week of Storytelling, Counting, Crafting, and Creativity!

Dear Family, we hope you all had an amazing week, just like we did! In our little kindergarten world, we’ve been exploring, learning, and sharing thoughts and lessons as usual. We’d like to take you through our moments and share how everything went…

As a reminder, next week on Thursday (March 13) and Friday (March 14) the school will be closed for spring break/teachers training.

Large Group

This week, in our large group, we had a fantastic time revisiting some of the lessons we've covered. We kicked things off by setting our date and checking in with our circle time calendar. We dove into some exciting recaps on tally marks, 3D shapes, and addition. Using our big whiteboard, our children practiced tally marks and tackled some one-digit addition problems. The highlight was a fun matching activity where they paired 3D shape cards with actual 3D models. It was a joyful experience filled with laughter and learning, as our children engaged in recapping and memorization.

“It’s not semi-sphere it’s Hemisphere” -Adelene

“Can I be the teacher today? I want to teach them about the 3D shapes” -Leayene

“Tally marks are easy, you draw four lines and you cancel them with one line” -Umar

Literacy

This week in our literacy session, we dove into the exciting world of writing! Building on our previous practice of sounding out words and crafting sentences, we dedicated these two sessions to enhancing their writing skills through creative storytelling based on a given picture. Over the course of two days, each child completed a different writing sheet, and it was truly remarkable to see their progress. The first activity laid the groundwork for understanding the process, while the second session revealed their newfound mastery of writing. Some children confidently used the initial sounds of words to create their stories, while others ventured into inventing their own spellings. It was a joy to witness their creativity and growth—each story was a unique expression of their imagination!

“The girl is making a house for the bird or for herself?” -Yeabsera

“This is too easy and I’ll finish up the paper like from the top to down” -Lucas

Math

After mastering skip counting by twos last week, we seamlessly transitioned to skip counting by fives this week. This felt like a natural progression, as they had already practiced counting by fives during our telling time sessions when counting minutes. We began with an oral practice while sitting on our mat, then wrote down the numbers from 5 to 100 to reinforce their understanding. In our second math session, the students tackled a worksheet where they filled in the missing numbers by skip counting by fives. It was a fantastic way to solidify their skills!

“This is too easy Arsema, I’m getting smarter yeah?” -Hekima

“It’s hard after 100” -Abigail

“I want to draw the clock after this” -Tang Tang

Science

This week’s science session was an absolute blast! Our kindergartners were bubbling with excitement as we delved into one of their all-time favorite topic: “volcano”. The moment we announced our volcano experiment, the classroom erupted in cheers. We had two thrilling volcano sessions during our weekly science classes. For our first experiment, we transformed the sand pit into a volcanic landscape. Each child crafted their own volcano model, digging a hole to place a cup. Once set up, they filled the cup with baking soda, and when everything was ready, they poured in a mixture of vinegar and red food coloring to simulate molten lava. As the bubbly “magma” erupted from the sand, their faces lit up with joy. After all the individual eruptions, we gathered for a grand finale: a massive group volcano! Together, they combined their efforts, creating a spectacular eruption that left everyone cheering and laughing. For the second session, we turned up the excitement even more with a classic experiment using “Coca-Cola” and “Mentos”. Our children formed pairs, each group armed with a plastic bottle of Coke and a roll of Mentos. With one child opening the bottle and the other dropping in the Mentos, they watched in awe as the chemical reaction created a fizzy explosion!

“Oh Volcano my favorite, I know about magma” -Adelene

“Let’s make a big one all of us together” -Junior

“Let’s make our own then we can make it together” -Abigail

“The floor is lava, volcano” -Eliyab

“I love the Coca Cola one better” -Lucas

“Who’s gonna clean up the ground, we made a mess” -Leayene

Art

This week in art, we embarked on our fifth canvas project, titled "Mount Everest"—the tallest mountain on Earth! Inspired by our recent lessons on landforms, our young artists eagerly suggested creating a stunning depiction of this majestic peak.

We kicked off the project by painting our canvas a light blue, with a beautiful mixture of white and blue paint created by three of our children. The entire class then took turns painting the background, each adding their unique touch to the sky. Once we finished, we let the canvas dry outside. While the canvas dried, the children gathered around to sketch mountains on blue paper, practicing their skills before the big canvas sketching session. Their creativity shone through, with each child showcasing their unique style. The next day, we came together to sketch and paint our mountains, guided by our art teacher. Those who were hesitant to sketch took the brave route of tracing bold outlines made by their friends, fostering a wonderful spirit of collaboration. As we painted, each child brought their mountain to life with vibrant colors—white for the snowy peaks and rich blacks and browns for the rugged base and it turned out to be nothing short of incredible!

“Mount Everest is the tallest one” -Umar

“I love painting, it’s my favorite thing to do” -Leayene

“Asnake, we have to paint when the snow is falling on the mountain too” -Junior

“It have 5 pointy mountains” -Tang Tang

Library

This week, we enjoyed our library sessions both indoors and outdoors, as is our tradition. Our first session took place outside, by the infants class, creating a lively atmosphere for reading. We set up a cozy nook with mats and pillows, perfect for our little ones to settle in with their favorite books. Before diving into our storytime , we facilitated a fun book swap! The children exchanged the books they borrowed last week for new ones, making sure to leave their signatures on our book checkout sheet. It was delightful to see their excitement as they picked out fresh titles they liked while they were reading. Then, we gathered for story time with Yeabsera, who shared her favorite book with the group. Our children listened intently, captivated by the story. The next day, we transitioned our library session indoors, where the cozy atmosphere continued in our library room.

“Shhhh……its book time guys” -Yeabsera

“I don’t know how I forgot to bring my library folder” -Adelene

“Umar and Abigail will not take a new book yeah? Cause they didn’t bring their book” -Lucas

Journaling

The prompt this week was.............What's the best thing you did today?

Weekly schedule:  

Monday – Math, Literacy

Tuesday – Literacy, Science, gym

Wednesday - Library, Math

Thursday - Science

Friday - Cooperative game

Specials:

Monday- Art

Tuesday - Gym

Thursday - Ethiopian center/ clay

Friday - Football

Reminders and notes:

• Make sure that our children are wearing suitable clothes on Monday as we have art class and activities get messy sometimes.

• Every Wednesday and Thursday is library day. Our children will be bringing home a book of their choice in their library folder, so please make sure to read the book with them over the weekend. Return the folder the following Wednesday so they can get a new one.

• Every Tuesday, we have gymnastics, so please ensure that our children come dressed in comfortable and loose-fitting sports attire to facilitate their exercise.

• Every Friday, we have football, so please make sure our children wear their football jerseys if they have them, or any comfortable shorts.

Thank you for being part of our journey. Until next time, stay safe!