PreSchool 1 @ East-West Our discovery journey through PS1 

It is our second week after the holiday and we are already busy with science projects, reading new books and writing new stories 🙂

Every morning from 7.30 am to 8 am, we sit in circle and I read a book to our students. We have just finished reading Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl. Our students love Roald Dahl’s books and we have lots of fun reading his books in the morning.

Last semester we read George’s Marvellous Medicine and The BFG. We did different activities and projects about these books, which are now part of the students’ creative journals. Reading these books together not only teach us new words and lessons about life, but also how fun reading is! After reading, we share our ideas about the story and we also talk about similar things that happen in our daily lives.

 

Today we’ve voted for the best of these books … and the winner is… The BFG! There is something about this friendly giant that children and adults love. Once you read the book, “you just want to be friends with him forever!” (That’s what one of our students wrote about the book :-))

Reading with your child

1. It’s Part of Life

Although the life of a parent is often hectic, you should try to read with your child at least once a day at a regularly scheduled time. But don’t be discouraged if you skip a day or don’t always keep to your schedule. Just read to your child as often as you possibly can.

2. One More Time

You may go through a period when your child favours one book and wants it read night after night. It is not unusual for children to favor a particular story, and this can be boring for parents. Keep in mind, however, that a favourite story may speak to your child’s interests or emotional needs. Be patient. Continue to expose your children to a wealth of books and eventually they will be ready for more stories.

3. Talking About Stories

It’s often a good idea to talk about a story you’re reading, but you needn’t feel compelled to talk about every story. Good stories will encourage a love for reading, with or without conversation. And sometimes children need time to think about stories they’ve read. A day or so later, don’t be surprised if your child mentions something from a story you’ve read together.

Through books we can enrich our minds; we can also relax and enjoy some precious leisure moments.

With your help, as your children begin a lifelong relationship with reading, they can grow into adults who read easily and frequently.

And as an opportunity to share thoughts and ideas… Would you like to share the name of your favourite book when you were a child? Would you like to recommend any classic or present-day book for children? Do you have any favourite book you and your child/children have read at home? 

Thank you for your ideas and comments!

Dear Parents, thank you for reading our blog and for participating with your comments!

It’s almost Christmas and we are all very excited about the holidays! It’s been a great semester so far and our students are enjoying learning and they are all improving day by day. This holiday is time to relax and have fun, but it would be a shame we don’t keep practicing those skills we need to keep working on 🙂

So… this post is a reminder of our Xmas Homework and a chance to suggest some Home-Based Activities that can help your child improve and get more confident in English and Math.

Xmas Homework:

1. Spelling List and Spelling Task 17 (Spelling notebook)

2. Writing task (Journal)

3. Reading (15 minutes/day). Each student has borrowed a book from the library to read during the holiday.

4. Math: Go Figure p. 30 + p. 31

Would you like to help your child with some fun home-based activities?

These are some ideas that can help them improve their Math skills as well as their reading and writing skills.

Mathematics Grade 3: In Grade 3 your child learns about numbers to 1000, using place value. They will understand, apply and recall addition and subtraction facts to 18, and add and subtract 2- and 3-digit numbers. Your child will understand and recall multiplication and related division facts to 5 x 5. They will solve problems involving number, patterns, measurement, data and maps, and use symbols to solve one-step addition and subtraction equations.

A great website they can use to play and practice their Math skills is MATH IS FUN. Different activities and games to practice those topics we’ve learnt during this semester (measurement, multiplication and division are the topics that need more practice).

English Language Arts Grade 3: Grade 3 students use their language skills to describe things in greater detail. They make their own stories more interesting and notice how they can add excitement by saying certain words louder or at a higher pitch. Words become more colourful than ever!

It’s very important your child reads and writes everyday. This brings an opportunity to learn new words and be more aware about language and the world, either through fiction or non-fiction stories.

These are two activities your child and yourself can enjoy while helping him/her get more confident at writing and speaking.

Retelling a story – We’ve done 4 literature units so far. The books we’ve been reading together are: George’s Marvellous Medicine and The BFG (by Roald Dahl), Freckle Juice (by Judy Blume) and Strega Nona (by Tomie de Paola). You can ask them to tell you these stories and write a summary of one of them and make a drawing as a Christmas present for you.

Write a recipe – We’ve learnt how to write a procedure this semester. This writing activity is a fun review and maybe you can make this recipe at home with your child! WRITE A RECIPE 

George’s Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl

WE WISH YOU A HAPPY HOLIDAY! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR 😉

Thank you,

Ms. Marta