Happy New Year!! Ok, we may be 2 weeks into January already, but this was our first "real" week back to school so it warranted a celebration. Throughout the day on Monday, we took turns popping a balloon for a special surprise activity - going for a run outside, playing a game, and our favourite: a flashlight dance party. We even figured out that holding the ball pit balls onto our flashlights made them glow like little luminescent orbs. ![]() Madame has told us that there's no more free-loading around here. It's time we start earning our keep. We've all been assigned daily jobs now that we'll keep for one week before rotating to another one. For the most part, we've adapted to working life quite well, though some have started wondering about vacation days and pensions. So far there has been no talk of unionizing so we'll call that a win. Next week we will begin earning real money for our jobs but Madame says we need a trial probation and training period. More to come on that... For now, we are learning to clean the guinea pigs' cage and give them water/food, water the plant, sharpen pencils, pick up garbage, and much more. As we prepare to earn money, we need to learn about different coins and how to skip-count. We will all start with nickels and work our way up to other coin combinations so Madame introduced us to a new counting song that she made with her kids. Even though we're in French Immersion, Madame has decided to teach us the English terminology for the coins since this is what we will be using in our day-to-day lives. So instead of saying the mouthful French phrase, "une pièce de 5 sous", we just say "un 'nickel'". ![]() When we worked on our counting collections this week, some of us began practicing our French skip-counting by organizing our collections into groups of 5. Others stretched their skills by attempting to count collections that went all the way to 80, 90, or even 100! And some of us preferred the coloured rows approach. The great thing about "counting collections" is that we can use whichever strategy suits us best! Afterward, we discuss what others have tried and are sometimes inspired to do that ourselves the next time. Madame really tested out the old theory this week that "there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing." Wednesday was pouring buckets so we had two indoor recesses and by the afternoon, we were getting very squirrelly. It was time to get outside. But since there's no rest for the weary, Madame fashioned a make-shift tent with a tarp and made the Grade 1s do their regular Math work before running off to play. The experience must not have been too torturous, though, because some of our Kindies were inspired to voluntarily try some Math, too. It really is amazing how refreshed we feel after a romp in the mud and rain... Thankfully the weather cleared up for us on Thursday for our forest walk. We've begun learning to tie knots! Some of us caught on right away, but for others it may take a few more weeks of practice, but we'll get it eventually! Sadly, we discovered 2 dead birds. We decided to give them a proper burial and made sure to treat them with respect since they were living creatures. We took turns digging the holes, fashioned make-shift "crosses", and Aaron led us all in some prayers. And today was "Black Excellence Day"!...a day to think about Black history and learn about Black stories and Black people, and to show them we care. Madame wasn't at school today, but the TTOC communicated that we were fascinated by the story of Viola Desmond, a black Canadian hero who is featured on our Canadian $10 bill. We also learned about Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream to see all people treated equally, regardless of the colour of their skin. We made special paper crowns that said, "I have a dream" (J'ai un rêve). Extra pics... Thank you to Lincoln's family for donating this marble run toy that has been wildly popular!
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