We spent time this summer reorganizing and updating many of the centres in our classroom. Some of the changes we have indicated below. We were excited to see last year’s JK’s again and to see how they had grown and changed and to meet our new JK’s and start another exciting new year. We now have a new staff member joining us in the mornings in the Kindergarten space so you will hear from Sil through our blog as well.Melanie, Vanessa and Sil

When Zoe was asked what she remembered about last year in Junior Kindergarten she replied We got to talk with each other and play at learning centres. I made a Birthday Card for my friend Ashleigh.

As we introduced the centres to the children this year it was important to first model the rules and procedural routines. We knew, based on our observations, that it helped to begin the year with only a few materials and gradually introduce new materials. We took the children to each centre and modeled the routines such as how to tidy up. We decided not to designate specific numbers for the centres. Last year we spent a lot of time dealing with children who were reporting on the number of children in the centres and being disappointed they could not have a turn. We had set up a problem and not given the children the responsibility of solving the problem themselves. This year we only have to intervene if the children are unable to manage themselves and that frees us up to focus on other aspects of their learning. Some children need more explicit modeling and so we did a lot of role playing and dramatizing. The children who were familiar with the routines are very good at being leaders.