Thursday, March 19, 2020

Dear Grade One Families of Bridlewood,

What a strange week this has been. We are writing today to connect with you one more time before Spring Break. We are thinking of all of you and hope that you are keeping well.

We recognize that the loss of routine that has occurred this week may be challenging for your children and families. We also know that many of you have had to alter your plans for the upcoming week and that adds to the stress and uncertainty of what has become our new reality. The grade one teachers worked together for the first three days this week. We talked a lot about what has been covered and accomplished so far this year and how our students make us proud. Every single student has learned a great deal; not just about the academic subjects, but also about kindness, mental wellness and the importance of fresh air and exercise. We hope that these later qualities help to carry you through these uncertain times.

We will connect with you again after Spring Break. In the meantime, if you are looking for resources for your child, please refer to the programming suggestions that were sent out by the CBE. The link is https://cbe.ab.ca/programs/curriculum/learning-at-home/Pages/default.aspx Also, don’t forget the value of RazKids, Starfall and other online reading resources. We have explored many word families (-an, -at, -ing, -ind, -ink, -ill, -ell) and your child could demonstrate how they can read and write words from these families and also use them to print sentences. A useful link for sight word lists and activities is https://sightwords.com/sight-words/. If you have a deck of cards or a few dice, your child will be able to teach you multiple math games to review skills while connecting as a family. As Spring is nearly upon us, enjoy the wonders of the world and see what seasonal changes you can observe outside. Using sentence starters such as “I can see…”, “I can feel…”, “I can hear…”, “I like…”, “I wonder…”, “I hope…” etc. will allow your child to translate their observations into written thoughts. This might also be a good opportunity to review the classroom blog and discuss your child’s learning with them.

If you are looking for some fun ideas of ways to keep active outside, check out www.playoutsideguide.com

Take care and look after yourselves.

Lynwyn Aebli

Julie Rinaldi

Joanie Swanson