Questions and Answers for our New JK Families
Dear Families,
At a June 16 Google Meet, our Kindergarten team met with many of our new families to answer some questions about the upcoming school year.
Here is a synopsis of the questions and answers:
- How do we help prepare our child for French Immersion if we do not speak French at home and what can we do to help prepare our child for school in general?
The vast majority of students coming into French Immersion do not speak French at home, so do not worry about your child being prepared for this before the school starts. Educators will help ease all students into speaking French; it is amazing how quickly children pick this up! Educators will share more specific information about the French program once the year starts.
The most important thing you can do to get your child ready for school is to read to them on a daily/regular basis and to allow them to develop independent self-care skills (like going to the bathroom themselves, putting on shoes and coats, doing up zippers). Practise with scissors and a pencil also helps, but children need to be developmentally ready for this, so no need to worry if they are struggling. Finally, teaching them how to solve conflicts and play with other children, by resolving conflicts by listening and using their words is helpful. This is something we work very directly on all through the primary years and is a natural part of learning, so need to see this as something that can be “completed”.
2. How do we arrange for bussing?
All bussing is managed through the Transportation Consortium and not done through the school.
Bus routes are available the last week of August. Please sign-in to transportation website to check for your child’s route at stwdsts.ca or call them at 519-824-4119.
3. Is there before and after daycare at James McQueen?
Yes there is and it is run through Community Resource Centre. Please call them at 519-843-7000 or email them at [email protected] to check for available spots.
4. How will we know what to do for the first day of school in September?
You will receive mail from the school with your child’s teacher and their staggered entry schedule sometime in mid July. New JK students usually start with a half day and then a full day, followed by every day after the first week of school. This schedule will be included in the letter.
At this point, we do not know what the start of school will look like in September, in terms of COVID protocols and procedures. Once we have clear direction from the Health Unit, information will be shared with you the final week of August on the school website and through a phone call or email. The first day of school is September 7th.
The school office will be open the week of August 30th if you have any further questions.
We look forward to meeting all of you in September…have a wonderful summer!
Mr. Creighton
Categories: News