This week I focused on Basketball skills for the Grade 1s and 2s: Dribbling, Passing, Shooting. Some of the drills included a relay race and the kids learned that when they get excited, they lose control of the ball! The trick is to stay calm. Next week we'll implement our skills in game play where we can focus on teamwork. 

For the Kindies, we discussed modes of Transportation and how people from all over the world used the same means to get from A to B. Land: Cars, trucks, trains, motorcyles etc... Air: Planes, Rockets, Drones, Hot Air Balloons and Sea: Speed Boats, Sail boats, Ships, submarines etc... We played various tag games while the children got to mimic these various modes of transport. 

Pictured above was a balancing course I created! There was a pile of beams by the shed that I figured I'd put to good use. It was an opportunity for the kids to practice balance. Also gives them something else to do at recess : )

Something I've observed is the kids desire to tattle tale. I'm trying to encourage them to solve their conflicts on their own by using the structure of "The Conflict Resolution Corner." ie) I feel sad because....., sorry I did X, I won't do it again...shake hands and be done with it. It teaches them to communicate their feelings in a productive way and solve their conflicts independently. Some have really taken to it. Still working on it with some others. We'll get there!

This week the focus was on jump rope. We discussed Goals and each student (grade 1 and 2) chose a goal for Friday. Charlotte's goal was to skip 20 consecutive times by Friday but yesterday she did 118! Hunter couldn't do one skip on day 1 but by Thursday, had completed 5 skips. Jordan was thrilled he could do 2! The focus was on their own personal victories and not worry about comparing with other kids. It was fun to see their attitudes change. On day 1: "Ugh, I don't want to skip....it's boring (AKA, I don't know how). By Day 3, they couldn't wait to get started because their confidence was building.
For the JKs and SKs we worked on the skills that will be useful when trying to skip. Jumping and rope turning. There is a lot involved with learning to jump rope so this will take some time but they are up for the challenge : )

This week, we added onto our Healthy Bodies discussion by going over the importance of sleep.
Game: Pick a card, any card! "10 to 12 hours sleep" means lots of energy therefore 10 sprints.
"7 to 9 hours" isn't quite enough sleep so just 4 sprints. "0 sleep = ZOMBIE..just one sprint, giving their best zombie impression.
We've begun the unit in Jump Rope. The intention was to start yesterday but the mass of knotted ropes wouldn't allow it. I tasked the grade 1s and 2s with setting the skipping ropes free! It was an opportunity to discuss Focus, Concentration, Teamwork, Patience and not giving up. All qualities required for success in life. Lucky kids in the last class were able to enjoy the fruits of the previous classes' labour and actually skip. One student, couldn't skip once at the beginning of class but skipped 4 consecutive times! I tried to post the video of this but the file was too long : (
We'll continue developing these skills over the next while. Skipping is great for the legs, heart, lungs and agility.

This week we talked about whole foods vs packaged food.
Whole Foods come from Plants (and Walmart, according to the kids) and contain just one ingredient. "Grapes"  Packaged foods come from a factory and have a lllllong list of ingredients....some of them very difficult to pronounce, even for adults. Whole Foods have a short shelf life and Packaged Foods have a long one. Whole Foods contribute to Healthy Bodies! Packaged foods can still be eaten as long as enough whole foods are consumed.
Tag Game: "Whole Foods and Processed Foods"
Two teams are formed: 1. Whole Foods and 2. Processed Foods
The Whole Foods (like Cops) count to 15 in "jail." The Processed Foods (Robbers) scatter.
The Whole Foods try and tag the Processed foods. Once tagged the Processed foods must surrender and allow the Whole Foods cops to put pretend handcuffs on them while they gently bring them to "Jail."
The kids have fun, got lots of exercise, learned about contributing factors to a healthy body and realized the importance of following the rules. If we all follow the rules, we all have fun. If some of us don't, it creates conflict with other students. All great lessons to learn!