Kindergarten at Churchill: The Bumblebees

We often have new families ask what Kindergarten is like at Churchill.  Well.... you are weclome to come visit Churchill to learn more! However, here's a little window into one of the two Kindergarten classes at Churchill - the Bumblebees with Michele White.

Special note: This fall (2023) Michele was awarded the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Teaching. Only 10 teachers across Canada receive this award each year so it is quite the honour. (We feel our school is full of honourees but it's wonderful to have Michele recognized in this way!)

What are your goals as a Kinder teacher? 

My main goal is to help children make a positive transition from home to school life. In order to help them develop into confident, happy and inquisitive students, it's essential for me to develop a close and supportive relationship with both the children and their families. 

Beyond that, social skills are the most important think to learn in kindergarten. With positive self image and the ability to cooperate and work with others, children can access all the richness that education has to offer. Each day, I want them to experience joy with their friends and the supportive adults in their class. 

I enjoy supporting students to gain confidence through learning to try new things and problem solve, which helps them accomplish things and master new skills. 

I also want to help them further develop their imagination and innate sense of wonder about the world around them.  I'm particularly keen to enhance their love and appreciation of the beauty and variety of nature and world culture. I want my students to be excited to come to school each day to learn new things and leave with a smile on their face!

How do you work toward these goals? These goals underpin every centre, every circle time and every interaction with my students every day. 

What does a typical day look like in your classroom?

Here's how a typical day looks:

• Outdoor play first thing, for about 40 to 60 minutes.

• Entry and carpet time for about 30 minutes

• Learning centres, snack and free exploration for about 1h 20 minutes,

• Clean up time, circle songs or story or game.

• Outdoor play for 45 minutes

• Lunch and then quiet time for about 20 minutes

• Senior and Junior separate time: Seniors: about 25 minutes; Juniors about 10 minutes

• Both groups then have free play

• Tidy up-(each child has a specific job at clean up time)

• End of day circle to say good-bye, reminders re special things about our day etc. 

• Outdoor play for about 25 minutes

• 2:25-Dismissal-see you again tomorrow! 

Name practice with natural materials

How do you bring French into your day? We have a free flow of French and English throughout our day (I teach both). It varies from week to week; however, we begin our morning with French calendar each day and have specific French centres on a regular basis as well as French sing-alongs, memory games and stories as part of our afternoon programming. We keep it fun, natural and relaxed. It works extremely well, as kids often don’t even realize they’re using their French: “Hey! I think this is your cache-cou (neck warmer), not mine!”

How do you and the ECE’s work together as a team? We work together on almost all aspects of the program. During class time, we're interacting with the children, running centres, observing, documenting and assessing. We alternate weeks of planning the learning centres based on the month’s expectations from the curriculum. ECEs do outdoor supervision before lunch, while I look after the kids while they eat. We divide juniors and seniors for afternoon circle when we work on specific academics - literacy, numeracy skills as well as social skills. And then we’re all together to say good-bye at the end of the day.

What do you love about being in the classroom? What brings a smile to your face: Children say and do hilarious things each and every day. I could write a book! Just last week, upon watching some footage of the International Space Station, a little boy says to his friend beside him “I wonder how they got up there.” His buddy, with all the confidence and four-year old logic in the world, confidently replies “They just use a ladder!”  Since so many experiences are new to them, and they have no preconceptions, the children in my classrom help me see things from fresh and entirely different perspectives. I'm constantly learning as I teach and that is very stimulating for me as well. They come up with the best theories and questions! I genuinely love that about teaching. 

I also love holding annual celebrations such as our Medieval Feast, Apple Day, Chick Hatching Day (yes, we have an incubator and watch baby chicks hatch), Dot Day and North Pole Elf Academy (which lasts over a week before the winter holidays). I try to make learning a fun and memorable experience and include the whole family in big events throughout the year. It’s all about the parties and parades!!

When do you know you’ve made a difference? I have the pleasure of keeping my students for two years (they stay with me for JK and SK), and so I get to watch them grow and flourish over a long period of time. Seeing a child go from a nervous, withdrawn, dependent little junior in September of their first year to a confident, competent senior, ready to take on the world (or, at least grade one) by June of the following year is extremely gratifying. I also enjoy running into former students and parents who look back so fondly on their kindergarten experience. That’s a very special feeling, too!

I really love our school’s program because of the connections between classrooms and our awesome home/school relationships.

Published: Updated 2023

Tags: confidence, french, Innovative approaches to teaching and learning, kindergarten, Relationships