October 31 – Halloween Party for the Monday/Wednesday classes
November 1 – Halloween Party for the Tuesday/Thursday classes
November 7 – No school because of the Fall Break at Carstairs Elementary
November 8 – No school because of the Fall Break at Carstairs Elementary
November 20 – Miss Marg from the library visits the 4-year-old morning class (library books are due today!)
November 21 – Miss Marg from the library visits the 4-year-old morning class (library books are due today!)
November 22 – Miss Marg from the library visits the 4-year-old afternoon class (library books are due today!)
Name Printing
Over the past few years, I have discussed printing names with the staff at Carstairs Elementary School. When your child prints his/her name, they must use an upper case letter to begin their name, followed by lower case letters (e.g. John). I have found that the children are learning how to print their name at a young age, which is great! However, a lot of these children are printing their name in capital letters. This can be a very hard habit to break. At playschool, we teach the children how to print their name by following the guidelines of CES. If we can work on this process together, we will have the children properly prepared for kindergarten.
Speech Screening
We, at the Carstairs Playschool Society, feel it is important that we utilize all our available resources to prepare the children for kindergarten, and life in general. Language, speech, and articulation are important aspects to a child, as they must have communication skills in everything and everywhere they go. I will be using a speech screening checklist and will be completing these for the children during class time.
If I hear that certain sounds or letters are missing, or if I can’t hear a word clearly, I will be recommending that parents contact Garth Schindel, the speech therapist at Didsbury Hospital for further screening. We believe it is important to target these speech and language difficulties at an early age, and if needed, get support in place prior to kindergarten.
I want to stress the fact that the Alberta Government only funds PUF (Personal Unit Funding) program for ages 3-5. The PUF program is a free service that is provided to children who require extra assistant in areas, such as Speech. I feel this program is very beneficial in helping children succeed and become more confident with their speech and language skills. Having PUF support should not be seen as a negative experience; instead it gives those children experiencing some language difficulties a chance to thrive to be ready for kindergarten.
I am not a speech therapist, but I feel it is important that all children get as much help and support as they can so that they can be confident in all aspects of their lives. We will be adding some information to the website outlining what each age group should be experiencing in terms of speech, articulation, and language. If you are at all concerned that your child does not meet some of these criteria, I highly recommend you make an appointment with Garth Schindel. Not all children who see the speech therapist will be given PUF funding, but Garth is highly skilled and will be able to give you lots of ideas to help your child in every area pertaining to speech and language.