Advent: Waiting Joyfully!

This past Sunday marks the beginning of Advent. Can your child point out the season of Advent on the liturgical calendar?

Advent is a time of joyful waiting. We are awaiting the birth of Christ!

As the Liturgical Seasons change, so does our prayer table. We changed our prayer cloth from green for Ordinary Time to purple for Advent. Can you see our wreath? We light one candle for each of the four Sundays in Advent. This week we lit the first candle. As we light more candles, our world becomes brighter, symbolizing our growing anticipation for Jesus, the light of our world!

Each morning we have a little Advent celebration, either at our weekly assembly or during Connection Time. 

Has your child mentioned our Shepherd? Each day we hunt for the Shepherd. He is hidden around our school and when we find him, his scripture message draws us closer to Jesus. 

As a school, we're getting our hearts, our classrooms, and our world ready for Jesus. Instead of just focusing on gifts or decorations, we are practicing virtues that help make a true home for our King. Each child made an Advent Promise by choosing a virtue or kind action and writing it on the “hay”. Together, we are doing our best to create a warm and loving place for baby Jesus.

As we journey towards Christmas, may we prepare our hearts with kindness as we joyfully await the birth of Christ!

Never the Same Day Twice!

Our Grade One class is likely the happiest place on earth! Our learning takes us in many directions and it is never the same day twice!

Here are just a few unique highlights we recently experienced:

Pani Lynne - Linking Generations 

We welcomed a special senior from our community through the Linking Generations program, which pairs classes with seniors to build meaningful relationships that benefit everyone.

Pani Lynne is a former teacher, active parishioner at OLPH, and all around lovely human! She read us a silly story, and then we read to her individually. She was dazzled by our new literacy skills!

We’re excited to welcome Pani Lynne most Wednesdays this school year for art projects, reading, numeracy games, and so much more. Her heart is so warm and I’m certain this is the beginning of a wonderful journey together!

Pumpkin the Dog

A special furry friend, Pumpkin, visits our school each week with his human, Miss Brittney. Pumpkin is a trained CAWWLS animal and the purpose of his visits is to promote positive mental health. We gently scratched and scritched Pumpkin as we took turns reading. We will learn about how we can take care of our own mental health throughout the year.

Vohon Performance

Today our students and staff attended Svitlo (“Light”), a Vohon dance presentation at the Jubilee Auditorium. We practiced being a respectful audience and were dazzled at the production, costumes, music and dance. This was a beautiful way to learn more about the rich Ukrainian culture and to take our learning into the community.

Grade one is truly a joyful place to learn. We love meeting new people, experiencing new opportunities, and growing together. If you or someone you know might be interested in connecting with our class to share a unique learning opportunity, definitely connect!

That's Where God Is

God is all around. We know He is always with us, but when we slow down and take a moment, we often notice His loving presence in new ways.

This week we read the book That's Where God Is. After reading, we took time to reflect on where we feel, see, hear, and notice God in our own lives.

The students wrote and drew their ideas, then created little posters to highlight the moments when they experience God. Their reflections were thoughtful, creative, and full of joy. It was beautiful to see how aware they are of God’s goodness in everyday life.

I hope these activities help all of us pause and remember that God is near, guiding and loving us in every moment.

Gentle Hands and Grateful Hearts: Remembrance Day

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be His hands and feet, bringing kindness, gentleness, and peace into the world. 

We shared the story Beautiful Hands and reflected on the question, “How can we use our hands to show kindness, gentleness, and peace?”

Then we created meaningful poppy art. The small muscles in our hands worked hard as we rolled and dipped tissue paper to bring our poppies to life.

Through our creativity we expressed gratitude and peace, remembering that we are called to be the hands of Christ. 

Today, our school gathered as a community to pray, to remember, and to give thanks for all who have worked and continue to work for peace. 

I hope that when the children look at the poppies pinned to their collars, they do so with deeper understanding and heartfelt gratitude. May we all use our hands to bring gentleness and peace into our world, for we are the hands of Christ.

Pattern Portraits

This week, we blended math and art to create Pattern Portraits! In art, we’ve been practicing how to draw people using shapes and adding details that bring them to life. Putting those skills to work, each student drew a self-portrait. No stick people, here!

Next, we created colorful backgrounds by gluing strips of paper into repeating designs. A pattern means something happens again and again…and again! Students loved seeing how their choices of colors and arrangements made each piece unique.

The final posters turned out amazing! Like I told the kids, “I don’t just like them, I LOVE them!”

Take a look at our wonderful Pattern Portrait creations below!

Walking the Path of Reconciliation

Understanding the true history of Canada begins by listening to the voices of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples. As part of our commitment to Reconciliation, we dedicated time to learn, reflect, and grow with open hearts.

Storytelling guided much of our learning. We went out on the land, and through the walking trail tale Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak, we connected our emotions with nature as we journeyed around the schoolyard.

The Cree story Awasis and the World-Famous Bannock inspired us to try making bannock ourselves! It was a fun way to measure, work as a team, and enjoy a tasty, traditional treat!

Inspired by the Cree calendar book When the Trees Crackle with Cold, we became “nature trappers,” noticing God's beauty around us with new eyes. 

One story that resonated with us was My Heart Fills with Happiness, written in both English and Plains Cree by a Canadian author and illustrator. It highlights the simple joys in life. We also paused to remember that many Indigenous children in Canada’s history, especially those who were taken from their families to residential schools, often did not have hearts filled with happiness. This made the message of the book even more powerful. After reflecting on what fills our own hearts with happiness, we let our creativity shine with water colour paints!

Reading Phyllis Webstad’s With Our Orange Hearts led to heartfelt conversations about belonging and the importance of every child feeling safe and valued. We crafted beautiful glowing orange lanterns.

Lighting them together in prayer at assembly today was a powerful moment of hope, remembrance, and unity.

Our journey of learning about reconciliation is just beginning. We look forward to continuing to grow in understanding together.

Our Morning Connection Time

Each morning we begin our day with Connection Time, a meaningful routine that allows us to gently ease into the day and prepare ourselves for our best learning.

We gather in a circle so everyone is seen and heard. 

1. Prayer and Land Acknowledgement

We always begin in prayer, remembering that God is at the center of all we do and all we are:
“Father in Heaven, I give You today, all that I think, and do, and say. Amen.”
Simple actions accompany our words, helping us to pray with both heart and body.

Following prayer, we share our acknowledgement of land and people.

2. Greetings
Eye contact and a warm hello set the tone for kindness and belonging. We practice different greetings (sometimes even silly ones) like the much-loved Stinky Shoe Hello!

3. News

Students are invited to share what is on their minds, whether joyful or hard. We’ve already heard about movie nights, lost teeth, camping trips, skating, and more!

4. Social Scenario Problem-Solving
To build problem-solving skills, students are presented with real-life social situations. In pairs, they brainstorm possible solutions, then come together as a group to discuss. Scenarios have included:

• You spill your yogurt drink on your pants

• A friend is crying at their desk, but you don’t know why

• You forgot your lunch at home

We talk about how some problems are "mouse problems" (smaller) or "elephant problems" (bigger), and how small problems don't require an elephant-sized reaction. 

6. Story
We end Connection Time with a story carefully chosen for its message.

Though full, Connection Time moves along and sets a joyful, intentional tone for the day. This time is valued, not only for the learning it supports but for the way it builds our relationships and helps us see Christ in one another.