In celebration of the impending end of the school year, we at Sudbury.com decided to do something fun — we sent Sudbury.com editor Mark Gentili back to kindergarten.
This isn’t as much of a stretch as it might seem — those who know him well know our middle-aged editor (sorry Mark) is definitely still a kid at heart, and can sometimes seem like he’s in kindergarten.
Too bad he doesn’t have his plastic 1980s Hulk lunch box set anymore.
We recently visited teacher Tracy Windover’s kindergarten classroom at Redwood Acres Public School in Hanmer, where Gentili enjoyed playtime, literacy and math lessons. We were warmly welcomed, and Gentili’s new “classmates” seemed to enjoy having a new huge student in class.
Windover explained how the two-year kindergarten curriculum is very student-led, following the kids’ interests, one of which right now is bugs and caterpillars. She said every activity in kindergarten has a purpose.
Gentili, who’s a very advanced reader for a kindergartener, led Windover’s class in a reading of a poem called “Fuzzy Little Caterpillar,” and then joined the kids in acting out the poem.
Future kindergarteners are invited to take part in the board’s Kindergarten Camp from Aug. 26-29 at all Rainbow District School Board elementary schools. Register for the program by June 24 online here.
If you’d like to register your child for school, there is still time to do so. The Rainbow board invites parents to contact their local school to register. The first day of school is Sept. 3.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.