Hello, Everyone!
We are off to a great start in room 14! Your children are happy and excited about all the new things we have been learning. I will send you classroom newsletters, regularly, to keep you informed of the skills and topics I introduce to your children. Many of these skills will become part of our daily routine. Our routine will grow in complexity as the children show me they are ready.
So, please be patient, and do not hesitate to ask me questions or express your concerns. Since I am always supervising your children I may not be able to respond during the school day, but will certainly call you as soon as I can after school or in the evening. Kindergarten Orientation Packets: If you have not yet received and read these, please send me a note in your child’s Home Folder and I will make sure I send them home. Please read and review our Family Handbook on the PPS Website.
Bus / Dismissal Cards: Your help is needed for me to get your child home or to daycare, safely. Please be sure that your child’s card is secured to the outside of his/her backpack every day. I do keep an updated list of where your child is to be delivered as well as the correct bus number he/she should take to get that location; it helps for teaching assistants and bus drivers to be able to see that information attached to your child’s backpack, in case a question comes up or there is any kind of change. Thank you for your patience with our approximate pick-up and drop-off times. These times will become much more regular over the next two weeks. Remember, your child’s bus driver will not drop your child off if there is no adult to greet her/him. They will bring your child safely back to school and we will try to reach you by phone so that you may come to school and pick up your child at the office.
That’s our first rule: BE SAFE.
We’ve been learning how to walk safely in the classroom, how to sit in and move our chairs safely, how to line up safely, how to walk in the hallway, how to keep our hands at our sides, and most importantly, which things are safe to touch, which things are not safe to touch.
We practice using the playground equipment safely, every day, so we won’t get hurt.
LISTENING: Daily, we practice the five behaviors that help us listen to adult directions. We are very good at this, already.
FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS: We practice following all adult directions because we know these directions are meant to keep us safe.
Our second rule: BE RESPECTFUL
We practice cooperating with adult and classmates by using kind and caring words and actions. We practice being respectfulby being patient, taking care of ourselves and each other, and by taking care of our school materials as well as each other’s personal materials. We practice raising our hands and waiting to be called on before we speak in instructional settings; we practice how and who to ask for help.
Our third rule: BE READY TO LEARN
We practice trying new things a lot. Your child will gain confidence and feel successful as she/he learns new things. We practice doing our best to follow adult directions and school rules. This lets others learn, too. We practice taking turns. We practice being fair. Me, too! We practice using “indoor voices” and “outdoor voices”. We’ve been working on how to clean up after ourselves after snack time. Your children know that we do all these things so we can live, play, and learn happily, together, just like a family.
MATH:
We’ve made designs and patterns with pattern blocks and have learned that everything each person creates is valuable because it is unique. So, we’re learning that there is value in each others’ differences. This is a building block for developing respect.
We are practicing counting, one-to-one correspondence with the meaning of our numbers, and we have been counting the days we have been in school so that we can have a whole-school celebration on 100th Day!
We have been working on learning how to understand the Calendar and its workings. Lots of us know the “Days of the Week” song! We also graph the weather in a pie graph and a bar graph each day.
HOPES AND DREAMS:
Next week we’ll be working on identifying a learning goal for kindergarten- we call that “hopes and dreams”, Please send in a picture of your child with your family so that we can use these to display with our hopes and dreams. Thank you if you have already sent your picture in.
We are learning to do “Jobs”, and how to order breakfast or a snack drink. Please let your child know each morning whether she/he will need to order breakfast or a snack drink to go with the snack from home. Then, tell your child whether she/he needs to order hot lunch or has a cold lunch in the backpack.
We’ll also learn how to use and share many, many more classroom materials. Please know that embedded in all of these skills we’re singing songs, clapping chants, learning daily greetings, rhyming, learning each others’ names and learning which letter our own names begin with. We’re also learning about our families, pets, favorite colors, and which foods we like to eat. These games and discussions help us learn to categorize.
We have begun working on some fine motor skills such as how to hold crayons, markers and pencils, how to tie, zipping, and cutting with scissors. I hope that all of our children will be able to tie shoes by Thanksgiving! Please help us by practicing at home.
So, as you can see, we are very busy learning and caring for each other. We also have a classroom assistant, Mrs. Priscilla Hammond, each day, as well as our Foster Grandmother, Miss Joyce, three days per week. They are both great!
PARENT VOLUNTEERS: We love having you in our classroom. Here are some ways you can volunteer:
We need 2 room parents- your duties will mostly involve helping us to organize our Halloween, December Holidays and Valentine’s Day parties. Your job involves calling parents to donate party supplies.
We need many Emergent Literacy Volunteers to read one on one with children and help them pack their reading folders for home.
We need 2 Four Winds Science Program volunteers. This involves going to one lesson per month, then teaching that lesson to our class one time per month. This is a really fun, hands-on program. The students learn soooo much.
If you have time to spare, and can spend even a few minutes any day, please drop me a note about the volunteering that interests you and I will call you in the evening to make arrangements.
Dismissal Time: We have had many, many changes so far this year and it is difficult to keep up with all of the daily changes. Five and six year olds do best with consistency. Without it, they tend to develop unnecessary anxiety. Please try to arrange for your child to have the most consistent dismissal schedule as possible. Thanks for your help.
A FEW REMINDERS:
· Home Folders – These go back and forth to school every day. Please check them daily. Timely school notices will come home in these folders and I check them each day for notes, or forms from you.
· Please send in a picture of your child with her/his family if you have not done so already. Thanks!
· Please send an old t-shirt to use as a paint smock if you have not done so already.
· Please send in a change of clothes to keep in your child’s cubby. That way, if we do get wet, we can easily change.
- Our Classroom Library – You are invited to come in any time and borrow books from me. Sign them out on sticky notes that you’ll find on my desk. I encourage you to read to your child every evening.
- Indoor and Outdoor Clothing – My classroom tends to be overheated, even in winter; our playground tends to be windier than your yard. T-shirts and sweatshirts work well in these conditions.
- Guidance Counselor and Social Worker – Call the school anytime if you would like to set up a time to discuss any issues of concern for your child or your family. They are terrific resources!
- Friday, September 16th – Picture Day. Send your envelopes in anytime. It is o.k. to choose not to purchase school pictures, however, we do take a picture of each child to be kept in your child’s office file for safety and security reasons.
- Thursday, Sept. 29th @ 6:oo-7:30 p.m. – Open House - I hope to see all of my families! We have been working on some surprises to share with you!
- Scholastic Book Orders – Two times each month I’ll send home a book order form for you to browse. Please do not feel obligated to purchase books. Our libraries have plenty of books you may borrow for free. My goal is to provide your children with the opportunity to discover the joy of books as often as possible.
- Notes from home will get to me before any message left on my voice mail or e-mail. We are very busy! Thanks.
Have a wonderful week and let’s hope for sunny weather!
Sincerely,
Diane T.
Kindergarten Educator
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