Friday, September 24, 2010

Kindergarten News
September 27-October 1, 2010

Weekly Theme:

Colors/Shapes

Parent Volunteers
I will let you know for sure the week we will begin our centers. It will probably the week after SEP Week, but I will contact you to confirm the date. Thank you so much for your help!

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

During SEP Week, October 4-8, we will not be having individual appointments for kindergarten students because of our assessments in August. However, it you have concerns and you want to meet with me, I would love to do that. Please just let me know. I may call some of you as well. Remember that the students will be dismissed early, allowing me to more effectively plan and prepare our curriculum to meet the needs of your children. Students will be dismissed every day at 10:35 for the AM students and 2:30 for PM students, even on Wednesday for that week. PM students attend from 12:45-2:30—NOT the usual 11:45-1:30. Extended Day students will stay until 2:30 as well.

Your child will bring his/her pre-assessment and DIBELS scores home in the homework folders on Monday, Oct. 4th. Again, if you have questions or concerns about anything, I would love to talk to you about them. You may call or e-mail any time and we can set up an appointment.

Thank you for your support at home! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
linda.wood@ironmail.org
ginger.ekker@ironmail.org
586-2850

Friday, September 17, 2010

Kindergarten News
September 20-24, 2010

Weekly Theme:

Friendship/Feelings/Autumn

Early Literacy Idea
Help your child understand how books work. (Concepts of print) As you read, point to words to show left to right, spaces between words, and the word patterns.

SEPTEMBER

We are excited for our Field Trip on Monday! We will travel to Wood’s Ranch to look for signs of Autumn, which goes along with our theme for this week. Please send a sack lunch and have your child wear good walking shoes.

Last week we talked about the letters E and F. Your child should be able to recognize them, tell you the sounds they make and write them correctly. We also learned the sight word can. This week we will work on the letters G and H and learn the sight words like and look. We have also been working very hard on forming the numbers correctly. Thanks again for your help and encouragement at home.

There is an exciting free opportunity for all children in our community on Friday and Saturday. Keve Wilson, a touring artist and Broadway musician living in New York City will be presenting music demonstrations and discussions for families (kids get to try out the instruments). These events are very relaxed, enjoyable and kid friendly. Friday at 3:30 is a master class and a question and answer session. Saturday at 10:30--“Music Unwrapped”; 2:30--Open Rehearsal and 7:30--concert. All events are in the Thorley Recital Hall.

As always, please feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions or concerns!

linda.wood@ironmail.org
ginger.ekker@ironmail.org
586-2850

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Kindergarten News
September 13-17, 2010

Weekly Theme:

Friendship/Feelings/Autumn

Names
I would love it if you could help me reinforce the fact that our names (with one or two exceptions) start with a capital and all the rest of the letters are lowercase. If your child is used to using all capitals, this is a hard habit to break, but I know if we work together we can do it!

SEPTEMBER


We are making great progress in kindergarten! Thank you for your support at home. We are focusing on alphabet letters at this time. Your child should recognize all 26 letters—both capital and lower case by the middle of November. In addition, he/she should be able to write them correctly. I appreciate you taking the time to reinforce how to form the letters correctly on the homework assignments. Parent involvement is such an important part of their success, so thanks again for making sure their homework is complete and reading to them on a daily basis. Just 15 minutes a day can make a huge difference! We have learned the sight words me, see, I. We have started working on numerals 0-10.

As always, please feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions or concerns!

linda.wood@ironmail.org
ginger.ekker@ironmail.org
586-2850

Friday, September 3, 2010

Kindergarten News
September 6-10, 2010


Weekly Theme:
“All About Me”/Self-Esteem

Save your Box Tops!
Please remember to send in box tops with your child. Each box top is worth 10 cents for our school, so tell your relatives and friends to help with the collecting too! Help our class earn a reward by bringing the box tops in.

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER

We had a great first week of school! We have worked hard on establishing a routine and effective classroom management skills so optimal learning will occur with each child. Let me explain how our classroom management works. If a student is disrupting the rest of the class and needs a reminder of the rules, he/she gets a clothespin on the green stop light at the front of our room. This is just a reminder. If he/she needs two reminders, the clothespin goes to yellow and five minutes of recess is missed. If three reminders are needed, he/she sits on the “thinking chair” in my office, away from the other children. After a few minutes, I visit with him/her and ask if they are ready to join the class. If the problem persists, he/she will visit Mr. Oldroyd and it will be determined if the Skills Building program is needed. Your child will bring a paper home for you to sign if he/she was on the yellow or red stoplight. You will also receive a phone call from me if your child was on red so we can discuss how we can work together to improve your child’s behavior.

This week we have practiced the correct way to write the letters A and B and what sounds they make and have worked on many educational activities. Please continue to reinforce having your child write their name using a capital for the first letter and all the rest lower case. Thank you!

linda.wood@ironmail.org
ginger.ekker@ironmail.org
586-2850