Aug 26-30

Well, it's official!  Your child is a kindergartner!  What a successful (albeit hot) first full week we had!

Much time was spent going over classroom and building expectations.  A few of the rules were sent home hard copy.  I hope you can refer to them as the school year progresses to check in with your child.

Our big focus this week has been centered around the names of each student.  We read From Anne to Zach and created our first class book.  We have sung songs that incorporated each child's name and we have sorted them according to the first letter.

We are beginning our Jolly Phonics program.  Each day a new sound is presented with a story, a song ,and a practice sheet.  The practice sheet will come home daily.  Have your child say the sound and practice the action that goes with it.  Seven small books will be brought home in the next couple of months.  Please look for them and have your child practice the sounds for you.

Math has been full of explorations.  We are getting to know some of the materials we will use often such as the pattern blocks and unifix cubes.  As the children explore and create with the materials, I am encouraging "math talk" among each other.  It is exciting to share with and learn from your peers.  We are talking about numbers:  different ways they can be represented, what the number amount looks like, and how they differ from other numbers.  Laying this foundation is extremely important to build a strong number sense.

Thank you for sending your child rested and prepared for the school day.  I am noticing quite a lot of folders coming back to school with papers in them from the day before.  Please take the papers out DAILY even if you set them aside to read later.  This will help keep the students more organized with that day's work.  Also, please make sure that snack is packed in a pocket of your child's backpack, separate from lunch.  Your child can quickly put his or her lunch in the bin at arrival time.  I really appreciate your help with this.

I hope you all have a great long weekend and look forward to cooler temperatures next week!