Week 2, 2017

Dear Parents,

We have completed our first full week of school! The children are transitioning well to the morning routine and we have focused on learning each others names and classroom procedures and guidelines. There is a lot to cover this week so please bare with me!

1. Curriculum night is Wednesday August 30th starting at 6. There will be three sessions running from 6:00-6:40, 6:40-7:20 and 7:20-8:00. Mrs. Robinson and I are asking that if at all possible you attend the first 2 sessions so we may attend our own children's classroom meeting the third session. Admin will be available during each session to answer specific CSD curriculum questions. Please plan to arrange for childcare for your child during this time. 
2. School pictures are being taken next Wednesday. 
3. Please read Leslie's email regarding homework. We will be sending home books each night that you can read to your child. These are to be returned the next day. You do not need to record these in a reading log. 
4. Thank you for labeling snack separately. Please encourage your child to open containers and baggies at home, to clean up after themselves and put items away. We have started doing all of these self help skills in kindergarten and it is so helpful when it is reinforced at home. 
5. During curriculum night we will go over schedule, field trips and volunteers in the classroom. 
6. Your child started specials this week. Music with Mrs. Shutt, Art with Mrs. Tiasia, PE with Ms. Nancy and Spanish with Ms. Ruby!  

Readers Workshop:

This week has mainly been about routine and procedure but we have had fun learning nursery rhymes. We have recited them in different voices (a class favorite), made books and made rhyming words from the stories. We made a cracked Humpty Dumpty and discussed how we would put Humpty back together again. We have been matching upper and lower case letters, digging for eggs in the sensory table to find the correct upper and lower case match. We have built walls for Humpty to fall from.  We have been sequencing the stories as well as reading different versions of the classic nursery rhyme. The children have also participated in partner reading.

Writers workshop:
I introduced them to their handwriting book. We worked on letter F with pencils, play-dough and chalk. The children also drew pictures that started with letter F.

Science:

This week, we predicted what would happen if Humpty fell from the wall to the ground using an egg and a hard boiled egg.

Math centers:
Our main focus this week was exploring math manipulatives. The children also used 1:1 correspondence when matching numbers to groups up to 12.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Hazlett

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Hello!

This blog will be updated weekly with all of the fun activities we do each week and the curriculum we learn (and occasionally a few pictures). There will be some weeks it will not be updated due to holiday's, a crazy week etc. but my goal is to send out an update every single week by Friday. Please check this each week as it will have important announcements!

I thought I would send this first blog out with a note saying hello and thank you all for a great first week! Your support has been outstanding. The first week of kindergarten can be super overwhelming and rough for the kiddos and they have all done exceptionally well! Thank you to everyone who has donated things to our classroom already. Our outside field toys, play dough mats and magna-tiles (and all of the other supplies and items that have been donated) are helping us start our year off great!

I also wanted to send a few reminders and let you all know that I have officially started my maternity leave! If my little guy does not come on his own this weekend, he will be evicted some time early next week. :) I will send another update with pictures once he finally decides to join the world. Mrs. Hazlett and Mrs. Robinson are set up for a successful 12 weeks without me, but I will definitely come in for an occasional lunch and recess. I will also plan to be at the fairy tale play that will happen sometime this fall (date TBA). If you need anything within these next 12 weeks, please email Mrs. Hazlett (jhazlett@csdspartans.org) as I will not be checking my email very often. I plan to return to school November 13th!

Reminders:

1. Please send your child to school wearing tennis shoes every single day! This is a school rule that we take very seriously as we are super active each day. We need everyone wearing socks and tennis shoes each day so that we all stay safe!
2. If you haven't sent in your child's head shot and extra pair of clothes, please do so by Monday.
3. Your child will be coming home with a blue folder every night. This is our main form of communication each day. It's also how your child will deliver all of their important papers and classwork to you. Please check it and empty if every night. If you need to send us a note, you can place it in the folder as well because we check these every morning.
4. Starting Monday, your child will get to pick a "take home" book. You get to keep this book for one night only. This is a book that you read to them that afternoon/evening. In the beginning of kindergarten, your child's only "homework" is to read with you and PLAY! Of course, if your child gets home and does not want you to read that book, that is totally fine. He/she can pick a book from home for you to read. This just gives you one more book to choose from.
5. If your child is going to be absent from school due to sickness, vacation etc.. please email attendance@csdspartans.org and CC Mrs. Hazlett (and me when I return to school). This applies to every form of absence except the eclipse day. If you are going to keep your child home on Monday the 21st, then you were supposed to fill out the form sent via email last week. Let me know if this is confusing/does not make sense. 

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!
Hugs,
Mrs. Schultz