SAFETY

Teach your child to be responsible for their own safety. The Kindergarten entry door is always locked.  During good weather, students wait outside our door until the first bell rings. I greet them as they come in. In poor weather, I will open the door and let the children come in. Talk about the daily routine you will follow coming to and from school.  Practice this routine and show them where to meet you, siblings or friends.  If your child understands the procedures, they will feel comfortable coming to and going home from school.  After Kindergarten, I dismiss the children out the north door and wait with them until they are picked up. Please remember to park your car and walk to pick up your child.

SUPPLIES NEEDED

Please bring: a two-pocket-folder, and a back pack that it will fit in.  You need to check the back pack and folder each day.  We check folders each day and they can be a communication link to you as parents.  Help your child find a special place to keep their back pack and folder so they can learn to take responsibility for the homework, notes and papers in their backpack.

 

READING

Our reading program is published by McGraw Hill.  I find that it is a very balanced approach.  Our basic daily reading schedule is:

·         Message Time

·         Letter of the day, blending and sight word routines

·         Shared literature

·         Writing

·         Guided reading and independent literacy activities

MATH

In math we focus on the math process standards: Problem solving, Communication, Connections, and Representation.  Each day for math we follow this basic outline:

·         Learn a concept

·         Practice with manipulatives

·         Paper and pencil practice

·         Calendar and math review

 

UNIT TIME

Science, social studies, health and the arts are integrated with our reading and math curriculum.  We will cover topics relating to SELF, COMMUNITY, and WORLD.  Some examples of topics covered are: personal health, families, five senses, maps, animals, safety, weather, nutrition, and geology.

 

SPECIALISTS

Our school specialists give us wonderful and enriching opportunities. Monday-Library, Tuesday-STEM Project 21, Wednesday-PE, Thursday-Computer lab

 

FOOD EXPERIENCES

We like to use our senses to learn!  We cook, follow recipes, count, group, and taste things related to the topic of study.  Most of these experiences will be on Friday.  We will not have a daily snack. Make a $15 contribution to the food experience fund. You can make a payment online or pay it to the secretary. Please designate it for the Kindergarten fund.

 

NEWSLETTER

Each week I send home a newsletter to keep you aware of upcoming events, our unit of study, and what we are working on.

 

MYSTERY BOX

This lunch box travels around our room from student to student.  When it is your child’s turn, choose an item to go in the box.  This experience is meant to build oral language skills and to be educational.  So, help your child choose something that relates to our weekly theme or a letter we are discussing. Please do not send toys to school.

 

MESSAGE TIME

Each day we have message time as we come in and start the day.  Your child may share a short message with us.  It could be about something fun they did or have planned, they lost a tooth etc.  During this time, we play word games and build vocabulary.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

On or near your child’s birthday, as we get ready to leave, we will sing to your child and your child will choose a birthday book at the end of the day.  You may send a treat if you like. Please be sure it is individually wrapped and can be put into a back pack to take home. We will celebrate August birthdays in August. June and July birthdays the last day of school.

 

VOLUNTEER                                                                

Research shows that your involvement directly influences your child’s achievement at school.  We need help with food experiences, literacy time, math, art, computers, and work to be done at home.  Be sure to sign up. We have big classes this year and your help will be more valuable than ever.

 

COMMUNICATION

 The best way to communicate with me and get a quick answer is through email – nbittner@dsdmail.net We will also communicate through Classdojo, So join to see what we are doing.