A Few Reminders

The following are some important reminders:

* Homework is sent home every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night. It should be completed neatly and in pencil and returned the following day.
* Please send in a snack each day with your child.
* Practice sight words each night (they were sent home last week, if you have misplaced them please send a note into school and I will send home a new pack)
*Take a look at the bottom of your child’s math worksheet each night. There you will find some ways to practice the lesson at home with your child to reinforce what they were taught in school.
*Practice letter recognition with your child. You can use the blue flashcards that I sent home in the Friday Folder. We have also learned the sounds for letters A,B,C,D,and E so please practice that at home as well.
* Your child should be able to correctly write his/her first name by the first week of October. You can use the name strip that was sent home to help your child write it correctly.

Fun With Patterns

This week in Math we began Chapter 2, patterns. We have been practicing movement and sounds patterns. In the picture Vai and Joshua are using instruments to demonstrate an AB pattern. Today we practiced making simple AB patterns using snap cubes. Within the next few days we will be learning about AAB, ABB, and ABC patterns. Patterning will be assessed on the report card. Remember to look over your child's Math worksheet each night as it contains some at home activities you can do to reinforce skills learned in class.

We Are Off To A Great Start!

I am happy to say that the first few weeks of school are going very well! The students have adapted to the daily routines and they seem to be adjusting well to the full day of school. In Language Arts, we have been working on the letters A-O. We are also learning the sight words “a”, “I”, “am”, "the", and "little." Please continue to practice the sight words each night. Once your child knows all of the words from Unit 1 please return them to school so your child can be tested. We are also learning about rhyming words, syllables, characters and setting. In Math, we are talking about the words: top, middle, bottom, above, below, over, under, in, out, right and left. We have just finished Chapter 1 and we will begin Chapter 2 tomorrow; patterns. In Writing, we are practicing correctly writing all of the letters in the alphabet and first names. We are also practicing holding pencils/crayons correctly, coloring inside the lines, and cutting. The picture above is Olivia practicing her cutting skills.

Welcome To My Class

It was very nice meeting so many of you at kindergarten orientation! I thought the afternoon went well and I am really excited to begin working with your child. Although you received several handouts at orientation, I have even more papers that will be coming home in your child's folder the first few days of school. Try not to be overwhelmed with all of the new information. Just take the time to read everything carefully and feel free to contact me with any questions. Make sure your child gets plenty of rest tonight and have them eat breakfast before coming to school tomorrow. I have a busy day planned with a lot of fun activities!

Reminder

I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Kindergarten is just around the corner so I wanted to remind you to practice all of the material in the Kindergarten packet you received at Kindergarten testing. In case you did not receive the packet here are some things you should be working on with your child:

• Writing his/her first name (making only the first letter capital)
• Writing numbers and letters
  
• Capital and lowercase letter recognition (all 52)
  
• Number recognition 1-10
• Shape and color identification

Kindergarten Orientation Information

I have created a podcast which contains detailed information regarding the August 20th kindergarten orientation. Please click on the link on the right titled "Kindergarten Orientation 2009" to listen to the podcast.

Summer Vacation

I hope everyone's having a great summer vacation. I'm enjoying my summer. I spent some time in Ocean City, Maryland (that's the sunset over the bay above) and also Atlantic City. I've also been spending time at my cabin at the Poconos where I enjoy fishing and kayaking. In addition to going on vacation and relaxing, I've been taking classes that will count towards my Master's degree in classroom technology. Remember to mark your calendar on August 20th for kindergarten orientation. I will post more information on this later in the summer.