Kindergarten News
September 2, 2010
I just wanted to get a 'short' newsletter to you before the long weekend to let you know how our first few days in Kindergarten have been. I know that arrival on the first day was kind of hectic, and that is very normal. To organize 20 students and start them into our routine can get kind of crazy. I'm sure some of you had a certain 'picture' in your mind of how your child's first day walking into Kindergarten should be (I did!), and then you enter a room full of chaos! We have some changes this year to adjust to also. Our new lunch program has us doing things a bit differently along with adjusting our morning break time to accommodate the preschoolers that will be arriving next week. We have made a few changes in the routine already, and the children seem to be doing well. I seem to be the one having the difficulty! Mrs. Carroll and I are enjoying getting to know them.
I plan to have an updated newsletter posted weekly and will inform you by e-mail when it changes. I will do this on our current school website until the school changes over to the Edline site. You will be notified of this change, and information concerning, in the near future.
There are a few things that I would like to inform you of:
So far, the morning arrival has been great. If your child arrives before 7:40, he or she should go to the cafeteria. At 7:40, a teacher will escort them as a group to the classroom. After 7:40, they can come straight to the room. There is always a teacher or other staff member at the door to greet them and direct them to the correct place. If your child arrives after 8:00 AM, you MUST accompany them to the building and check them in at the office. Also, if for any reason you need to accompany your child to our classroom, you need to sign in at the front office and get a visitor pass.
The children are taken to the bathroom, as a group, during snack time, before lunch, after lunch, after rest time and once more before the end of the day. If your child needs to go at another time, we must escort them down to the bathroom. We know that there are emergencies, but sometimes just the suggestion of a trip to the bathroom can cause an 'epidemic' of bathroom needs. So, we encourage them to 'try' every time we take them as a group.
Please dress your child in comfortable play clothes. Starting next week, we will be walking up and down the steps to go to Music an Library, therefore, I must ask you to send your child to school in sturdy shoes, such as sneakers. Please, no sandals or slippery dress shoes and certainly, no clogs! Sneakers are your best bet, because if it is raining and we are unable to go outdoors, we can use the gym (if available). The children are only allowed to play in the gym in sneakers. This is a school wide policy; in fact, the school has relaxed the uniform code to accommodate this. WE are also encouraging independence (with 24 little ones, it is a necessity!), so please make sure that your choice of clothing enables your child to be independent.
GYM DAY IS THURSDAY, PLEASE DRESS YOUR CHILD APPROPRIATLEY. GYM UNIFORMS ARE NOT NEEDED IN KINDERGARTEN, BUT THEY ARE TO WEAR SNEAKERS.
Please try to send with your child enough napkins, spoons and straws for the day, for morning snack and if he or she is packing lunch that day. We would like the children drinking milk to use a straw, this cuts down on spills. We do have a supply in the classroom, but these are for when you forget. We are unable to supply all of the children with a napkin and straw all of the time.
Also, our new lunch program can be a little confusing for us at times. Please review with your child what he or she has packed for snack, if they have a lunch packed, and what they are to eat for lunch. If they are buying a lunch, try to go over the menu with them and determine what they may like to buy. We are trying to work out a system to keep all running as smoothly as possible.
We had a great discussion about rules and as a result, have developed a set of rules for our class. All of the children were encouraged to participate in the discussion for developing them. We agreed on the following set of rules:
In order to help everyone follow our rules, I an introducing our Positive reinforcement and Discipline for the classroom. The plan is as follows: We have and empty plastic jar in front of the room that will have 'pom-poms' dropped into it every time the class, group or individual is caught following the rules. When the jar is full, we will do something fun as a class. I would like to fill this jar at least once a month. Ask your child how many pompoms the class has earned so far.
Our discipline plan is based on the 1-2-3 Magic program. We have a small sign in the front of the room that looks like a traffic light. Each child has a clothespin with his or her name written on it. If we break a rule, the child's clip is placed on the green circle. This is a friendly reminder. IF the child breaks a rule again, the clip moves to the yellow circle. If the child breaks a rule for the third time, their clip moves to the red circle and they have a 5-minute time out. If a child has 2 time outs in a day, or I see a pattern of behavior, I will contact you. At the end of the day, the slate is wiped clean and we start all over again. We would be grateful for your support and reinforcement at home. This has been used in the Kindergarten classroom for the past few years and it has worked out fine. This is all to ensure that we have a safe and happy environment in our classroom.
Specials will start next week.
Music and French are on Monday (this will start week of September 13)
Gym is on Thursday (remember your sneakers!)
Library is on Wednesday
We need a parent to take care of our scholastic book orders for the class. You would be in charge of collating and stapling the order forms (which are sent to me here at school) with a note for the due date and sending them to school to be distributed to the class. As the orders are returned to our room, I will collect and then send them home to you. At that point, you will log on to Scholastic website and place the orders. When the orders come in, if you are able to come into school, check the order in and then organize to be distributed to those who ordered. We usually send home an order during the school months except November and March. In those months, the school will be sponsoring a book fair. Please let me know if you are able to volunteer for this task.
We also need parent classroom volunteers for the school year. These are needed every other week or once a month from 8 am until 12 pm. All days are still available. This helper will need to have all Youth Protection Clearances before they can start. If you need more info, please just let me know.
Please return your emergency form to the school. Also, the 'Diocesan Student Accident Insurance' form MUST be returned for every student, weather you plan to purchase insurance or not. Please print your child's name on the form, indicate weather or not you will be purchasing the insurance on the form, and sign it. We must keep track and make sure that we have one from every student (Diocesan policy), so if you receive another one in the near future, please complete it and return it to the school. We did have some students return the form, but without a name.
UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER
Well, so much for my 'short' newsletter! Thank you for your time and for all of your donations to the classroom.
Mrs. Lyden