Welcome to the KB web page!

September 7 - 10, 2010

Mrs. Shelley Zabroske, Teacher
Mrs. Marcia Connell, Aide
Mrs. Gina Bowman, Aide

Morning Meeting

During morning meeting we learn about the calendar, weather, temperature, money, tallying, schedule for the day, and the children get their jobs for the day. Every child has a job every day. Be sure to ask your child what their job was for the day.

The first week of school we worked on our routines. The children learned routines for the bathroom, snack, walking in the hallway, recess, centers, entering the classroom, lunch, asking questions, lining up, and many more.

We took a tour of the first floor and practiced a fire drill. This coming week we will begin our specials. The children will have Physical Education, Music, Library and French once a week. Sometime next month we will begin our Computer class.

Save the Date

On Friday, September 24th we will have our first field trip to Peter's Orchard in Gardners, PA. The children will ride the bus, listen to a lesson on apples, pick apples, and a pumpkin. More information to follow soon. All are invited to come, there may be room on the bus for some but all are welcome to drive or carpool to the orchard.

Morning Arrival

Please make sure your child wears their travel name tag to school each day.

When your child comes into the classroom they remove their travel name tag and clip on the school name tag. I know all their names but the other teachers and office staff do not and some children become shy when they are asked.

Please send the folder back to school everyday. That is how we send home information to you and you send information to us. Your child should take it out and place it in the folder crate after he/she gets the name tag on.

If your child arrives before 7:40 they should go to the cafeteria and sit with the other kindergarteners. If your child arrives after 7:40 they can go directly to the KB classroom. If your child arrives after 8 a.m. they must be accompanied by an adult and go to the office for a late slip. If you have to accompany your child to the classroom you must stop by the office and sign in and get a visitors pass.

Bathroom Breaks

The children are taken to the bathroom as a group before snack, after lunch (which is right before rest), when they get up from rest, and if they have to, before dismissal. We encourage them to try to go when we go as a group. We know that there are times that are not in the 'schedule' when they have to go and of course they are allowed to go. But we would like to cut down on those times because they can cause an 'epidemic' of children thinking they need to go. Once you hear someone is going to the bathroom you can't help it and you think you have to go too! So as stated above, we encourage them to 'try' when we go as a group to cut down on the 'epidemics'. Otherwise, we might be in the bathroom all day!

Appropriate Clothing and Shoes

This week we will begin our specials and the children must have sneakers for Gym class every Thursday beginning this week. They do not need a uniform but should have appropriate clothing for gym. We will be traveling up to the second floor for specials and your child should be wearing safe shoes. Clogs, Crocs, sandals, and dressy shoes with slippery soles are not safe. Shoes that tie or Velcro onto the foot are safe.

Snack and Lunch

Please send your child with enough napkins, spoons, forks, straws for morning snack and afternoon lunch (if they are full day). If your child will be purchasing lunch please try to review the lunch menu with him/her so he/she will have some idea of what will be chosen for lunch.

Class Rules

Our class rules are simple and positive. 1) Keep your hands and feet to yourself 2) Listen 3) Walk 4) Raise your hand. I will begin a individual positive reinforcement chart this week with the children. Each child will have an index card with their name on it and when they are caught setting a good example and following the rules they will get a star on their chart. The whole class can get a star when they receive a compliment from an adult, e.g., music teacher, gym teacher, Sr. Michael Ann, etc. When they get 5 stars they will get to choose a prize from the prize box.

Forms

Please return the emergency form if you have not already done so. The Diocesan Accident Insurance form must also be returned whether or not you choose to purchase the insurance. I looked for a place on the form to say 'I do not want the insurance.' I could not find a place that said that so I just wrote on the form, I do not want to purchase and signed my name.

This web page will be updated every week. In my perfect world I would be able to update it by Friday afternoon, but realistically it is usually completed Saturday or definitely by Sunday so you can have some idea of what is going on for the upcoming week and what we did the previous week. I will send out a group e-mail to let you know when it is completed.

Weekly Schedule and Important Dates

Friday, September 3rd - No School

Monday, September 6th - No School, Labor Day

Tuesday, September 7th - School Resumes, No Specials

Wednesday, September 8th - Library

Thursday, September 9th - Gym, wear sneakers

Friday, September 10th - No specials

Friday, September 29th - Field Trip to Peter's Orchard, 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., more information to follow

October 1st - No school for kindergarten students, Parent Conference for EPSF screening

I feel we had a wonderful 1st week of school. The children are so precious and it is so nice to see new friendships being made. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each and everyone of the children. We are going to have a wonderfully fun, learning packed year. Thank you for all the donation items and for helping your child to transition to school so smoothly. This week we are literally 'cracking the books' now that we have a lot of the routines started. You will see pages from the books in their folders. Please empty the folder each night. Please know that when you see a workbook page completed that it was part of an entire lesson. The kindergarteners will be using manipulatives, listening to a story, acting out ideas, singing songs, saying poems, using white boards, moving around the room, searching for items in the room, doing 'think, pair, share,' matching, sorting, classifying by attributes, tallying, reading, working together in a group to problem solve, the list could go on forever. Workbook pages have a place but should always be accompanied by age appropriate activities.

If you have any questions you can e-mail me at szabroske@sjsmch.org or call the school at 766-2564 and leave message.

Thank you for all you do for your child and for sending him/her to SJS!

Sincerely,

Shelley Zabroske