Kindergarten

November 2011 Newsletter

Thank you for a wonderful conference week!

We loved bragging about your children and sharing with you all of their exciting growth!

 

Important Dates:  

*Sunday November 6 -- Daylight Savings Time Ends

*Tuesday November 8 -- Election Day - Student Holiday

*Friday, November 11 – Veteran’s Day – We will study this holiday in class.

*Monday November 14 – Friday November 18   Pickle Patch Book Fair

*Tuesday, November 15 – Kindergarten Thanksgiving lunch with parents and grandparents.  You will be notified of the time your child’s class will go to lunch.  COME EARLY!  Each class has only 30 minutes for lunch, and the parking can be a problem!

*Monday November 21 – Friday November 25 - Thanksgiving Holidays – No School

 

 

CHARACTER KEY KID AWARDS

Congratulations to our Key Kids for the month of October.  Great job demonstrating Honesty! 

Our character word for November is “Thankfulness – Appreciate what you have.”

 

 

CURRICULUM - The Big Picture for the Second Nine Weeks:

MATH:                          

Recognition, values, and fair trades with pennies, nickels, and dimes, (10 pennies for a dime.)  Practice with your child  counting coin values using nickels and pennies together, (counting by fives for the nickels, then switching to counting by ones for the pennies.)

Recognition of circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles, cubes, spheres.

Identify missing elements in a pattern. 

 

LANGUAGE ARTS:   

 Read all 20 caterpillar words.

Identify all 26 capital and lower case letter names.

Identify and produce 23 consonant letter sounds.  These include the two sounds of Cc, (“k” and “s”,) and the two sounds of Gg (“g” and “j.”)

Segment syllables in spoken words.  Have your child clap each syllable in words, (example:  Oc-to-ber)

Write all capital and lower case letters introduced so far correctly using top, mid, and base lines. 

 

Please continue to read to your child every night.  Be sure to ask questions afterward.  Here are examples:  “What happened at the beginning, in the middle, at the end?”  “Who was/were the main character(s)?”  “Where was the setting of the story?”  “Was this make believe, (fiction) or true, (non-fiction)?”  This will begin to prepare them for the critical thinking they will need in future grades.

 

Begin teaching your child reasoning skills by thinking out loud when you solve a problem.  “If we take the back roads we can avoid the traffic on the interstate.”  “If we add another can of corn we can be sure there is enough for everyone.”  “If we buy a larger package it may be cheaper, but will we be able to use it before it goes bad?”  These skills don’t come automatically, and can really help your child make good choices and good decisions.

 

 

THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO!

October 2011 Newsletter

  


Important Dates:

*Saturday, October 1^st—Saturday School begins. 

*Monday, October 3^rd—Conference Letters go home. Please sign and return.

*Tuesday, October 18^th—11:30 Parent Lunch & Learn Session

*Friday, October 21^st—5:00-8:00 Fall Festival & Art Show

*Oct. 24-28—EARLY DISMISSAL & PARENT CONFERENCES (Dismissal 2 hours early)

 

CHARACTER KEY KID AWARDS

Each month, kindergarten teachers recognize two students from each class who exemplify the character word of the month. At the end of September, 16 students were awarded certificates and buttons for showing “responsibility.” If your child wins a character award, BE PROUD! Not every child will win an award, so winning is a big deal. Winners are recognized in front of the entire grade level, and also get to eat lunch with the principal!  Way to go to our September Key Kids!

 

The character word for the month of October is “honesty.”  Sixteen more students will be rewarded at the end of the month for demonstrating this important characteristic!

 

Sedalia Park 101 - Parent Information Session

October 18th - 10-11:00 am Instructional Room #2

Meet with our school staff to go over important information included in the school handbook. 

 

CURRICULUM - The Big Picture for the First Nine Weeks:

MATH:  

1. Our most challenging Math focus this first nine weeks is recognizing numbers 0-10, as well as making and counting sets from 0-10.  For example: when shown a number your child needs to be able to say “that is the number six!” and then count out 6 items.  When given a set of items your child also needs to be able to count them and then be able to write the number to match the set.  This sounds pretty simple, but many students still struggle with this.  Any extra practice you give your child at home is always appreciated!  Make it fun…remember anything you have around the house can be counted! 

2. Your child will also be assessed in October on ordinal numbers…first through tenth.  So, when shown a line of objects they should able to point to each when given an ordinal in random order. 

3. Your child will also be assessed at the end of the grading period on the name and value of a penny and nickel. Your child will also need to know that we can trade 5 pennies for 1 nickel.  You can make it fun at home!! Give your child 10 pennies and let them "buy" items for less than 10 cents. If you sell them an item for 5 cents talk with them about using 5 pennies or 1 nickel.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

1. **At the end of this first nine week period your child is expected to know at least 15 capital letters and at least 15 lowercase letters as well as be able to read 10 caterpillar words. Any extra practice at home is always appreciated! The Caterpillar word list is attached to our K webpage.**

2. Please have your child practice writing his/her first name. Kindergarteners are expected to write their first names beginning with a capital letter followed by all lowercase letters on the lines. If you feel that your child’s fine motor skills are weak here are some suggestions:

    • Draw a shape, a number, or our letter of the week on a sheet of construction paper. Have your child use a hole puncher to punch holes while staying on the lines.

    • Mold shapes or letters using clay or play dough.

3. Reading to your child every night is a wonderful way to strengthen their reading and comprehension skills...plus it is so much fun! 

 

THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO!