Dear Parents,
We had a great first week of centers & sharing, and hopefully
homework is going well, too! Thanks so much to all our center helpers. I
appreciate your diligence in coming on time, working with the children,
and finding substitutes when you are unable to
come. All went very well last week!
Remember to send in your child's Blue Bag on Monday, with the
homework folder inside. No need to pull the homework folder out and
turn it in separately-- I go through all the bags and pull out the
homework. You will receive a new book and some new homework
again on Wednesday.
This week's sharing is book share. Remember, if you ever forget what
the share topic is (or I forget to mention it), it is marked on the
calendar on our web page. For book share, I'd like the children to come
prepared with a favorite page bookmarked, and
to also know the title of the book and a general idea of what it's
about. No clues necessary on this one!
We will continue with our math topic on numbers 1-5. I am especially
reinforcing the formation of numbers in handwriting. Some of these
numbers are quite tricky to make, so watch that your child is starting
at the top and going in the right direction.
We will also continue with our overview of the alphabet, plus working
on rhyming. Letters Pp through Tt will be covered this week.
We began introducing some of our line strokes last week using Handwriting without Tears,
and as mentioned, we also worked individually with each student on
his/her name writing. This week, we will begin another component of the
Handwriting program called "Sentence School." In sentence
school, we will all copy a sentence from the easel and work on
handwriting and word spacing, while also reinforcing vocabulary and
sight words. We started using "Sentence School" a couple of
years ago, and found that it really improved sentence writing.
We began our science unit on Trees & Leaves last week, and the
children are really enjoying it. We introduced important vocabulary such
as roots, leaves, branches, and trunk. We talked about evergreens and
deciduous trees. This week we will begin looking
more closely at leaves. Please send in a leaf from home in a baggie on
Monday. It can be in the blue bag if that's easier.
Our next school-wide event is this Thursday, the 20th-- Family
Science Night. Participation is totally optional. It starts at 6:15
p.m. in the cafeteria. This is a fun night that is sponsored by the
Children's Discovery Museum. The children have an opportunity
to participate in some great hands-on projects with their parents. Come
out and enjoy the fun & learning!
Upcoming Events:
9/20: Family Science Night @ 6:15 in Cafeteria
9/26: First Wacky Wednesday
9/28: School Picture Day
10/12: No School: Staff Development Day
10/20: Alta Vista Walkathon
10/31: Halloween Party & Parade
10/31: October's Wacky Wednesday
