We made it through our first 5-day week in kindergarten! Everyone is adjusting to the new routines well and making new friends.
A reminder again that Back-to-School Night is this Wednesday the 27th. This is a night for parents only (too much talking for the little ones) and is important to attend so that you know what the expectations are this school year. The schedule is:
- 6:30-7:00: Home & School Club Presentation in the cafeteria
- 7:00-7:30: My presentation in K2
We will be talking about all the classroom and schoolwide volunteering opportunities on Wednesday, but one position that's been filled for our class is the room parent position. Thanks to Maria (Lukas' mom) and Taryn (Frankie's mom), we already have the ball rolling on getting everyone connected. They have asked me to send out this form to give your permission to be added to their communications about class parties and other schoolwide social events and activities. Please make sure to fill this out if you'd like to stay in the loop!
Language Arts
We had several projects and games last week around learning each other's names. Continue to encourage your children to write their name using only one upper-case letter. We also did several projects and crafts around the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We ended the week with a STEAM challenge, building a "coconut tree" that could hold their set of eraser letters.
Next week, our focus will be on nursery rhymes and fairy tales. We will read many versions of popular favorites such as The Three Pigs, The Three Bears, Humpty Dumpty, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We will have more STEAM challenges next week as well around some fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
Drawing & Writing Unit
One of the steps in becoming an independent writer is expressing yourself through your illustrations. To that end, the kindergarten teachers will begin working on explicit instruction on how to draw some basic things such as people, buildings, vehicles and animals. This week, we will begin our drawing unit, which also goes hand in hand with our math topic on shapes. Much of our drawing unit uses shapes as a way to make basic illustrations.
Math
Over the next couple of weeks, we will introduce 2D (flat) shapes. Our focus in kindergarten is on the circle, square, rectangle, triangle, and hexagon. Not only do we learn to identify them, but we also learn about their attributes (a triangle has three sides and three corners). Last year, the district updated our math program to one called Eureka 2. The kindergarten team found that this program really helped establish a great math foundation for all the students.
Snacks and Lunch
I am noticing several students with too many snack items to manage during our 10 minute snack time. This week, we will start really tightening up our timeline, so please pack a snack that can be consumed in 10 minutes. Some children are staying at the snack table for our entire recess, missing out on play time because they want to finish their whole snack.
Our first week of lunches at school went quite well! Some children are still a bit confused about what is for lunch and what is for snack-- make sure you explain this to your children or pack these items in separate bags or boxes. Even using different pouches of their backpacks can be helpful to differentiate which is which. For those getting school lunch, please be sure to go over the menu with your children so that they know what they are getting, especially if your children have any allergies or special dietary considerations. Thank you for your support with making snack time and lunch time successful!
AVHSC CAGE Drive
You will hear more about this at Back-to-School Night, but the Alta Vista Home & School Club needs you! All the enrichment programs at our school need parent volunteers, as well as financial support. The kindergarten classes have a long-standing tradition of winning the CAGE Drive competition by getting the most families to join & support the AVHSC. Please support the wonderful enrichment programs at our school by going to this link.
We will start having parents in the classroom for classroom centers beginning the week of September 29th, and we'll need readers and check-out assistants in the library beginning 9/10. Before you can do any volunteering at Alta Vista, you must fill out the Volunteer Code of Conduct at least a week before you first volunteer. I always suggest to parents that they do that right away so that they are set for the school year.
I coordinate classroom and library helpers using Sign Up Genius-- these slots are not on the AVHSC website. Look out for a separate sign-up for classroom centers & library helpers when we get closer to that time.
Class Book
We have started circulating our first class book, where each child contributed a page in a Chicka Boom Boom-themed book. When your child brings it home, it will be in a large white envelope. Please read the book with your child, write a short comment in the back of the book, and return it to school the next school day so that every child can have a turn with the book as soon as possible.
Upcoming Events
Monday, 9/1: No School: Labor Day
Tuesday, 9/2: No School: Staff Development Day
Thursday, 9/11: Be Seen & Heard Assembly
Friday, 9/12: Alta Vista Movie Night Under the Stars
