Dear Parents,
We hope you were able to enjoy a nice long weekend as we head into a busy week & a half before Thanksgiving!
We have enjoyed meeting with many of you so far during parent-teacher conferences, and have gained some great insights on your children from you. Thank you for meeting with us and being such active participants in your children's educations. We look forward to meeting with the rest of you this week in the library conference room.
We will still be taking a break from centers this week while we continue with parent-teacher conferences, and they won't resume until after Thanksgiving. Then we will start back up with centers for the two weeks before winter break. Last week, I added center helpers through the end of the next trimester. I will still be tweaking it a bit more, as some other parents would like to be added to the schedule, so please check it again as we get closer to the New Year.
Our new letter this week (and next) is Hh. The Alphafriend is Hattie Horse. Our new sight word is a. We start a new math topic this week on addition. We have already been doing addition, in a sense. All of those homework papers on coloring different combinations of each number was obviously addition preparation. You will see much of the same in the upcoming topic. In kindergarten, the children will only be expected to learn addition facts to 10.
This week's sharing is Homemade Item. Please send in something your child has made, either at home, at preschool, etc. It does not have to be in a bag. Children should be prepared to talk about how they made the item. There will be no sharing next week due to the shortened week and all the special activities.
We have an Art Vista lesson on Wednesday. Last week we enjoyed our first "I Love to Read" presentation, so if your child came home with a new book, it was because s/he reached the first level in the program. Keep up all the reading!
This week, we will also be taking a closer look at the Pilgrims & Native Americans as we talk about the first Thanksgiving. We will be preparing for our upcoming feast on Monday the 22nd. If you haven't had a chance to send back the yellow paper regarding the feast (how you can help/what dish you can send) or if you haven't e-mailed Jen Lipscomb, please do so ASAP. If you will not be in town for the Feast, let us know that, too, if you haven't already. It would be great if each child has a parent in attendance. This is a fun time for the kids, as they love to show off their costumes and enjoy the meal with their families. Thanks to those who have already signed up. It looks like we will have plenty of help and many delicious dishes coming our way!
Next Tuesday the 23rd, we have Grandparents' Day at school. They are welcome to come at 10:00 so that they can be introduced by their grandchild. Then, the kindergartners will have snack/recess, and the grandparents will go to the cafeteria for a reception. When they return from the reception at about 11:00, they will participate in a fun art project called the "Hands and Feet Turkey." The grandparents will be tracing children's hands and a foot to make a cute turkey! The grandparents will get to take this turkey home as a keepsake. If your child does not have a local grandparent, feel free to send an aunt, uncle, special friend, etc. Also, the grandparents that come are always great about taking on additional "grandchildren," so don't worry if you don't have someone available. Please let me know if your child has a grandparent(s) coming, and how many will attend so that I can plan for extra chairs.
Mrs. Sheikh has opened a new book order, that is due on December 1st. These books will arrive on time for the holidays, so feel free to order some stocking stuffers!
The Red Bags will go home again this Wednesday, and then the following week, there will be no homework due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Enjoy all the fun in the next week and a half!
This Week's Activities:
MONDAY: No Centers, Sharing, Library
TUESDAY: No Centers, Sharing
WEDNESDAY:
Art Vistas (Angie, Tammy, Lorraine), Wednesday Envelopes prepped (Karla/Angie/Derek),
Computers (Margaret), Sharing, Red Bags go home
THURSDAY: No Centers, Sharing
FRIDAY: No Centers, ZUMBA!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Monday, 11/15: Parent-Teacher Conferences continue
Monday, 11/22: Thanksgiving Friendship Feast-- please join us at 10:15!
Tuesday, 11/23: Grandparent's Day, grades K-2, 10:00 in our classroom
Wednesday, 11/24-Friday, 11/26: Thanksgiving Break
Friday, 12/17: 10:00 am Nutcracker Performance (don't miss this annual kindergarten favorite!)
Monday, 12/20-Friday, 12/31: Winter Break
