Dear Parents,
We've made it to our big week in kindergarten, where we start sharing, centers, and homework!
Just a reminder that homework goes home in the Blue Bag on Wednesday
and is due back on Monday. The Blue Bag will have a book inside that
we'd like you to read a few times. There is also a homework folder. On
the right side of the folder is the homework
packet for the week. On the left side of the folder are two laminated
reference sheets, that stay in the folder all year. One sheet explains
the Blue Bag program, and has a letter formation guide from
Handwriting without Tears on the back. The other sheet has
discussion question ideas for when you finish reading the book with your
child. Please keep in mind that the book in the blue bag is not a book
that we expect your kindergartner to read alone.
These are to be read to your children. Also, the books in the program
are of different genres and themes. The idea is to expose your children
to different types of literature. If the book is really not a favorite
of your child's, just read it once and move
onto other books that your child prefers. Please try to keep the blue
bags in a place where the dog won't eat it, food won't be spilled on it,
etc. We'd like to keep them nice for the future years of
kindergartners!
In language arts, we continue our overview of the alphabet and our
readings of familiar tales and fables. In the past few weeks, we've
covered
The Gingerbread Man, The Three Pigs, The Three Bears, Chicken Little,
The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Tortoise and
The Hare, The Lion and the Mouse, and
Jack and the Beanstalk, among others. The children have had fun listening to retellings of these favorite stories.
In math, we will start a new topic: Numbers 1-5. We will be looking
at the value of these numbers, as well as how to write them correctly.
Math is one of the subjects we cover in centers, so though the paperwork
is the same, the hand-on activities will be
different, depending on the ability of the group.
In science, we will begin our unit on Trees & Leaves. This is a
fun hand-on science unit through our FOSS science program. We will be
looking at trees and learning some names of different types of trees. We
will be learning about deciduous trees vs. evergreens.
We enjoyed many activities with last week's science unit on the Five
Senses. The children tasted sour, sweet, salty, and bitter foods and
they felt items in a "mystery box." They also smelled some mystery
smells in canisters and tried to guess what they
were. We had a great time!
Our art this week is centered around apples. We have a few fun apple
art projects, and we'll be using paint! Parent helpers and students
beware-- don't wear clothes that you are overly concerned about keeping
neat this week. :)
Our sharing topic this week is Toy in a Bag. Just a reminder again
that your child should bring one item, hidden in a bag or backpack,
with clues attached. The clues are very important and are part of the
preparation for this oral language activity. Please
work with your child to come up with three clues that will help the
other children guess what is in the bag. If you are not sure of your
child's sharing day, please click on the link below for the classroom
website, and look on the right-hand side at the "Sharing
Info" link. Sharing topics each week are posted under the "calendar"
link.
Upcoming Events:
9/20: Family Science Night
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
