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Mrs. Stephens' Kindergarten Class |
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Frequently Asked QuestionsFrequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.
Should I send a note or call the office when my child is absent? When your child is absent, you need to send a note or doctor's note when they return to school. If not, your child's absence will be marked as unexcused. Absences for doctors appointments and illnesses are the only absences that will be excused. The school board automatically tracks multiple unexcused absences. If my child has been sick, when can they come back to school? Your child must be fever free for the last 24 hours. Also, if your child has vomited, they need to wait 24 hours before returning. This helps control spreading of illnesses such as stomach viruses, flu, colds, etc. My child in not on the semester snack calendar. Why not? I fill out the semester snack calendar in advance. If your child was recently added to our class, he/she will not be on the most current snack calendar. I also do my best to assign children snack days on their birthdays, when I am doing that sometimes I delete a child’s name and forget to add it back to the calendar. If I do that, please let me know so I can fix it for the next semester or assign your child snack on an open day. Do I have to provide a drink and snack for snack time? Please just send a snack for snack time. We have a water fountain in our room that the children may use whenever they are thirsty. Providing snack for the class is financially too difficult for my family, what can I do? Please let me know and I will remove your child’s name from the snack calendar. I forgot to send my child’s snack on his/her snack day, what do I do? Please send in your snack on the next day you remember. We will use it when someone else forgets to send in snack. No. As the children exit the bus or car line they may go straight to the cafeteria to eat. When they are done they are to walk to the slab and wait for the bell to ring. At this time I will pick them up and we will walk to the class together. Your child will need to remember to go to breakfast by himself/herself in the morning. There are always several teachers on duty on the slab as well as teachers posted between the car line, bus loop, and slab. Teachers on duty try to remind children to eat breakfast but it will be your child’s responsibility to remember to eat breakfast himself/herself. Can I come to school and eat lunch with my child? Yes! If you are interested in eating lunch with your child you will need to send a note to school the day before so I can let the cafeteria know. When you come be sure to check in with the office first to get a pass. You can meet us in the cafeteria and either myself or another teacher will direct you to your child. We eat lunch from 10:30-11:00 and then go straight to recess until 11:20. You may call me at school, send me a note in your child’s folder, or email me. You will get the fastest response through email. I try to check my email multiple times each day and since I type much faster than I write, I can respond much faster. Also, phone calls are extremely difficult for me to return as I am with the children for much of the day. If you must contact me through phone, please leave a message with good times for me to call you back. I would like to speak with you about my child, what is the best time for you? I am more than happy to meet with you any time of the year. If you can only meet in the morning, please keep in mind that I have to pick up the children from the slab at 7:30 and some days I have duty before that. If you would like to make an appointment please email or send me a note and we will work it out! Please keep in mind that I will have beginning of the year conferences with everyone so if it is early in the year, I will be contacting you to have a conference once I have enough information about your child for us to meet. Do you differentiate the activities in the classroom? Most of the activities in our class are differentiated. They are either based on ability, interest level or mixed grouping. Reading groups are based on ability level per our Reading Series. Students have the opportunity to move from group to group based on their performance each week as well as their academic needs. Kindergarten not only focuses on academic needs but social needs as well. If you feel we are covering a skill that your child has mastered, my goal for your child during these activities may be more social than academic. How can I help with the class without taking off of work? We can always use your help! I have a sign up sheet that you were able to sign at the beginning of the school year. If anytime during the year you want to add your name to the sign up sheet, send me a note or email and I would be more than happy to send materials home with your child. We need our pencils sharpened each month, art paper sorted, art projects cut out, etc. Just let me know what you are interested in helping with and I am more than happy to work around your schedule. Can I send invitations for my child's birthday party ? Yes, but only if it is for ALL the boys, ALL the girls, OR the whole class. (Feelings get hurt otherwise!) This is school policy. How should I send in lunch money, field trip money, etc? Please send any money in an envelope, labeled with your child’s name, teachers name and purpose. Place all money envelopes in your child’s folder. What can my child bring for naptime? Your child may bring a small blanket or soft toy to hold during naptime. This is to help with your child’s feeling of security during naptime. Action figures and games will not be allowed during naptime as they distract others and keep other children awake. Items brought for nap are to be taken out only during nap and put up directly after nap. Please wash blankets regularly. I don’t want my child to nap. Can you send him/her to another room during that time? Naptime is set by the state to be 56 minutes in Kindergarten. Children are not expected to sleep at this time but are expected to lay quietly and keep from disturbing others. Even children that do not sleep during nap gain the benefits of resting in a quiet room. We have high expectations of our 5-6 year olds in kindergarten and naptime is a necessary time for their brains to rest and take in the information learned during the day. I have noticed the anxiety in all children, even those that don’t sleep during nap, on the days when nap is later than usual due to special programs or field trips. Kindergarteners need routines that provide all types of activities. Following that routine helps to give each child a sense of security and comfort in knowing what to expect. All kindergarten classes nap around the same time and there is no other room for your child to go to. My child received a behavior form. What does that mean? Behavior forms are sent home in accordance with the school discipline policy. If a child moves his/her name to “red” or displays physical violence towards another child, a Madisonville Elementary Discipline form will be sent home. This is the form of communication sent home to you according to school discipline policy. Behavior forms should be a cause of concern if they become frequent. |
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