November 12, 2009
Oh when the saints, go marching in, oh when the saints go marching in! Oh
how I want to be in that number…when the saints go marching in!!
Our All Saints Day Parade was a huge success. You’re creativity never
ceases to amaze me! I hope you had fun learning about your saint. I even
discovered some new and interesting facts about saints that I had never
heard of! I just love sharing our knowledge with each other and our school
community.
Here’s an update on what we’ve been doing in the classroom:
RELIGION- Families Are Good
We were all born into a family. As a member of that family we share in
everything the family has: home, food, clothing, celebrations, and times of
sorrow. When we were baptized we were born into God’s special family, the
Church. In God’s family we are brothers and sisters with people all over
the world. All the people who are with God in heaven belong to God’s family
too. We call these people saints. The saints in heaven are also our
brothers and sisters.
LANGUAGE ARTS- Thanksgiving
As we begin the month of November we begin to reflect on the things we are
thankful for. We will be learning about the first Thanksgiving and
discussing the things in our life that we are most thankful for.
Our skills focus continues to be on identifying rhyming words, recognizing
long words and short words, and matching upper and lowercase letters. We
have introduced all the letters of the alphabet and have begun working on
beginning consonant sounds. The following is a list of all our sight words
to date:
the
here
is
a
an
I
see
we
and
he
she
have
big
small
this
no
it
what
can
you
at
like
too
zero
one
two
three
four
five
six
Things You Can Do At Home
If you haven't already done so, please create flashcards with the sight
words on them. Write the sight words with first letter lowercase on one
card and first letter uppercase on another card (as this is the way they may
appear when reading them in a story). Review your child's sight words
nightly. If your child is having trouble remembering certain words try some
of the following activities for additional practice.
Play memory game with those words. If they find a match they must be able
to read the word correctly.
Give your child a ¼ sheet of newspaper or a page from a magazine. Have them
circle all the sight words on their list in the paper.
Create simple sentences using sight words. Please remind your child that a
sentence begins with an uppercase letter and ends with a period.
MATH- Numbers
We continue with an abundance of activities involving number relationships,
counting, and writing numbers.
Recognition of numbers and the ability to count varies widely in
Kindergarten children. We continue to participate in activities to develop
our sense of numbers. Number sense includes the ability to recognize the
relationships between numbers, to represent numbers in varied ways, and to
recognize the value of numbers in everyday life. Kindergarten children can
often count, recognize, and write numbers, however teaching the concepts of
one more and one fewer helps them explore the number relationships essential
to create readiness for addition and subtraction.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Our Thanksgiving Lunch is Wednesday, November 18th in the Lewis Room.
Please arrive promptly at 11:45. (Please note that if your child normally
receives hot lunch on Wednesdays that we will make this up at a later date)
Wednesday Mailers- Please make sure that you take the time to read the
information found in your child’s Wednesday Mailer. Please sign and return
the empty mailer to school on Thursday. If you do not return your child’s
yellow envelope you may not receive the inserts the following week.
Therefore, missing out on important information and updates.
Arrival Time- Parents, school begins at 8:30 AM. The doors open at 8:05
AM. Please plan to have your child arrive at school no later than 8:15.
They need to have time to unpack their belongings and enter the classroom by
8:20. We begin choosing jobs for the day by 8:25 if your child arrives late
they are missing out on this opportunity. As the year progresses the
children will actually have “morning work” that they will be expected to
complete before the late bell rings.
Thank you so much for sharing your children with Mrs. Ware and I. We are so
blessed to have them in our lives!
Blessings on your day,
Mrs. Schumann
October 16, 2009
Dear Parents,
What an awesome show of school spirit at our first Pep Rally! We had a
fabulous time cheering on our Saint Raphael volleyball and soccer teams. We
wish them both the best of luck in the conference tournament this coming
week.
I would like to thank Regan’s mom, Sam’s mom, Katie’s mom, Caleb’s
grandmother, Emily’s mom, and Isabella’s mom for helping us paint our farm
t-shirts this week. Many thanks to all the parents in KA and KB that helped
to restore our "KINDER-GARDEN" to it's original beauty!! Your hard work is
greatly appreciated! I would also like to thank all of our lunch/recess
volunteers and library volunteers. We appreciate the time you give to spend
with the children!
I am looking forward to meeting with each of you this week during
parent/teacher conferences. If you have not returned your “Homework for
Parents” sheet that was in your child’s red folder this past week, please do
so by Monday, October 19th.
We began our week celebrating Columbus Day! We read the story IN 1492,
created a ship in a bottle, and sequenced items according to size. Our
skill
focus has been on matching upper and lowercase letters, placing letters of
the alphabet in sequential order and a distinguishing between letters and
words. Our new pre-decodable book was A TRUNK. The new sight words
introduced were: he and she. Please continue to review all the sight words
introduced so far and practice reading daily with your child. Don’t forget
to fill in your reading log each evening after you read a story!!
In math we will begin working with the numbers 0-10. We will be counting,
reading, writing, and eventually be performing simple addition and
subtraction operations. Counting with one to one correspondence requires
many counting opportunities with real objects. Often children will touch
and
count objects accurately but fail to note where they began counting. It is
important to remember that a child who counts rapidly to ten or twenty or
even with ease to one hundred still needs to learn a lot more about number-
numeral relationships. We will provide the children with many number
experiences; helping them to see numbers in parts (seven can be three and
four, or five and two). These activities will provide the foundation for
addition and subtraction.
THINGS YOU CAN DO AT HOME:
· Encourage your child to count things like dinner plates and
glasses.
· Point out numerals in everyday life.
· Look at phone numbers, addresses, license plates and other things
with numerals.
Next time you visit the library consider checking out one of these stories
to
reinforce number concepts:
ANNO’S COUNTING BOOK by Mitsumasa Anno
FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED by Eileen Christelow
A THREE HAT DAY by Laura Geringer
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, NO MORE? By Catherine Gray
FIVE LITTLE DUCKS by Raffi
REMINDERS
October 22nd and 23rd- Parent Conferences NO SCHOOL
October 29th- Farm/Fall Harvest Party (Kindergarten students will come to
school dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. They will change into their farm t-
shirt after arriving at school.)
November 3rd- All Saints Day Parade (please arrive at school with your saint
costume over your PE uniform)
November 9th and 10th- NO SCHOOL
November 18th- KA Thanksgiving Lunch 11:30am in the Lewis Room
(parents and younger siblings invited) More information to come soon!
May the peace of Christ be with you,
Mrs. Schumann
Friday, October 2, 2009
Dear Parents,
Thank you for a wonderful turnout Thursday morning. The children enjoyed
sharing our morning activities with you and performing the song we’ve been
practicing!! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! We look forward to
sharing with you again soon!
OUR GARDEN DESPERATELY NEEDS HELP!! WE ARE IN NEED OF SEVERAL PARENTS TO
DONATE THEIR HELPING HANDS AND WEED OUR GARDEN. YOU CAN EVEN SET YOUR OWN
HOURS....COME AT DROP OFF OR EARLY FOR PICK UP AND SPEND SOME TIME MAKING
OUR GARDEN BEAUTIFUL AGAIN. DON'T FORGET TO SIGN IN AT THE OFFICE AND STOP
BY THE CLASSROOM WE WILL SHOW YOU WHERE TO GET STARTED! DON'T FORGET YOUR
GARDENING GLOVES AND TOOLS!! MULCH IS GOING TO BE DELIVERED SOON...SO
PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU CAN LEND US A HAND THIS WEEK!
Here’s what’s been happening in KA.
LANGUAGE ARTS
In class we have been working on recognizing and naming each letter of the
alphabet. It is important that your child has a clear understanding of the
letters of the alphabet and their names before sounds can be associated with
those letters. This is essential before going on to the next steps in
learning to read.
The students participate in a number of activities during class to learn the
alphabet. We sing different alphabet songs, play naming games, complete
upper and lowercase matching activities, and practice forming letters in our
journals. So far we have focused on the letters A-O.
SCIENCE
This past week we discussed the sense of touch. One way to review this
concept at home is to ask the children to describe how things feel. The
children also went on a sensory walk. They took off one shoe in class then
stepped on a soft blanket, rough or hard rice, cold or wet ice, and squishy
paint. We made paintings of their footprints and will be compiling them
into another class book. We also went on a bear hunt, feeling our way
through the forest. No…we didn’t go hiking through a real forest but the
children did take turns placing their hands in brown bags and feeling the
contents (rocks, sand, water, ice, and a teddy bear). Then they had to
guess what was inside each bag.
VOLUNTEER AND DONATION OPPORTUNITIES
I am looking for two volunteers on each of the following days, Tuesday,
October 13th, Wednesday, October 14th, and Thursday, October 15th. from 9:00-
11:00 to help us paint our farm t-shirts. Please email me if you are
interested in helping us out in the classroom!
If you are able to donate a large pumpkin to our classroom it would be
greatly appreciated. We will be completing some estimation activities for
Math, then carving our pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern for our Farm/Fall
Harvest party.
ITEMS NEEDED
Acrylic Paints
2 16 oz bottles of red
2 4 oz bottles of textile medium
1 4 oz bottle of black
1 4 oz bottle of white
1 4 oz bottle of brown
1 4 oz bottle of orange
1 4 oz bottle of pink
1 4 oz bottle of yellow
Upcoming Events
October 6th- No Hot Lunch due to elections
October 13th- Picture Day (students are to wear dress uniforms)
October 16th- Half Day School (NO LUNCH)
October 22nd and 23rd- Parent Conferences NO SCHOOL
October 29th- Farm/Fall Harvest Party
November 2nd- All Saints Day Parade
November 9th and 10th- NO SCHOOL
November 18th- KA Thanksgiving Lunch 11:30am in the Lewis Room
(parents and younger siblings invited)
God Bless,
Mrs. Schumann
September 26, 2009
Dear Parents,
ALL PARENTS ARE INVITED TO STAY AT DROP OFF ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1ST.
PLEASE JOIN US FOR PRAYER AND CALENDAR. WE ALSO HAVE A SPECIAL ANGEL SONG
THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU. WE SHOULD BE DONE BY 9:00! LOOKING
FORWARD TO SEEING ALL OF YOU!
LANGUAGE ARTS
In Language Arts we have been working with poems and songs. This is a fun
way to reinforce the rhythmic patterns of language and the concept of
rhyme. Poems and rhymes help children become more attuned to language.
When children repeat a simple rhyme over and over, they begin to hear words
and the sounds within words. In class, we have been working on listening
more attentively, to hear single words. Later this year we will be working
on hearing single sounds within words. Reading and playing with the rhymes
and repetitive jingles is an effective, yet fun, way to approach beginning
language skills. Things you can do at home:
• Sing and chant along with your child.
• Introduce him or her to some of your favorite childhood nursery
rhyme, camp songs or poems.
• Create your own silly verses to familiar tunes.
• Sing your own childhood jump rope songs or counting jingles.
The sight words we have introduced so far are: the, a, an, is and here.
Sight words are words that children need to recognize in order to achieve
reading fluency. Many sight words cannot be sounded out, and therefore must
be learned by sight. Two pre-decodable books containing the sight words
introduced so far this year have come home, THE PARK and LUNCH. Please have
your child practice reading these stories at home each evening. It would
also be helpful if you made flashcards and practiced reading these words
each evening. I try to keep our reading time fun and exciting for the
children. One of the ways I do this is by using seasonal pencils and pencil
toppers as reading pointers. The children enjoy coming up and choosing
their own pointer to practice reading their stories when they have completed
their seatwork.
SCIENCE
We have covered four of the five senses, sight, hearing, smell and taste.
We have participated in some great activities! “The Nose Knows” was one of
our favorites. During this activity the children colored six cards (lemon,
banana, peppermint, chocolate chips, cinnamon, and coffee). Then they took
turns smelling what was in the secret canister. They had to use their sense
of smell to determine which item was in the canister. We also had a
marvelous time on Thursday participating in our “Apple Madness” activities!
The children made mosaic apples, marble painted, did apple printing, made
butterscotch apple pie, and had a taste test to see which apple was their
favorite: red, green or yellow. Yellow and green apples tied as the
favorite this year. Many thanks to all the parents who donated items or
volunteered their time to make this event a huge success!!! We couldn’t do
it without all of you!!
The SUPER SENSES BAG continues to circulate. Each child will have an
opportunity to take the bag home over night. Inside the bag is a book and a
listening activity. Put your ears to the test and have fun sharing this
activity with your family!
MATH
Our focus in the classroom has been on classification and patterning. The
children have been sorting and grouping objects based on their similarities
and differences. Here are some things that you can do at home to reinforce
this concept.
• Encourage your child to help you put away the groceries.
• Let your child help fold the clothes and sort them according to
where they go or who wears them.
• Give your child jar lids, buttons, corks, or other small objects and
containers for sorting.
• Let your child put away the silverware.
We will begin working on recognizing, copying, extending, and creating
patterns. Patterns are all around us. We are surrounded by patterns in
nature, in clothing, in music and in written text. Patterning will help the
children develop an awareness of sequence that will help them understand
more advanced concepts such as skip counting, odd and even numbers and
ordering. Copying patterns also begins an understanding of one-to-one
correspondence.
Try some of these fun and easy things at home.
• Look for patterns in fabrics of your clothes, tablecloths and
furniture covers.
• Encourage your child to make patterns with cookies or crackers
before eating them.
• Look for patterns in nature.
Math Vocabulary- Use these words at home whenever you can.
Alike/same
Different
Set
Sort/classify
Color
Shape
Size
Before
Next
Beginning
End
Pattern
Repeat
Here are some books that reinforce math concepts of classification and
patterning. Next time you visit the library, consider checking one out!
BILLY’S BUTTON by William Accorsi
IS IT RED? IS IT YELLOW? IS IT BLUE? By Tana Hoban
IS IT ROUGH? IS IT SMOOTH? IS IT SHINY? By Tana Hoban
LITTLE BLUE, LITTLE YELLOW by Leo Lionni
GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS by Jan Brett
DOTS, SPOTS, SPECKLES, AND STRIPES by Tana Hoban
POLAR BEAR, POLAR BEAR, WHAT DO YOU HEAR? By Bill Martin, Jr.
Please make sure you are reading to your child every night!
RELIGION
Psalm 139:14 Thank you, O Lord, for the wonder of myself.
God has gifted us with our five senses. Through them, information about the
world comes into our consciousness. The senses help us enjoy the world and
protect us against some of its dangers. The activities we participated in
this week helped the children experience the joys of their bodies and their
senses. Each child is precious to God and God made each of them wonderful!
This week in Religion we will be preparing for several feast day
celebrations, the feast of the archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael,
the feast of the Guardian Angels and the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. On
Thursday, October 1st we will celebrate the Feast of the Guardian Angels
with a cookie decorating activity. And on Friday, October 2nd Kindergarten
through Second Grade will participate in the annual Blessing of the Pets
ceremony (weather permitting). It will be held on the SRAC field (next to
the playground) at 2:30. You are welcome to bring your pets to school for
the blessing. Dismissal will take place from the field for those of you
that attend. Please make sure you sign your child out with me before you
leave! I hope to see you there!
MISCELANEOUS
If you have not already done so, please remember to send in a NEW white t-
shirt for our upcoming project. We would like to have all shirts by Friday,
October 2nd.
A few children are still in need of zippered pencil cases. Please try to
send them in as soon as possible.
I am trying to verify that EVERYONE is reading KA news on a regular basis.
Please send me an email to let me know that you have read KA news this
week. I will be deleting all the news for September as we begin the month
of October.
Have a wonderful weekend.
God Bless,
Mrs. Schumann
September 14, 2009
Week of September 8th-11th
LANGUAGE ARTS
The children enjoyed listening to the story POLAR BEAR, POLAR BEAR, WHAT DO
YOU HEAR? By Bill Martin Jr., what a great story to start our week off with
too! Our focus last week was on our sense of hearing. During Language Arts
we played the telephone game, listened for rhyming words, and have completed
our individual Brown Bear Books.
RELIGION
On Tuesday, we went to the grotto and honored Mary with flowers for her
birthday. . Ask your child to tell you about the greatest storybook of all
time. Hopefully, they will tell you about the Bible. We have discussed how
God’s words are found in the Bible and how we need to treat our Bibles.
Please take some time this week to show your child where your Bible is at
home. If your child does not own their very own Children’s Bible this may
be a great item to add to their Christmas list.
MATH
We have been sorting everything! On Wednesday we sorted our shoes. Yes,
that’s right each child took off one shoe and placed it in the center of our
circle. Then we discussed ways in which we could sort them. (by color,
laces/no laces, by size). On Thursday we sorted our names (long names and
short names). Ask your child if they have a long name or short name.
PRE-DECODABLE BOOKS
Our first Open Court pre-decodable book has been sent home today along with
a note! Please make it part of your daily homework routine. You will also
notice in the homework folder that the “high frequency” word of the week is
HOMEWORK REMINDERS
Parents please remind your children when doing homework that they are to use
pencil when writing letters or words and use crayons when making pictures.
No pens or markers should be used when completing homework. Don’t forget to
return your homework folder on FRIDAY!
HOT LUNCH
Our first day of hot lunch was very successful! We really enjoyed our
pizza, salad and brownie! For those children who purchase hot lunch but
bring a drink from home, please make sure your drink is in a disposable
container. Water bottles do not need to be sent in as water is provided for
those students purchasing hot lunch.
ITEMS NEEDED FOR CLASSROOM
We are in need of the following items for the classroom: paper towels, egg
timer, white card stock for the printer and colored card stock for the
printer. If you are able to send in any of these items please let us know!
MISCELLANEOUS
Our first class book has started circulating. Each child will have an
opportunity to bring the book home. Please share the book with your family
and return it the next day for another child to enjoy. Remember, we have 18
children in our class; your child will need to be patient as they wait for
their turn. As the year progresses we will have many more books in
circulation.
Dr. Travers and Dr. Knight are scheduled to help us tomorrow in the
classroom! We are looking forward to painting with you!
Next week is our “Apple Madness” day. (Thursday, September 24th) We now
have plenty of volunteers! We look forward to seeing Mrs. Hickey, Mrs.
Lindberg, Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Shaheen, Mrs. Littleton, Mrs. Chesson, and Mrs.
Bogden!
CHURCH
Today we took a special trip over to the church. Fr. Hussey talked with us
about why we come to church. The children practiced, sitting, standing, and
kneeling. We even practiced walking up for our blessing. Friday, September
18th will be the first mass we attend as a class. Please make sure your
child wears their dress uniform!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
Blessings on your day,
Mrs. Schumann
September 8, 2009
Psalm of the week: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Psalm
33:5
DISCOVERING OUR WORLD THROUGH OUR FIVE SENSES
Our focus for the month of September will be on the five senses, sight,
taste, touch, smell, and hearing. Each week the children will participate
in activities related to one of the five senses.
Integrated Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies
The sense of sight was introduced last week through the story BROWN BEAR,
BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE? by Bill Martin Jr.. The students are
illustrating individual Brown Bear Books through a process I call “copy cat”
drawing. First we practice on the dry erase board, copying each piece of
the drawing step by step. Then we continue the “copy cat” process drawing
the picture in our books. After completing our drawings we will practice
reading the story tracking the print from left to right.
One of the children’s favorite activities last week was our color mixing
experiment. The children discovered:
Yellow + Red = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Red + Blue = Purple
What’s New in Math?
We are beginning our math unit by exploring the many different materials in
the classroom. We have been sorting, grouping and classifying all week long!
As the children play and explore, they learn to recognize, identify and
describe the characteristics and attributes of materials. This will help
them learn to classify, make patterns and put things in order. These skills
and concepts will build a foundation for learning more advanced math skills
and concepts.
Fun and Easy Things You Can Do at Home
• Let your child help you cook. Describe the spices and textures.
• Encourage your child to start a collection of leaves, rocks or coins.
• Encourage your child to play with buttons, nuts and bolts, jar lids,
plastic containers and other items you have around the house.
•
Vocabulary Builders
These are some of our vocabulary words. Use them at home whenever you can.
big/little
fast/slow
hard/soft
hot/cold
loud/soft
thick/thin
rough/smooth
Book Corner
Next time you visit the library, check out one of these books:
The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE FOR THIS MONTH
The following parents have volunteered to help us out in the classroom with
some “extra” activities!
Thursday, September 10th (Brown Bear Painting)- Mrs. Hammill and Mrs.
Littleton
Tuesday, September 15th (Scratch and Sniff Painting)- Mrs. Travers (Katie's
Mom) and Dr. Knight (Kavon's Mom)
Thursday, September 24th (Apple Madness)- Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Shaheen, Mrs.
Littleton, Ms. Chesson and Dr. Knight (you can help in both classes that
day, Dr. Knight) *We still have two spots available if you'd like to help on
this day!!
Tuesday, September 29th (Sensory Walk)- Mrs. Bryant and Mrs. Travers
(Katie's Mom)
WISH LIST
There are still a few items left on the wish list from Open House. If you
would like to donate any of them please let me know. You can view these
items on the class web page under “Wish List”.
PHOTO PICK-UP
We now have all the months of the school year filled with parents who have
graciously volunteered to pick up our photos for our special project. Here
is a list of our volunteers:
September- Simmons
October-Williford
November-Hickey
December-Shaheen
January-Loturco
February-Chesson
March-Powers
April-Schuette
May-Littleton
PLAY DOUGH MAKERS
The following parents have volunteered to make play dough for us each
month. We still have three months available: March, April and May.
September- Kenney (yellow)
October- Powers (orange)
November- Littleton (red)
December- Hickey (green)
January- Malek (blue)
February- Kenney (red)
March- (green)
April- (purple)
May- (blue)
BE ON THE LOOK OUT!!!
Our class will be taking turns bringing home class books. Please have your
child take time to share this book with your family and return it to school
the next day. This week we will also start sending home our “Super Senses
Bag”. This bag has a game in it along with a book. Please take great care
to make sure that the shaker eggs, game cards, and book are all returned to
school the next day. Remind your child that there are 18 children in the
class and it may take a while before they have their turn. Reassure them
that EVERYONE will have a turn.
Blessings on your day!
Mrs. Schumann
August 31, 2009
Dear Parents,
We have concluded our Gingerbread Unit in KA! The children had an exciting
adventure last week when we attempted to bake a gingerbread man in class!
The gingerbread man jumped out of the oven and ran away. We were fortunate
enough to be left some clues and we were able to track him down!! Now that
gingerbread cookie is right where every good cookie should be….in our
tummies!!!
There are several classroom volunteer opportunities coming up this month.
Please email me if you are able to help out on any of the following dates.
Thursday, September 10th- 2 parent volunteers to assist with Brown Bear
Painting
Tuesday, September 15th- 2 parent volunteers to assist with Scratch and
Sniff Painting
Thursday, September 24th- 6 parent volunteers to assist with our “Apple
Madness”
Tuesday, September 29th- 2 parent volunteers to assist with our Sensory Walk
Volunteers will be needed each of the requested mornings from 9:00-10:45. I
will confirm your turn to volunteer after I receive all of your
responses. My goal is to give all parents an opportunity. If you are
available more than one date please indicate this...so that I may schedule
accordingly.
PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD BRING A STUFFED ANIMAL FROM HOME TO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY,
SEPTEMBER 4TH!!
We are still in need of additional volunteers to help during our Library
time on Mondays from 2:00-2:35. If you are able to help out please let me
know.
Additional help is also needed monitoring lunch and recess, if you did not
put your name on the lunch and recess list at open house and would like to
sign up please email me and I will add your name to the list.
Each month KA has some fun activities planned. During these activities I
take photos of the children for a “secret” end of the year project! I am
asking for your assistance in the cost of developing the photos. I would
greatly appreciate it if each parent would sign up for one month to pick up
photos at the Wal-Mart on New Hope Church Rd. I will up load the photos
over the internet and let you know when they will be available for pick up.
The following parents have already graciously signed up for a month. Please
let me know if I can add your name to the list.
September- Kyle’s Mom
October- Makayla’s Mom
November- Regan’s Mom
Kyle’s mom has volunteered to be our Scholastic Book Order Coordinator. I
will be sending home a letter soon…explaining how to place your order online
or what to do if you wish to pay by check! Hold on to your order forms
until then.
Helpful Hint: For those of you whose children wear the Sperry Topsiders you
may want to consider changing the leather laces out for regular laces. The
leather laces just do not stay tied, even if you triple not them!! You
would forever be in mine and Mrs. Ware’s graces if you did us this favor.
Once again, thank you for sharing your children with me! I feel so blessed
to have the opportunity to get to know them.
Blessings on your day,
Christine Schumann
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Dear Parents,
I really enjoyed speaking with those of you who attended our Open House last
night. I hope that I was able to answer all your questions and give you an
idea of our expectations in Kindergarten. If you were unable to make it
last night I have included an outline of the items we discussed below. If
you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kindergarten Open House
Introduction
Communication
1. Classroom Connection- main source of communication / check weekly
2. Daily communication- Red Folder (If your child is absent please
look for make-up work in their red folder the day they return. Complete
work at home and return to school.)
3. Student Work- will come home weekly in Wednesday Mailer
Schedule
1. Found on “Classroom Connection”
2. Children attend the following special classes: Spanish, Library,
P.E., Music, and Art
Curriculum
1. Language Arts- Open Court Reading Program. Science and Social
Studies will be integrated into the reading program.
2. Rotations- “project”, “workshop”, and “table tubs”
3. Centers- start out social, progress to reinforcement of skill, and
independent learning activities
4. Math- manipulative based program, less worksheets, more hands on
learning
5. Religion- Loyal Press, God Loves Us- Focus is on finding God in our
every day lives. Feast Day Celebrations, Daily Prayer, and attending Mass
Mass
1. Processing into church this Friday, August 28th to kick off our 15th
year celebration. We will not stay for Mass.
2. Children should wear their dress uniform every Friday, beginning,
this Friday Aug. 28th (girls: jumper, white blouse, dress shoes boys: white
polo, khaki shorts (until end of Sept.) then khaki pants, dress shoes)
3. First Mass- September 18th
4. KA and KB parents are asked to sit separately from us in church.
Our assigned section will not adequately seat both children and their
parents.
Homework
1. Homework will begin after Labor Day
2. Green homework folder goes home on Monday and is returned on Fridays
3. Homework Calendar
4. Inserts: book log, handwriting models, number writing poem
Discipline
1. Individual- Traffic Light
2. Small Group- Table Stars
3. Whole Group- Compliments
Lunch / Snack
1. Volunteers needed 10:45-11:45 (Mon-Thurs) 11:15-11:45 (Fri)
2. Pack a napkin, spoon, straw or anything else your child may need.
3. Snack should consist of 1 healthy item.
4. No snack bags or drinks for snack time
Dress Code
1. PE uniform on Tuesday and Thursday
2. No Jewelry on PE days
3. Jewelry- POST earrings only; nothing dangling, looped or chained,
single necklace with a religious medal or symbol. No watches or bracelets.
4. No nail polish or tattoos.
5. Shoes must be solid black or brown. Tennis shoes may only be worn
on PE days.
6. Girls: Please wear shorts under your jumpers.
Birthdays
1. Treats at lunch or at afternoon snack time. (cookies preferred)
2. Please send in napkins.
3. Invitations- school policy whole class only
4. Summer Birthdays
Change in Routine
1. Do NOT email
2. Write note or call office if change in carpool
3. Absences- call office before 9 am
Volunteers
1. Sign up sheet available
2. Classroom volunteers are on an as needed basis. We will keep you
informed via “Classroom Connection”.
In House Speakers
1. October (TBD)- Farm Bureau
2. January 28- Curious Creatures
Field Trips
1. February 26- NCSU Center Stage
2. March 25- Marbles Museum
3. April 28- KA NC Museum of Natural Science
April 29- KB NC Museum of Natural Science
Assessments
1. Report Card (gradual assessment)
2. October- all school conferences; January- kindergarten conferences
Have a wonderful evening.
God Bless,
Mrs. Schumann
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Welcome to our KA classroom! My name is Mrs. Schumann and I am so excited
to
be your Kindergarten teacher this year. Kindergarten is a fun and exciting
place to be! We will sing, dance, laugh, learn and play all year long. I
am
looking forward to meeting you during MEET THE TEACHER DAY, Friday, August
14th, 10:30-12:00.
A Few Reminders for the First Day
In addition to the Kindergarten supply list each child in KA will need a
zippered pencil bag large enough to hold crayons, scissors, and glue.
(please label with your child’s name)
Remember to pack a healthy snack.
Please have your mom or dad place your school supplies in a brown paper bag
labeled with your name.
If you choose to, you may bring your supplies on “Meet the Teacher Day”.
When you arrive at school on your first day, please do not put anything in
your locker. We will review “locker etiquette” as an entire class. Your
belongings may be placed at your table spot in the classroom upon arrival.
We will dismiss at 12:00 noon.
Don’t forget to bring your beautiful smile with you to school!
God Bless,
Mrs. Schumann
