Dear KC Families,
We have come a long way after two full months in kindergarten! I can see how each child is becoming more comfortable in the classroom and gaining confidence each day. We have been very busy learning, growing, and making social connections with one another.
First, thank you to families who donated both time and materials to our Halloween Party. KC had so much fun decorating pumpkins and Haunted houses, playing bingo, and making some spooky play-doh creations! I hope you had a chance to check out our pictures on Twitter! (Twitter handle: @Ms_Conroy)
In math we are focusing on counting and cardinality. It is important to us that children count objects with 1-1 correspondence. In the beginning, we teach children to physically move objects as they count them so they are able to keep track of their work. Children are working hard to count up to higher numbers and hold the answer in their head. As well as reinforcing counting starting at zero, we are also encouraging children to “count on” from larger numbers. Once children have a stronger number sense, this strategy seems less complicated and is a much more efficient way to count. We are also introducing and extending the concept of skip counting, both as a large group and during small group work at Math Choice Time.
In literacy, we have started our phonics program, Fundations, which uses many different materials, puppets, and fun games to teach children about sounds and letters. If you have not yet heard about “Echo” and “Baby Echo”, please ask your children to tell you more about them! We have also been working hard on our writing. We have started “Weekend News” every Monday so that children have real life experiences to write about. Children pick one event from the weekend, draw a picture, and write a sentence about this event with teacher help, or label parts of the picture. Reading Workshop has also started in KC, and the children are learning a lot about working independently as well as within a small group. Right now, we are learning about each station. Children are engaging in activities such as making the names of friends with magnetic letters, playing rhyming games, learning new poems, reading big books with a friend, searching for letters and words around the classroom, and learning about new art techniques. Stay tuned for more!
In science we have been doing an ongoing observation of the maple tree on the kindergarten playground. So far, we have conducted two observations and noticed the changing colors of the leaves, as well as the branches becoming bare. Some children also started to add labels to their drawings. Labels are an important feature of the non-fiction texts that we read, and a fantastic way to practice our writing!
Finally, I would like to invite families to come in and share with us throughout the year. This could be a story, an art project, or a family tradition that you celebrate. We can be flexible to accommodate work schedules, so please let us know if you would like to volunteer!
Important dates/reminders
Fall Conferences/Early Release Days:
No School:
Thanksgiving Holiday Break:
Thank you!
Sarah
We have come a long way after two full months in kindergarten! I can see how each child is becoming more comfortable in the classroom and gaining confidence each day. We have been very busy learning, growing, and making social connections with one another.
First, thank you to families who donated both time and materials to our Halloween Party. KC had so much fun decorating pumpkins and Haunted houses, playing bingo, and making some spooky play-doh creations! I hope you had a chance to check out our pictures on Twitter! (Twitter handle: @Ms_Conroy)
In math we are focusing on counting and cardinality. It is important to us that children count objects with 1-1 correspondence. In the beginning, we teach children to physically move objects as they count them so they are able to keep track of their work. Children are working hard to count up to higher numbers and hold the answer in their head. As well as reinforcing counting starting at zero, we are also encouraging children to “count on” from larger numbers. Once children have a stronger number sense, this strategy seems less complicated and is a much more efficient way to count. We are also introducing and extending the concept of skip counting, both as a large group and during small group work at Math Choice Time.
In literacy, we have started our phonics program, Fundations, which uses many different materials, puppets, and fun games to teach children about sounds and letters. If you have not yet heard about “Echo” and “Baby Echo”, please ask your children to tell you more about them! We have also been working hard on our writing. We have started “Weekend News” every Monday so that children have real life experiences to write about. Children pick one event from the weekend, draw a picture, and write a sentence about this event with teacher help, or label parts of the picture. Reading Workshop has also started in KC, and the children are learning a lot about working independently as well as within a small group. Right now, we are learning about each station. Children are engaging in activities such as making the names of friends with magnetic letters, playing rhyming games, learning new poems, reading big books with a friend, searching for letters and words around the classroom, and learning about new art techniques. Stay tuned for more!
In science we have been doing an ongoing observation of the maple tree on the kindergarten playground. So far, we have conducted two observations and noticed the changing colors of the leaves, as well as the branches becoming bare. Some children also started to add labels to their drawings. Labels are an important feature of the non-fiction texts that we read, and a fantastic way to practice our writing!
Finally, I would like to invite families to come in and share with us throughout the year. This could be a story, an art project, or a family tradition that you celebrate. We can be flexible to accommodate work schedules, so please let us know if you would like to volunteer!
Important dates/reminders
Fall Conferences/Early Release Days:
- Please take note of the following dates: 11/14, 11/20, 12/5, and 12/11.
- Children will be released at 12:40 on these days and lunch will be served.
No School:
- Friday, November 8th – Teacher Professional Development Day
- Monday, November 11th - Veterans Day
Thanksgiving Holiday Break:
- We will be dismissed at NOON on Wednesday, November 27th. NO LUNCH will be served on this day.
- School will be closed on Thursday, November 28th and Friday, November 29th.
Thank you!
Sarah